Briefly: Idaho news
Kidnapping charges dropped because of lack of evidence
Kidnapping charges will be dropped against a transient accused of taking two children in an Amber Alert incident last month, prosecutors said.
John Marc Jack Thompson, 56, was arrested Aug. 2, three days after police issued an Amber Alert for two children believed to be with him.
But Chief Deputy Prosecutor Lansing Haynes said his office is drafting a motion to dismiss the second-degree kidnapping charge by next week. He said the completed police investigation showed there was not enough evidence to support the charge.
Police issued the Amber Alert for 4-year-old Tatiana Seibert and her 5-year-old cousin Ford Ware after Seibert’s mother told authorities they had become separated while caravanning across Idaho with a group of people.
The children had been riding in Thompson’s car with the permission of their parents when the group drove through Coeur d’Alene and Yvonne Seibert, 26, became separated from the others in the four-vehicle caravan.
But apparently Ware’s parents were never far away. When police arrested Thompson, the children were not with him. He directed authorities to a campground, where they found Ware’s parents, Jennifer Anderson and Les Ward, along with the missing children.
Tatiana Seibert, Ford Ware and Ware’s three siblings were all taken into protective custody because Bonner County officials believed they were at risk with their parents.
Child Protection Act cases are sealed by the court and it is not clear if the children have been returned to their parents.
Though the local charges are expected to be dismissed, police said Thompson is wanted on unrelated charges in Colorado and will likely be extradited there once the kidnapping charges are formally dropped.
Secret Witness offers reward
Secret Witness is offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of a Spokane man with more than three dozen convictions.
Robert Steven Barton, 42, is wanted on a felony warrant for residential burglary. He has 43 criminal convictions, including five related to drugs and others related to probation violations and driving violations, police said in a news release.
He is 5 feet 9, 185 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about Barton’s whereabouts is asked to call Secret Witness at 327-5111. Callers are asked to use a code name or number, and do not have to give their own name to be eligible for the reward.
Petition gatherer sentenced
Lewiston A Lewiston woman accused of forging signatures on a pro-gambling petition will serve at least six months in jail.
Carol E. Johnson, 46, of Lewiston, was sentenced Friday by 2nd District Judge Jeff Brudie for falsifying a voter petition calling for gaming electronics at horse racing tracks.
The judge put her under his custody for 180 days, meaning he could release Johnson after six months for good behavior. Her sentence runs one to two years, taking into account a grand theft conviction.
Johnson was ordered to pay $12,732 in restitution.
The gambling petition, which needed signatures from 41,000 registered Idaho voters, won’t make it to the November ballot. It was withdrawn by supporters in April. It would have allowed Idaho horse racing tracks to feature the same type of video lottery machines used by the state’s Indian-owned casinos.
Attorney General Lawrence Wasden has contended the “racinos” petition was unconstitutional.
Nez Perce County Prosecutor Dan Spickler said he believed Johnson forged the signatures of as many as 200 county voters. She may have been motivated by a $1.25 bounty for each signature paid by the gambling interests supporting the petition drive.
Spickler’s office was alerted by the county auditor when some of the petitions were found to be suspiciously flawless, representing every resident on entire blocks.