Man arrested in Pullman rape
An Airway Heights man was arrested Wednesday in connection with Tuesday night’s rape of a woman in Whitman County.
Airway Heights police arrested Jerry Allen Herron, 57, on suspicion of first-degree rape and unlawful imprisonment and took him to the Whitman County Jail.
Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers gave no details of the alleged rape about 9 p.m. Tuesday, which was reported to Pullman police.
Myers said Pullman police investigated the incident jointly with sheriff’s officers after determining that the crime occurred outside the city, and together they identified Herron as the suspect.
Herron was arrested after Whitman County deputies searched his home and vehicle.
Myers said Herron has a “substantial” criminal history and is on state Department of Corrections probation.
Spokane County Superior Court records show Herron was convicted of second-degree burglary and drug possession in 2005, and of felony violation of a protection order in both 2004 and 2001. Also in 2001, Herron was convicted of second-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment.
– John Craig
Spokane
Former escapee gets prison term
A 40-year-old man who broke two arms while escaping last year from Geiger Corrections Center was sentenced Wednesday to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Jeff A. Heatwole, 40, was arrested eight days after his April 5 escape from Geiger. When he was taken into custody, Heatwole had casts on both arms and cuts, which he told officers were caused by the razor wire that surrounds the facility.
On Wednesday, Heatwole entered an Alford plea, meaning that he does not believe he is guilty but acknowledged that prosecutors have enough evidence to probably convict him of the charge of second-degree escape.
Heatwole also pleaded guilty to a charge of felony harassment in exchange for having several other charges dismissed.
Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark agreed with a stipulated sentence of 43 months, minus the year Heatwole has already spent in the Spokane County Jail.
“I wasn’t harassing. I was trying to help somebody,” Heatwole told Clark. “It all got turned around on me.”
– Thomas Clouse
Kellogg
Kellogg school takes break after illness hits
Sunnyside Elementary School in Kellogg will be closed today and Friday because more than 40 percent of its students are ill with flulike symptoms.
The school was also closed Wednesday after 110 of its 269 students stayed home sick on Tuesday, Sunnyside Principal Steve Shepperd said. Many staff members also reported symptoms.
When the illness first hit the school about a week or so ago, about 12 kids were sick.
“The kids didn’t stay home long enough, in many cases, to really get well,” Shepperd said. “It just kind of snowballed.”
Shepperd said the school is hoping the closure, along with the Presidents Day holiday on Monday, will give the kids time to recover.
– Meghann M. Cuniff