Local News

A Josephine County man who was arrested earlier this week for breaking into and vandalizing the Head Start and General Store buildings in Williams found himself back behind bars yesterday after committing several crimes in Grants Pass.

The Grants Pass Police Department reports 37-year-old Sephiran Paul Roberts was arrested while hiding on a SE L Street property on Wednesday at 2:04 a.m..

Police said Roberts had been released from the Josephine County Jail on Tuesday night and he promptly started a crime spree in Grants Pass. The first incident was reported at 12:25 a.m. when he broke into a laundry room at a home on SE 10th Street. A caller reported someone ripped the screen off a window while stealing a cardboard box containing a generator and a few solar panels.

A short time later, a resident on SE L Street called 9-1-1 to report a male subject in a hard hat got into a fuse box, took out some fuses and told them "something is wrong with your heater." Investigators believe the Pacific Power hard hat -- along with numerous items -- were stolen by the suspect when he entered other buildings in the area.

When officers arrested Roberts, they found him with a gun, multiple mail items and keys he had taken from nearby property owners. Their property was returned.

Roberts was lodged at the Josephine County for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Attempted 1st-Degree Burglary, 2nd-Degree Burglary, two counts of 1st-Degree Theft, 2nd-Degree Criminal Mischief, 3rd-Degree Criminal Mischief and Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle. He was being held without bail.