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50 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, November 25, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 20, 2004 Fight, theft details pare sentences By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune The sentencing of three college students formerly charged with robbing Callahan’s Lodge last year boiled down to a battle over money. More than a year after being mired at Callahan’s in a snowstorm, Darren Rolf Trautmann, Kyle Anthony Trautmann and Michael Robert McCann returned to Jackson County Circuit Court to face misdemeanor charges instead of felonies. Further investigation showed that the Nov. 3 crime was not as serious as police initially believed, said Tim Barnack, deputy district attorney. Hoping to glean some cash from injuries he suffered in the ill-described robbery attempt, 24-year-old Kyle Ponichtera argued Friday that the Trautmanns and McCann should pay him $50,000 each. "They all left me there to die," Ponichtera said in a presentencing statement. "These gentlemen walked through my blood." Ponichtera endured two surgeries and 88 stitches to repair his left hand following the Nov. 3 encounter with the three Biola University students, said his attorney Andrew Carter. Advertisement "The three young men who committed the crime are men of privilege," Carter said during a telephone conference with the court. "The District Attorney’s Office has chosen to give them a break." But evidence showed that the Trautmann brothers and McCann never slashed at Ponichtera with broken glass while raiding Callahan’s liquor cabinet, Barnack and defense attorneys said. The alleged victim, a Callahan’s employee, fell while holding a vodka bottle, severely cutting his left hand. "He was so drunk, and he was helping himself to our vodka," said Callahan’s owner Ron Bergquist, interviewed Friday by telephone. Darren Trautmann, 20, and McCann, 22, did decide to steal several bottles of the lodge’s liquor while 22-year-old Kyle Trautmann was asleep, said defense attorney Jeni Feinberg. All three had been drinking with Ponichtera earlier that evening, she told the court. Ponichtera and Darren Trautmann apparently got into an argument while courting the attention of a female employee, Barnack said. Ponichtera pushed Darren Trautmann out of the lodge and into the snow. Kyle Trautmann tried to intervene, punching Ponichtera, before piling his brother and McCann into their car and driving away. "They thought that this was a fight, that it was over," Feinberg said. Barnack and Feinberg agreed that Ponichtera fell and cut himself after the three students left the lodge. Darren Trautmann later told police that he thought he hit Ponichtera over the head with a bottle. The lodge employee had a welt on his scalp when he was treated later at Ashland Community Hospital, Barnack said. Ponichtera’s blood-alcohol level after arriving at the hospital was .27 percent — more than three times Oregon’s legal limit of .08. The three students pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to charges of second-degree theft. Darren Trautmann also pleading guilty to an additional charge of fourth-degree assault. Circuit Court Judge Purdy sentenced them to a year and six months on unsupervised probation and 80 hours of community service. The Trautmanns and McCann also agreed to pay $24,000 for Ponichtera’s medical bills. Purdy denied Ponichtera’s plea for further monetary compensation. Barnack pointed out that $5,000 of undocumented expenses were included in the restitution and would therefore be paid directly to Ponichtera. The students’ attorneys described their clients’ week-long stay in the Los Angeles county jail as a more than adequate wake-up call for the incident. The three were arrested in Southern California three days after leaving Callahan’s. Ponichtera is no longer employed as a busboy at Callahan’s because he simply didn’t show up for work after his hand healed, Bergquist said. He has since threatened to sue the lodge, where he stayed as a guest last November after being kicked out of his former home. "He’s just a spoiled brat," Bergquist said. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities