Local News

Grants Pass Police jailed a man for two felony-level crimes after he was caught with a stolen U-Haul trailer this week.

The Police Department reports officers pulled over a blue Chevrolet pickup pulling the stolen trailer in the 1700-block of NW Hawthorne Avenue late Monday night.

Police said they stopped the 48-year-old male driver of the vehicle for traffic violations and discovered that he was in possession of a U-Haul trailer that he had just stolen off the lot at the corner of NW Vine Street and Hawthorne Avenue.

Officers took the man they identified as "Ralph Francis Chiampi, III" into custody. News archives show the suspect has a lengthy local criminal history.

Chiampi was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle and Possession of a Stolen Vehicle. He was initially being held without bail, but was released early yesterday due to "beyond available resources." The stolen trailer was hauled back to its owner by 3 Boys Towing.