TRUCK FIRE – Firefighters knock down a fire in a Ford Explorer truck in Arrowhead Trailer Park in the 1200 block of Sawmill Creek Road Saturday evening. One person received fire-related injuries and was taken to the hospital, Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren said, and the truck was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Warren said. The fire hall received the call about the fire at 5:33 p.m., and one fire engine with eight firefighters and an ambulance were dispatched, he said. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
Drug-Laden Truck, Suspects Held Here
By Sentinel Staff
Two men were indicted by a Sitka grand jury Thursday on felony charges alleging they possessed methamphetamine and heroin with intent to sell.
Richard S. Lake, 52, of Chehalis, Wash., and Richard S. Discher, 54, of Westport, Wash., are being held in the Sitka jail on $50,000 bail. Lake has been in custody since Sept. 18, and Discher was taken into police custody on Friday, police said.
The grand jury charged the men with two counts each of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree, a class B felony. They are also charged with two misdemeanor counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth degree, in the information adding misdemeanor counts to the indictment.
The criminal complaint said that police were contacted Sept. 15 by the Coast Guard investigative service in Seattle about a tip they had received that Discher was trying to send up to one pound of heroin to Sitka in a Chevrolet pickup on a barge from Washingson state.
The barge arrived last Monday. Police saw the suspect vehicle offloaded at AML, and an Astro van with three men, including Discher and Lake, arriving from town. Police said Discher got out of the van and took custody of the pickup. Police stopped Discher, and Alaska State Troopers investigator Larry Duran used a drug-sniffing dog on the suspect vehicle “in which it indicated to the presence of the controlled substances.”
Discher was detained, and “a search of his person revealed approximately 2.5 grams of methamphetamine.” A traffic stop was also initiated on the Astro van, and the two men in the van were detained.
Police said the search of the truck showed 132 grams of heroin and 107 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the air filter under the hood; smaller amounts of heroin and meth, packaging materials and paraphernalia indicating meth and heroin were found in various containers within the vehicle, police said.
Police said the various items were labeled with the identity of Lake and Discher, and Lake admitted to knowing the vehicle contained controlled substances.
The criminal complaint said Lake had over $10,000 in cash on his person.
Police said the large quantity indicates the drugs were intended for sale. Police estimated the street value of the heroin sized at $132,000; and the meth at $21,400.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Businesses using the Centennial Hall parking lot testified Tuesday against a proposal to charge them rent in addition to the $200 annual permit fee. City Administrator Hugh Bevan made the proposal in response to the Assembly’s direction to Centennial Hall manager Don Kluting to try to close the $340,000 gap between building revenues and operational costs.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Alaska Native Brotherhood Grand President William S. Paul Sr. will be special guest and speaker at the local ANB, Alaska Native Sisterhood Founders Day program Monday at the ANB Hall.