BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A Bainbridge Island woman and her young son awoke Sunday morning to find a man pouring gas over them, brandishing a lighter — and threatening to light them on fire....Police have identified the man as 49-year-old Edward Mark Olsen...5 feet, 11 inches tall and 210 pounds. He has short gray hair and a mustache, and is a wanted parolee from California.
The woman and her son were jolted awake at around 4:30 a.m. by Olsen lurking over them while pouring gasoline onto the bed they were sharing... the frightened mother and son managed to jump up and run from the residence. They ran to a nearby apartment complex, where they told people to quickly call the authorities...Olsen is a wanted parolee from California. He was released from prison in California only in October, where he served time for assaulting the same woman....He has a violent criminal history, and should be considered a threat to the community, police stated. Anyone who knows of his whereabouts should call 911 or Bainbridge Island Police Detective Christian Hemion at (206) 842-5211... (Full text at KitsapSun.com)
Edward Mark Olsen is a stalker. As such, he presents an extremely high risk to reoffend...to kill. In that context, we should all be thankful DORC finally implemented the "California's Most Wanted Parolees" feature on the Agency website. Thanks to this feature, we can all navigate to http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Parole/index.html#mostwanted in order to become informed and aware about him and other dangerous absconders....right?
Of course, Mr. Olsen's mug does NOT grace the pages of the "most wanted" site, not yet anyway. After all, DORC only considers 18 PALS important enough to post, including 5 who have already been taken into custody. Presumably, there are at least 5 PALs SecrAttorney Cate's crew considers dangerous who could replace the mugs of the "apprehended. Unfortunately, omitting captured PALs from the page doesn't send the desired message: we got some!
So it is, DORC designates as "most wanted" only 13 absconders statewide, omitting a convicted stalker (and who knows who else) from the roster. Precisely what standard is being applied here?
Clearly, the Most Wanted feature was added in order to lend the appearance of an agency actively seeking PALs. Which is to say it is little more than window dressing--Invariably, this vapid presentation will cause DORC more embarrassment.
Imagine the scandal if Olsen had managed to incinerate his victims and it was learned DORC hadn't bothered to place him on the most wanted page--IT IS the only such resource available to out of state individuals. AND, it was a forgone conclusion Olsen would abscond to Washington (as noted on the warrant request and accompanying "CDCR 600" form).
By any reasoning, this is a scandal, however, it generally takes a dead body or two to rise to that level in the media's eye....maybe next time.
The police have named a "person of interest" in the murder of four Lakewood, Washington police officers this morning at a coffee shop near Tacoma.
Police are urgently seeking Maurice Clemmons, age 37. Clemmons spent some time in Arkansas as a guest of the state. At age 17 he was sentenced to 96 years in prison for robbery. His sentence was commuted by then-Governor Huckabee, citing Clemmons' age at the time of the offense. He was returned to custody once in Arkansas for violating parole.
He came to Washington State some time after his release on parole again in March of 2004. While in Washington he picked up a beef for 3rd degree assault on a peace officer and 2nd degree child rape. I have no information on the disposition of those charges.
The shooter came in to the Forza's Coffee Shop and walked up to the counter as if to place an order. The barista saw a gun under his coat and beat feet out the back door. The shooter then engaged the police officers who were at the time working with their lap tops. One of the officers grappled with the shooter and got some shots off at him. He may have been wounded.
Police are seeking Clemmons as he "may be able to provide information" in this case. The shooter is believed to be armed and extremely dangerous.
In the old days they would have issued an "extreme precaution apprehension" notice on this guy. That isn't done any more. You newbies should ask an old fart what that means if you don't know.
Clicking on the title will link to a story on this subject, complete with an orange jumpsuit photograph of Clemmons.
It is my understand that, at Avenal on Thursday, a PIA truck was going from point A to point B when a suspicious bundle fell from the underside of the truck. Upon closer inspection a total of 5 more packages were found attached to the bottom of the truck with magnets. The truck is normally parked in the staff parking lot over night. I couldn't tell from the photos if they material was tobacco or weed.
I admit I don't know about the physical layout of the Avenal parking lots but at my old stomping grounds we had a lot of trouble with visitors parking in the staff lot, and visitors walked through the staff lot to get to the entrance building so I am guessing these bundles are not being left by staff.
At about 830 this morning four members of the Lakewood, Washington police department were murdered in a coffee shop just outside McCloud Air Force Base. The three Police Officers and one Sergeant were all in uniform and going on duty. The marked vehicles were parked in front of Forza's coffee shop. They were sitting inside working on reports on their lap tops when the shooter came in and opened fire. This was definitely not a robbery gone bad but a deliberate attack on the law enforcement personnel.
One of the cops is known to have got some shots off although it is not known if the shooter was hit.
