A2
THEASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2020
IN BRIEF
Seaside man arrested for charges
related to domestic violence
A Seaside man was arrested Friday at his home on S.
Downing Street for crimes related to domestic violence.
Satumino Romero Martinez, 39, was taken into cus
tody for attempted murder, strangulation, assault in the
fourth degree, menacing, harassment and interfering
with a police officer.
Police responded at about 1:20 a.m. to a call made by
Martinez’s spouse. The spouse was taken to Columbia
Memorial Hospital in Astoria with injuries while officers
attempted to locate Martinez, who had fled the scene as
officers arrived.
Police later found Martinez back at his home. Offi
cials say two children at the home were released to fam
ily friends.
JUNETEENTH
LEFT: A 4-year-
old writes'Happy
Juneteenth'and
draws stars on a
sign at Mill Pond.
BELOW: Families
march around Mill
Pond in Astoria
on Friday after
story time and
sign-making for
Juneteenth.
Bakery is back in Gearhart,
but call it ‘Mac’s’
Hailey Hoffman/
The Astorian
GEARHART — It was a familiar scene for the past
three months: visitors peering through the window as if
they could somehow will back the cinnamon rolls, choc
olate croissants and veggie tarts at John and Lisa Allen’s
Pacific Way Bakery.
The bakery and neighboring restaurant closed in
March after 32 years as a gathering place and special
occasion dining destination.
The Allens reopened the former bakery Saturday
as Mac’s Micro-Market, a bodega concept with coffee
drinks, fresh produce, groceries, wine, sandwiches and
baked goods.
The market is named after “Mac,” a beloved Scot
tish terrier and a theme throughout the redesigned space.
—
The Astorian
Cannery workers forced into
hotel quarantine in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES — About 150 seasonal workers
hired by a salmon cannery in Alaska are being forced
to quarantine without pay at a hotel in Los Angeles after
three of them tested positive for the coronavirus, a law
suit claims.
The workers, most of them from Mexico and South
ern California, were hired June 2 by North Pacific Sea
foods to work at its Red Salmon Cannery in Naknek,
Alaska, through August, according to the lawsuit filed
Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, the Los Ange
les Times reported.
Instead, they have been stuck at the Crowne Plaza
LAX Hotel since June 10, attorney Jonathan Davis said.
Leauri Moore, the vice president of human resources
for North Pacific Seafoods, told the newspaper in an
email that she had not seen the lawsuit and could not
comment.
—
Associated Press
DEATHS
June 18, 2020
BAINER, Jeffrey Philip, 50, of Astoria, died in
Astoria. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria
is in charge of the arrangements.
BIRTH
June 3, 2020
HILFERTY, Brianna, and PETERSON, Justin, of
Warrenton, a boy, Gavin Thomas Peterson, bom at
Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria. Grandparents
are Sally Irvine and Eric Irvine, and Cindy Strickland,
all of Warrenton.
ON THE RECORD
Sodomy
•
Eric Villarino
Zamora, 33, of Portland,
was arraigned Friday for
two counts of sodomy in
the first degree and two
counts of sexual abuse in
the first degree.
Theft
• Shilo Money, 47, of
South Bend, Washington,
was arrested Saturday at
Walmart in Warrenton for
theft in the second degree.
DUII
• Oscar Castaneda Con
treras, 23, of Longview,
Washington, was arrested
Saturday following a
crash on U.S. Highway
101 and Cullaby Lake
Lane for driving under the
influence of intoxicants
and reckless driving.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
Astoria Planning Commission, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095
Duane St.
WEDNESDAY
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 6 p.m., (elec
tronic meeting).
Astoria School District Board, 7:15 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
THURSDAY
Clatsop County Recreational Lands Planning and Advi
sory Committee, 1 p.m., (electronic meeting).
the Astorian
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Sting operation captures
suspect in beehive thefts
By SIERRA DAWN
McCLAIN
Capital Press
A man charged with steal
ing hundreds of beehives
across the West has been
arrested in Washington state in
a joint sting effort by authori
ties and local beekeepers.
Officials say the bees could
be worth more than $200,000,
and the suspect has likely vic
timized more than 30 peo
ple across California, Wash
ington, Montana, Idaho and
Oregon.
The Lincoln County Sher
iff’s Office in Washington
state arrested Perry Davis
Bayes, 56, this month and
charged him with possession
of stolen property in the first
degree, a class B felony.
Pollination is a big busi
ness — hives rent for $200
to $300 — and agricultural
detectives say hive heists have
resulted in millions of dollars
in losses for beekeepers in
recent years.
