Prelim for accused groper
The man accused of groping women around BYU’s campus will have a preliminary hearing at 11 a.m. Aug. 28.
During a hearing Thursday morning, Nathan Eric Fletcher told Judge Steven Hansen that he wants the hearing, in which the city will lay out its case against him. At his first court appearance last month, Fletcher’s attorney said the evidence against his client — that he’d seen at that point — didn’t add up.
Fletcher faces two class A misdemeanor counts of sexual battery in two groping incidents, though BYU officials have said they believe he’s responsible for more than a dozen gropings between January and mid-March. Fletcher was kicked out of BYU and banned from campus.
Packaged pot bust
First came a traffic stop by Spanish Fork police that netted 60 pounds in packages of marijuana, and that led to a search warrant for a home where police found a cache of another 26 pounds in packaged pot and other drugs. There also was a 9-month-old baby living at the house, who was removed by the state Division of Child and Family Services.
Charlene Ewell, 37, Caleb Hare, 33, and Ryan Frey, 32, were arrested and taken to the Utah County Jail.
Police say the drugs were worth $35,000.
Deal in contract killer case
On Tuesday Darrell Morris, one of the men accused in the contract killing of a Provo man in 2011, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, obstructing justice and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. Morris was sentenced on the spot to two terms of one to 15 years in prison and another term of zero to five years, all of which will run concurrently. He didn’t get any credit for time served.
Prosecutors have said that Morris, 41, and Danny Logue, 48, were hired by Yuri Lara to kill Andy Purcell in May 2011 because Lara thought Purcell was talking to police about him. Lara has already pleaded guilty and Logue’s case is scheduled for trial.
Parents drug bust
Over the weekend, the state Division of Family Services asked officers in Highland to help remove a child from a house. When they got to the house they saw the child’s parents leaving in a car, and they tried to avoid police. They eventually stopped but the father resisted being pulled from the car, police say. During the struggle he pulled a meth pipe from his pocket, said it wasn’t his and tried to smash it. The mother appeared to be impaired and failed field sobriety tests.
The couple reportedly both had meth and drug paraphernalia on them and inside the vehicle and were booked into the Utah County Jail on drug charges, obstruction of justice, resisting arrest, DUI and more.
The parents had left the child behind at their house, and officials were able to get the kid.
Street ATVs
An Orem police officer on Monday found four kids riding their ATVs on the street. When they saw the officer, one of the kids tried to take off but was caught. For his trouble, he got a citation and his ATV was impounded.