In brief: 5 students arrested for fraternity fight
Five Washington State University fraternity brothers were arrested Tuesday on assault charges stemming from their involvement in a fight two months ago that seriously injured one man, disrupted Greek row and set the ball rolling again on a fighting ordinance.
Mark A. Tarabochia, 19; Scott L. Tandoi, 20; and Timothy B. Giles, 19, each face a felony assault charge, said Pullman police Sgt. Don Dornes. Christopher J. Ranch, 21, and Brian R. White, 19, could be charged with fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor.
The Oct. 27 brawl involved WSU’s Delta Chi and Theta Chi fraternities, Dornes said. A 20-year-old man suffered three fractures to his jaw and may have permanent nerve damage.
The five men arrested were all members of Delta Chi, Dornes said.
University officials have removed the freshmen from the two fraternities and placed them in residence halls for the remainder of the semester as a safety precaution.
The incident has re-energized a months-long department effort to pass an ordinance that would make fighting a civil infraction, costing $250 for the first offense and $500 for a second.
– Jody Lawrence-Turner
Spokane
Defender’s absence delays dogfighting trial
A judge has told a public defender to bring a note from his doctor to prove he’s too sick to represent his client after his absence Tuesday delayed a trial in Spokane County Superior Court.
Superior Court Judge Michael Price on Tuesday ordered Spokane County Public Defender Matt Harget to get a sworn statement saying he’s unable to represent Peter S. Nelson, a Spokane Valley man arrested last April on dogfighting and animal cruelty charges.
Nelson and Alfredo L. Renteria are accused of running an illegal dog- fighting business in the Spokane Valley.
A police affidavit says a search of the property at 8006 E. Utah yielded dogfighting equipment, a cache of weapons and baggies of marijuana.
Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Garvin said Harget’s repeated motions to delay the trial are costing taxpayers thousands because kenneling the pit bulls involved in the alleged fighting costs $48 a day, and will eventually exceed $10,000 total.
When no note from Harget was forthcoming by Price’s 12:30 p.m. deadline, Superior Court Judge Gregory Sypolt, the trial judge, said it would be unfair to start the jury trial without adequate representation for Nelson. He postponed the trial to 1 p.m. today – and ordered Harget or his supervisor to appear at 9 a.m.
– Karen Dorn Steele