This story, officials say, is
an example of citizen detec
tive work—with beekeepers,
farmers and officers working
together to solve the mystery.
The trail to find the thief
started at Columbia Pol
lination, saddled between
Moses Lake and George,
Washington.
In April, Dave Smouse,
the company’s owner and
beekeeper, said he discovered
more than 200 of his hives
were missing on a property
along Interstate 90.
Smouse said the only
marks left behind were “real
skinny” vehicle tracks.
His loss of beehives was
worth more than $25,000.
Smouse said he called
the Grant County Sher
iff’s Office. An officer told
Smouse he’d look into it, but
the theft remained unsolved.
More than a month later,
in late May, another Washing
ton beekeeper’s hives were
missing.
Bud Wilhelm, an Othello
beekeeper, had 64 of his hives
stolen in Lincoln County and
84 stolen in Grant County.
Bud Wilhelm
The tire tracks Bud Wilhelm found on the ground where his
beehives had been stolen.
Wilhelm said reporting the
case was complicated because
it spanned two counties and
separate sheriff’s offices
didn’t often work together on
cases.
Early in June, Wilhelm said
he called the Lincoln County
Sheriff’s Office. The officers
were eager to help, Wilhelm
said, but Sheriff Wade Mag-
ers told the Capital Press that
without the help of beekeep
ing and farming communities,
the agency likely wouldn’t
have cracked the case.
The mystery was unrav
eled, Magers said, “through
teamwork, creativity and a bit
of luck.”
Unintended calling card
Through an online group,
Wilhelm met Smouse. When
the two exchanged their sto
ries of stolen bees, they
noticed something in the
crime scene photos: the same
unique tire tracks, an unin
tended calling card.
“We realized: Hey, this is
the same thief. So we linked
together to track him down,”
Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm contacted farm
ers in his area and asked them
to take pictures of the honey
bees on their land, thinking
perhaps they might unknow
ingly be hosting stolen bees.
He was right.
Smouse recognized his
hives in a photo submitted by
a farm.
But Smouse couldn’t get
ahold of the farmer. He recog
nized the hill range and could
tell the crop was canola, so he
set out to find it, thinking it
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would be simple.
“Turns out, there’s lots of
canola fields,” Smouse said.
Finally, he found a farm
that matched the photo.
The farmer, who has cho
sen not to be named was
shocked to learn he had sto
len bees on his property. He
pointed Smouse to the bees’
source: Perry Davis Bayes.
Smouse, Wilhelm and the
sheriff s office soon learned
that Bayes was selling honey,
bee starter kits and other
equipment across the West.
Smouse had found many
of his bees, but Wilhelm’s
hives were still missing.
Online, Wilhelm found a
former employee of Bayes,
who led him to 128 of his 148
stolen hives in northern Idaho.
The former employee, those
familiar with the case say, was
likely naive rather than an
accomplice.
On many of the stolen
hives, Bayes had allegedly
painted over original logos,
covered brandings and some
times even chopped up
hives, moving bees to new
containers.
It was time for an arrest.
Stakeout
The Lincoln County Sher
iff s Office staged a sting. The
department has limited staff
and hours, so officers part
nered with the beekeepers for
the stakeout.
Officers posed as farm
ers owning land where Bayes
kept allegedly stolen bees.
They texted Bayes, telling him
the field would be sprayed by
a crop duster and advising
him to move the bees.
Wilhelm and Smouse
camped out overlooking the
field, watching for Bayes’
vehicle.
About 3:30 a.m., the bee
keepers say they saw a flash
of lights. The driver turned
off the headlights and pulled
through the field.
As the sun crept up, the
suspect loaded hives onto his
truck using a forklift.
The beekeepers called the
sheriff’s office.
Fifteen minutes later,
according to agency records,
Deputy Luke Mallon arrived.
The beekeepers say they
recall waiting another 15
minutes.
“It was pretty intense. Nail
biting. We were worried the
thief might leave before get
ting arrested or that he might
have a gun. We didn’t know
anything about this guy,”
Smouse said.
Smouse said he had
become friends with Dep
uty Mallon through the few
weeks of the investigation,
and he felt afraid for Mal
lon’s life — especially since
the deputy’s wife had a baby
on the way.
“If something happens to
him, I thought, I’ll carry that
for the rest of my life,” he
said.
Finally, Mallon called the
beekeepers: the suspect was
in handcuffs. And there on the
ground were the same strange
tire markings — from his
“ratty old” forklift.
Beekeepers across the
West are getting stolen hives
returned.
Sheriff Magers called the
arrest and restoration “a very
sweet ending” to a sticky
story.
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