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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
November 22, 2012     Shelton Mason County Journal
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November 22, 2012
 
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By NATALIE JOHNSON nattffiE~rnasoncounty.corn After decades of training troopers in the Washington State Patrol (WSP), the 2.7- mile track on Dayton Airport Road in Shelton still enjoys a reputation as one of the best places to learn advanced driving and law enforcement skills. Trooper and driving in- structor Troy Metcalf said WSP has one of the best law enforcement driving pro- grams in the nation. '%Ve're very prideful of our program," he said. Metcalf has been a driv- ing instructor for 12 of his 22 years with the state patrol. In addition to four full-time Emergency Vehicle Operation Course (EVOC) instructors permanently assigned to the Shelton Academy, Metcalf, normally based in King Coun- ty, is one of two long-term temporary instructors. All state troopers learn driving skills on the Shelton track and law enforcement or- ganizations from around the state -- as well as the country -- send their recruits to the Mason County track to learn from the best, on the best track, Metcalf said. In use since 1969, the track includes sections to train troopers to drive at high speeds, a skills course and a skid pan, which teaches driv- ers to deal with standing wa- ter, a vital skill particularly in western Washington. In the skid pan, cadets learn to recover from skids and hydroplaning, and to drive both quickly and safely in poor driving conditions. This part of the track is de- signed to teach cadets to "go to the point of losing it," and learn to recover the car, Met- calf said. "We're taking a car and asking it to do things it really doesn't want to do," he said. In the skills course, cadets Journal photo by Nata e Johnson The new Chevrolet Caprice police car is outfitted with electronic stability control, which helps it handle in wet conditions, such as the skid pan at the track at the Washington State Patrol Academy on Dayton Airport Road in Shelton. Behind the byline pushing the car to its lira- you think to power out of a its at speed and around ob- slide than it looks on TV. Shelton-Mason County stacles, and turninga shade Later in the skills course, Journal reporter Natalie greener with eve~ trip she learned that backing up Johnson spent two hours through the skid pan, John- is not her strong suit, nor Nov. 15 on the Washing- son got to take her own turn is parallel parking, and we ton State Patrol track with be~d the wheel, hear she's sorry about kilt- WSP driving instructor ~r a few trips of her ing all those traffic cones. Trooper Troy Metcalf. own in the skid pan, she Thanks to the WSP for After touring the track in learned firsthand that it's putting up with another jour- the new Chevrolet Caprice ~ to do doughnuts in a 10o- nalist eager to burn rubber police cruiser with Metcalf, lice car, bat it's harder than on the track. have to navigate around cones patrol, but in its Aggressive the new Ford Police Intercep- and park beth in drive and re- Driver Apprehension Pro- tor out of the water, Metcalf verse, and parallel park beth gram (ADAP). Today, the said. on the right and the left sides state patrol fleet has five The Caprice has Chevy's of the road. To pass, recruits Chargers. "Stabilitrac" electronic stabil- need to complete the course The Charger was an im- ity control, making it safe on between 3 to 4 minutes with provement in some ways from dangerous road surfaces like no errors, the old Crown Vic, Metcalf standing water or snow. It has In the past, students were said, most notably because it sport shift and performance taught usingthe current stan- had electronic stability con- modes, making the automatic dard in police cars, the Ford trol, while the traditional transmission push the car's Crown Victoria. However, Ford patrol car does not. 6-liter, 355-horsepower en- Ford is discontinuing the car, However, less space inside gine to peak performance. and the state patrol had sev- the car made it impractical for While the new cars have eral choices on which car to the state patrol's entire fleet, advanced stability control and transitionto. The new Chevrolet Ca- can therefore correct some In 2006, the state patrol price, made only for law en- driving errors or behaviors, began acquiring Dodge Char- forcement agencies, blows the instructors still teach recruits gers for use, not in regular Charger, Crown Victoria, and basic principlesofdriving, such more By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie@masoncounly.con~ Charles Sydney Long- shore, 22, was sentenced Monday in Mason County Superior Court to more than five years in prison on three counts, felony harassment, attempting to elude a police officer and possesson of a controlled substance. Longshore was convicted by a jury on July 23 for the March 25 incident, in which he was arrested on the 300 Block of Taylor Road by a Shelton police officer. Lonshore has an offender score, a number used to cal- culate his sentence, of 8, based on prevous convictions of theft, burglary, Charles unlawful Longshore possession of a con- trolled sub- stance, harassment -- threat to kill, assault in the third degree and possession of a stolen vehicle. For count one, attempt- ing to elude