There was apparently only one shooter, a black male in his 20s or 30s, though that information has changed during the day. Early reports indicated the possibility of two shooters, one white and one black. There is no information on a possible getaway driver or vehicle.
Lakewood is a medium size department with about 100 officers on the force. Pretty much every cop in the state is looking for the shooter. There is a $10,000 reward already in play for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.
'Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.' (Matthew 26:14-16, NIV)
Two Men at Cross-purposes with God
In reviewing the gospel record of the life of Jesus, two of his twelve "chosen" disciples played key roles in his arrest and subsequent crucifixion: Judas Iscariot and Simon (Peter). In the choosing of his disciples, Matthew tells us that Jesus chose Peter first and Judas last among the Twelve. Peter and Judas Iscariot walked with Jesus throughout his three-year ministry, witnessed, participated in, and performed miracles, and had been numbered among a small core group, closest to him. And the record indicates both Peter and Judas abandoned their teacher and friend.
One important aspect of the gospel record, often overshadowed by the magnitude of the crucifixion and resurrection, is the context of the events leading up to Jesus' betrayal and arrest. Keep in mind, no one but Jesus knew that last meal he ate with the Twelve would be The Last Supper. Unlike a State dinner or commencement ceremony, there was no invitation (with RSVP) sent out weeks in advance for this last gathering of the Twelve. Little did Jesus' disciples know that all Hell would literally break out within hours of their breaking bread together for the last time.
This last day with Jesus was more than likely just like any other day spent with him: twelve young men vying for their master's favor while trying to grasp his lessons as best they could. The account is clear that Peter and the others continued to struggle with what Jesus was telling them. One could easily imagine in the midst of witnessing miracle upon miracle, being in the presence of Jesus was overwhelming, exasperating, and exhilarating. Being with Jesus was more than one could take in (let alone twelve) and digest properly.
In that context, it is important to understand the roles both Judas Iscariot and Peter played in the death of Jesus. Believe it or not, until Judas walked up and kissed Jesus on the cheek and Jesus was manhandled by the arrest party, none of the Twelve knew Judas Iscariot was the "betrayer." All of the gospel reflections about Judas Iscariot were in hindsight. For the benefit of the readership, Judas Iscariot was identified frequently by the gospel writers as "Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him." In reality, Judas was not forced wear a lapel pin signifying him as a traitor or to walk in the back of the group, as they all traveled together.
Only Jesus knew the identity of Judas. I suspect that up until a few weeks or perhaps days of Jesus' arrest, Judas was unaware of his own duplicity in the matter. After all, Judas was the disciple trusted to carry the money for the group. If anyone traveling with Jesus thought the worst of Judas, why would they have entrusted their money to him? If Judas' only interest was money, he could have absconded with the cash long before his meeting with the Sanhedrin. The record indicates Judas was possessed by Satan before he went to betray Jesus. Sometime before being possessed, Judas had sought out the Jewish officials, struck a bargain for monetary gain, and promised to identify Jesus to the arrest party. Then he waited for the opportunity and slipped out during the last meal with Jesus to complete his plans.
Peter, on the other hand, was one of three disciples within the "inner circle" of Jesus. John, James, and Peter were clearly in leadership roles among the Twelve. Jesus' selection of the strong-willed Peter resulted in some of the more emotional, spiritual, and humorous accounts among the Twelve in the gospels. It was Peter who walked on water (and nearly drowned), declared Jesus as the Messiah, offered to build shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah at Gethsemane, asked Jesus to give him a bath, drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the high priest's servants during Jesus' arrest, and denied Jesus three times as Jesus was being brought to trial.
Two men were at cross-purposes with God. Peter and Judas Iscariot had been hand picked by Jesus as his followers and experienced a life on the road few can imagine. Peter was chosen by God for salvation, having declared Jesus as Lord in his heart. Peter would carry on the ministry of the church after being restored by Jesus, following the resurrection. Judas Iscariot, however, was chosen by God for destruction, having determined in his heart to betray Jesus for a profit. Shortly after Jesus' arrest, Judas hanged himself.
At one intersection of two pieces of wood, the cross became an instrument of God for the purposes of both destruction and salvation. Upon the cross, the bondage of sin was destroyed and atoned in the suffering sacrifice (and body) of Jesus of Nazareth. Through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, eternal life was ushered back into the hearts and experiences of human beings. It was the purpose of the cross that empowered Peter to spread the good news of the gospel in the founding of the first church.
Without faith in the power of the cross and resurrection of Christ, the hanged man (Judas Iscariot) was cursed and destroyed. Here is the account of his demise from Matthew, Chapter 27:3-10:
'When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."'
Are you at cross-purposes with God? As Judas Iscariot demon-strated, you cannot hope to double-cross God and succeed. But as Peter proved, you can be at cross-purposes with God and receive salvation, restoration, and reconciliation through faith in Jesus.
