Boy Charged As Adult In Springdale Crimes

Dawa Ortiz faced adult charges Friday even though he didn’t turn 18 until a few hours after he was first arrested Feb. 14 in connection with a Springdale-area crime spree.

Ortiz initially was released to his parents while a companion, 18-yearold Edward Weincoop, was lodged in the Stevens County Jail to face adult charges. Prosecutor Jerry Wetle said he lacked sufficient evidence at the time to charge Ortiz as an adult, “but he’s in adult-land now.”

Ortiz pleaded innocent Friday to two counts of first-degree burglary and two counts of taking a motor vehicle without permission. Superior Court Judge Fred Stewart released Ortiz, who has been in jail since Monday, until his trial June 12.

Deputy Prosecutor David Soukup said the burglary charges are for break-ins Jan. 15 and Feb. 15, in which liquor was stolen from the Springdale Grocery & Hardware store.

Soukup said Ortiz also is accused in the Feb. 14 theft of a 1992 Isuzu Rodeo, which was wrecked and abandoned near Suncrest, and a 1987 Suzuki Samurai that was found at the scene of a party on the Spokane Indian Reservation.