a police vehicle, Longshore was sentenced to 34 months and 1 day, which includes a sentencing en- hancement of 12 months and 1 day for "endangering some- one other than the pursuing police officers or the defen- dant during the course of at- tempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle." For count two, felony ha- rassment, he was sentenced to 57 months, and for count three, unlawful possession of a controlled subtance, specifi- cally methamphetamines, he was sentenced to 24 months. The sentences will run concurrently, except for the 12 month and one day sen- tencing enhancement. This means Longshore will serve 69 months and 1 day, or about 5 3/4 years in prison. A motion from Longshore's attorney, Brett Purtzer, ask- ing for a new trial, was de- nied, based on the fact that it was not filed in time. While out on $10,000 bail for the March 25 incident, Longshore was charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the first degree in Authorities apprehend 1 sex offender, still seeks another By NATALIE JOHNSON natalie~f'.masoncoun tv.com One absconded sex of- fender in Mason County was apprehended in Shelton Monday, while the second remains on the run. Mason County Sheriffs deputies and officers from Michael the Shelton Police Depart- Nicolas ment worked together to bring Michael Artemio Nico- las into custody on Monday. Nicolas has been classi- fied as absconded for fail- ing to meet his sex offender registration requirements. In October, the sheriffs of- fice found that Nicolas had actually not been living in the house that he had regis- Izak tered as his address for the Shackelford last 7 years. Police caught up with him on a Mason Transit by and they pulled the bus Authority bus in Shelton on over." Monday. The officers saw Nicolas was previously Nicolas inclassified as a level 1 sex town, and offender after a May 2007 he ran conviction in Mason County t h r o u g h Superior Court of two sex a wooded crimes, rape of a child in the area to get first degree and child mo- away from lestation in the first degree. them, said Due to his absconding, the Detective sheriffs office now considers Bill Adam him a level 3 sex offender. with the The sheriffs office is still M a s o n looking for another abscond- C o u n t y ed level 3 sex offender, Izak S h e r i ff' s Lee Shackelford, who has Office. been classified as absconded "T h e y since Nov. 1 for failing to w a t c h e d follow his registration re- where he quirements. went," he Shackelford was origi- said. "He nally required to register p o p p e d as a level 1 sex offender af- out of the ter a July 2007 conviction w o o d s in Clark County Superior when a Court for indecent liber- bus was ties. Since he has absconded c o m i n g from his registration re- quirements, the sheriffs of- fice has now classified him as a level 3 sex offender. as braking only in a straight line and curve negotiation. '~_is car will have a better chance, if you make a mis- take, of recovering," he said. Over the next several years the state patrol plans to tran- sition entirely to the Caprice, Metcalf said. "Now, everyone's getting trained on this car," he said. Each patrol car lasts about 120,000 miles before it is re- tired. That could be as little as three to five years, Metcalf said, depending on how far a trooper has to drive each years. The state patrol currently has six Caprices, and plans to replace their entire fleet with the new cars. At first, only ex- perienced troopers will get a new car, while a new trooper will get a gently used Crown Victoria. "We're not going to issue a brand new trooper going on on the streets a brand new Caprice," Metcalf said. The test track isn't only about driving fast, accurately or in bad weather, Metcalf said. It also serves as a loca- tion to practice offender stops, and techniques for stopping a car in a pursuit. The ~rack also has a set of cars for Pursuit Immobiliza- tion Technique (PIT) train- ing. These are older, retired Crown Victorias outfitted with metal bumpers. Troop- ers learn with these cars how to, not ram, but push another car in order to stop a fleeing offender, Metcalf said. In addition to patrol and training cars, the state patrol track also has several donated non-police cars for training for traffic stops and accident re- construction. ''We use these type of cars -- it makes it more realistic," Metcalf said. "We try to make it as realistic as possible." Though the 108 hours of in- struction for all state troopers readies them to navigate im- pediments, bad weather, and make dangerous stops, all of it, Metcalf said, is to make the deaths of Tyler Drake, 19, and Anitrea Draber, 37, in their home on Harvard Avenue in Shelton early in the morning on Memorial Day. Longshore was arrested on June 1. Judge Toni Shel- don denied him bail. Longshore has signed a waiver of speedy trial and is not scheduled to go to trial on the murder case until early 2013. those troopers and citizens safer on highways. "They're geeing trained by the best of the best," he said. 'Tqe want safe drivers out there." 5995 & UP Used Cars & Trucks Now Available Again At Sun Abto & A ddres~in Sh~Ito n 5961 E. State Route #3 (Deer Creek Area) We Buy- Sell- Trade Closed Sundays Call: 360.426.2907 Washington" s Wild Cat Sanctuary Safe Haven Education Conservation @Animal Welfare You can save a life! 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