In brief: Bounty hunter extradited, jailed

An unlicensed bounty hunter facing criminal charges for his work with Spokane-area law enforcement is to remain jailed in lieu of $250,000 bond, a judge ruled Monday.

Dennis J. Kariores Jr., 42, returned to Spokane this weekend after he was arrested Feb. 9 in Pensacola, Fla., on a warrant for first-degree burglary, unlawful imprisonment and second-degree kidnapping for allegedly using illegal apprehension techniques.

If he does post the bond, he’s prohibited from contacting Angels or All City bail bond companies, whose employees are involved in Kariores’ criminal  case.

Former Spokane police Officer Alan Edwards, who was fired last month, was suspended for two weeks for arranging a ruse with Kariores that involved using a fugitive to help them gain access to a home they otherwise lacked legal authority to enter.

Kariores’ criminal charges stem from allegedly unlawful contacts with citizens in February 2010 and August 2010. Other law enforcement officers have admitted to working closely with Kariores.

Kariores has told The Spokesman-Review he was only doing as the police told him.

Airman missing in Spokane River

Emergency crews were looking for a missing Fairchild airman, 26-year-old James Adam Ramse-Lassiter, in the Bowl and Pitcher area of the Spokane River.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said Lassiter went out in an 11-foot canoe on Saturday and hadn’t been seen since.

Friends searched along the river Monday and located Lassiter’s truck parked at Riverside State Park, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

“Preliminary reports were that Lassiter did not have a helmet, life jacket or exposure suit when he went into the water,” the release said.

The Sheriff’s Office began searching by boat and personal watercraft at 10 a.m. Monday, and Fairchild and the U.S. Border Patrol joined in the search with helicopters.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Child porn brings four-year sentence

A Spokane Valley man was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.

Jonathan Stocker, 30, was indicted last year after a May 31 search warrant conducted by the U.S. Secret Service found two dozen videos and images of children engaged in sex acts, according to court records.