In brief: Teen stabs attacker, learns he’s his father

EDGEWOOD, Wash. – The Pierce County sheriff’s office says a teenage boy stabbed his own estranged father unwittingly while defending his uncle during a nasty family fight.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Mike Blair says the fight started when the boy’s father, an estranged member of the family, arrived unexpectedly at the Edgewood residence Friday night.

Blair says the 47-year-old father began beating the boy’s uncle with a pipe, injuring the man’s head. The boy and his cousin heard the fight and rushed out to help. The 17-year-old boy stabbed the aggressor nine times.

The boy eventually found out that the man he stabbed was his estranged father, who died at the hospital a few hours later, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.

Lottery winner loses public defender

VANCOUVER, Wash. – A county judge has ruled that a $1 million Washington state lottery winner does not qualify to have a public defender.

Megan Gatlin’s earnings after taxes were $670,000 from winning the Oregon Lottery’s St. Patrick’s Day Raffle in April. A month later, she was appointed defense attorney John Peterson to represent her on charges of possession of a controlled substance and third-degree theft, the Vancouver Columbian reported.

On Friday, Peterson told Superior Court Judge Dan Stahnke that he didn’t think it was right for Clark County to pick up the costs of defending Gatlin, 28. Peterson said that at the time of the appointment the court didn’t know Gatlin had won the lottery.

When questioned, Gatlin told the judge that court officials only asked her if she was employed (she’s not), but never questioned how much money she had in her bank account.

Stahnke relieved Peterson of his duties, but Gatlin immediately hired him to represent her – this time on her own dime.

Felony charge in firewood assault

LIVINGSTON, Mont. – A southern Montana man accused of hitting another man with a piece of firewood now faces a felony charge.

Authorities said 35-year-old Kim Haas, of Livingston, appeared in court last week on a charge of assault with a weapon. Hass also appeared in court Thursday on a misdemeanor assault charge after his arrest late Wednesday.

Park County Sheriff’s Office said authorities were called to a Livingston home that night by a man who claimed Haas swung a log at him and his brother.

Undersheriff Scott Hamilton told the Livingston Enterprise that Haas hit one of the men with the piece of firewood, which was about 2 feet long, and punched the other in the face.

Hamilton said the men all knew each other and were arguing over “some name-calling.”

Woman who tripped sues Kroc Center

A North Idaho woman is suing the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center in Coeur d’Alene, saying she suffered injuries and emotional distress after she was tripped by a negligent employee at the facility last year.

Sheri Stone filed the lawsuit with her husband, Gene, last week in Idaho’s 1st District Court against the Salvation Army, the community center and an unnamed male employee.

Stone claims the employee was playing pool and not paying attention to his surroundings when he tripped her and she fell to the ground, suffering “grievous and permanent injuries,” the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.

The couple are seeking damages in excess of $10,000.

Kroc Center Executive Director John Chamness said Friday he had not yet reviewed the lawsuit.