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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 2015)
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9 FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 Local & Entertainment SWAT team called to Huntington By Eileen Driver Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com Tuesday, March 17th started out the same as any other day in Huntington. But by nightfall it was anything but normal for the sleepy little town. By 5 p.m. the population of Huntington had swelled to include members of the Baker County Sheriff's De- partment SWAT team and Oregon State Police. In order to understand what transpired the follow- ing timeline is a compila- tion taken from statements by Lieutenant Travis Ash of the Baker County Sher- iff offi ce, Mayor Travis Young of Huntington and several Huntington residents. 12- 12:30 p.m. Gary Waldrup, a 59-year-old resident of Huntington was involved in a one-vehicle accident on Highway 30 across the street from Mayor Young's residence, in what the locals call “Old Town.” Mayor Young, who is also an EMT with the Huntington Fire & Medical Department, tried to assist Waldrup who appeared to be visibly under the infl u- ence of alcohol when he exited the vehicle. Waldrup refused any help and pro- ceeded to head out on foot toward his home yelling obscenities and acting in a belligerent manner. 1:00-2:30 p.m. Deputy John Hoopes arrived in Huntington, discovered the crashed vehicle and started investigating the scene. He learned who owned the vehicle and discovered in the back seat of the vehicle a cardboard box contain- ing a live cat. It was later learned that the cat be- longed to Gary Waldrup’s neighbor and was returned unharmed to its owner. Hoopes took the cat to City Hall and proceeded to Waldrup’s house to talk with him. On arriving at Waldrup’s home he found the man visibly intoxicated and yelling threats of vio- lence to his neighbor and to police offi cers. Then Waldrup barricad- ed himself in his home. 2:30 p.m. Lieutenant Ash, who was in Pendleton at the time, was called and updated on the situation. This isn’t the fi rst incident for Waldrup, who is classifi ed as a disabled military veteran. In 2005, Waldrup was involved in a similar situation in which he barricaded himself in his home with numerous guns and threatened to shoot the police and himself, which culminated in his arrest for driving under the infl uence of intoxicants, unauthor- ized use of a motor vehicle and improper use of the 911 services. Lt. Ash decided at that time to call in SWAT to try and avoid escalation of the situation and safeguard the Huntington residents. 4-4:30 p.m. Baker County SWAT team and Oregon State Police Of- fi cers arrived, and with the help of the Huntington Fire and Medical Depart- ment, started to block off the roads surround- ing Waldrup’s home and made plans to evacuate the people in the surrounding homes. 5-6:00 p.m. The evacua- tion began. Huntington Librarian Christina Gaines said, “ I was at the library and the Sheriff told me to ‘lock it down.’ I had to turn people away and tell them to move along so they didn’t get caught in the crossfi re. At 6 they evacuated me. As I left you could hear Gary yelling and throwing stuff at the cops.” 6:00 p.m. - 2 a.m. Sher- iff’s Department personnel continued to negotiate with Waldrup who during this time was yelling, scream- ing and taunting offi cers. At one point Waldrup was convinced to call Veteran’s Services and speak to a councillor there. His fam- ily was kept up-to-date by police. 2-3:00 a.m. Waldrup fell asleep and the Sher- iff’s department decided to pack it in for the night after ascertaining that all the guns had been removed from the home. According to Lt. Ash in a briefi ng to the Huntington City Council on Friday March 20, “We want to respond to what is done, not make the fi rst aggres- sive move.” He said that charges are being fi led for DUII, reck- less driving and several other related crimes and Waldrup would be arrested at that time. Waldrup was not taken into custody that evening because it was determined that in order to do so signifi cant damage would have had to be done to his residence and the situation had to potential to escalate with either Waldrup or a police offi cer being shot. Lt. Ash has kept in con- tact with Waldrup’s family. Waldrup is scheduled to be taken to the V.A. Hospi- tal for treatment. Bebe’s word search This week’s crossword puzzle — Random Acts of Kindness — Each week The Baker County Press will in- clude a list—all anony- mous, of course—of the good deeds and random acts of kind- ness people from around the area have witnessed. To include something you’ve seen The or experienced, email News@TheBakerCoun- tyPress.com with “Ran- dom Acts of Kindness” in the subject line. We’ll be sure to include your story. • To the school kid (brown hair, black shirt) who ran across the road and grabbed our dog when it got out of the fence, and carried him back home to the yard, thank you! It’s not like him to run off like that. I wish you’d knocked on the door, but you walked off too fast. Baker County Press Subscribe Today! Name: Address: City, State, Zip: Email address: Phone: E-Only $29.95/yr. Print (Delivery) $39.95/yr. Inside Baker City City Limits Only Print (Mail) $49.95/yr. Outside Baker City City Limits Only 1. Make check payable to: Black Lyon Publishing, LLC 2. Mail the check with this completed form to: PO Box 567, Baker City, Ore. 97814 To pay by credit card, please visit www.Th eBakerCountyPress.com Across 1- Olive genus; 5- Elegance; 10- ___ Alto; 14- Dull resonant sound; 15- “M*A*S*H*” name; 16- ____-friendly: not too technical; 17- New Rochelle col- lege; 18- ___ barrel; 19- Pealed; 20- Sports fi gure; 21- Blown about; 23- Sweetie; 25- Get it?; 26- Cherish; 31- Begin; 35- Sunburnt; 36- Fencing blades; 38- Rose; 40- Scored 100 on; 42- Simmons rival; 44- Catch a view of; 45- Horse locks; 47- Eats to a plan; 49- ___ Quentin; 50- Sacred song; 52- Make moral; 54- Feedbag morsel; 56- Meadow; 57- Lively young wom- an; 62- 1994 Jodie Foster fi lm; 66- Smack; 67- Brown ermine; 68- Now ___ me down...; 69- Very funny; 70- Artist Matisse; 71- Scottish loch, home to a monster!; 72- Adjoin; 73- Org.; 74- Fence opening; Down 1- Kimono ties; 2- Booty; 3- Sicilian resort; 4- First name in who- dunits; 5- Adults; 6- Sitarist Shankar; 7- Arabian Sea gulf; 8- Parlor game; 9- Rubs out; 10- Free from contami- nation; 11- Quickly, quickly; 12- Pre-Easter season; 13- Assn.; 22- Dampens; 24- Sugary suffi x; 26- Streetcar; 27- Summary; 28- Perfect places; 29- Vibrating component of a woodwind instru- ment; 30- Causing goose bumps; 32- Consumed; 33- Martini’s partner; 34- Mineral used as a gem; 37- Editor’s mark; 39- Unit of force; 41- Narc’s org.; 43- Physically active; 46- Slovenly person; 48- Sprechen ___ Deutsch?; 51- Actress Mason; 53- Punishing; 55- French beans?; 57- Thick slice; 58- Island of Hawaii; 59- ___ the crack of dawn; 60- Heaps; 61- Edible corm; 63- Zeno’s home; 64- Go the distance; 65- Dissolve, as cells; 66- Doo-wop syllable;
