REGION
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
HERMISTON
Two people were arrested
Sunday for attempting to
steal metal from two Herm-
iston businesses — including
Good Shepherd Medical
Center.
At about 4 p.m. Sept. 10,
Hermiston police responded
to the Hermiston hospital for
a report of attempted theft.
Surveillance
footage
showed a male and a female
— believed to be Jona-
than Price, 35, and Maria
Martinez, 34, — attempting
to steal two spools of high
voltage copper wire from a
storage room. The wire was
valued at $2,000. Price and
Martinez were interrupted
by hospital security but fled
in a Suzuki SUV.
Later that same day, the
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
office received a call from
Bruce Heating and Air
Conditioning, Hermiston, of
a theft in progress. A witness
said they saw Price and
Martinez stealing metal from
behind the business.
About an hour later,
around 6:40 p.m., Sgt.
Kelly Parsons of the Herm-
iston Police Department
conducted a traffic stop in
the 400 block of Southeast
10th Street on an older Chev-
rolet S10 pickup matching
a description from earlier
incidences.
Umatilla County Under-
sheriff Jim Littlefield said
Price and Martinez were
found in possession of some
of the stolen items and
admitted to stealing them.
Both were taken into
custody and later charged
with one count of second-de-
gree burglary and one
count of first-degree theft.
They will also be charged
with first-degree theft and
criminal mischief, criminal
trespassing and second-de-
gree burglary, according to
police.
Man drowns
Saturday at
Warehouse Beach
HERMISTON — The
Umatilla County Sheriff’s
Office reported a drowning
Saturday at Warehouse
Beach.
Deputies responded
to the area Saturday at
about 6 p.m., according to
a written statement from
the sheriff’s office issued
Monday, on a report
that a male swam away
from the shore, began
to struggle, went under
and did not resurface.
Deputies conducted
an initial search, then
requested assistance from
the Columbia Basin Dive
Rescue team based in
Richland, Washington.
The dive team found
the male about 8 p.m. The
sheriff’s office also stated
it would not release the
identity of victim until
notifying his family.
Cattle truck crash
sends driver to
hospital
Staff photos by Kathy Aney
Dress-Up
Parade kicks
off Round-Up
festivities
(Above) Two girls perform
on the Eastern Oregon Phil-
ippine-American
Commu-
nity float during Saturday’s
Dress-Up Parade in downtown
Pendleton. The float won the
sweepstakes award at the
parade. (Right) Actors depict
bath time at the underground
laundry that is part of the
Pendleton Underground tour
during Saturday’s Dress Up
Parade.
For more photos from the
parade, visit www.eastorego-
nian.com.
PENDLETON
Two arrested after chase, crash onto railroad tracks
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Police arrested two men Monday
evening in Pendleton after a car crash.
Pendleton Police Chief Stuart
Roberts said neither the driver nor
passenger were hurt — but both were
going to jail.
The pursuit started a little before 6:30
p.m. Monday when Pendleton officer
Chase Addleman tried to stop a car for
a traffic violation near Dean’s Market
& Deli at the intersection of Southwest
Frazer Avenue and 20th Street. Roberts
said the suspect’s car “went straight to
60 mph” and headed east on Frazer.
Addleman stopped his high-speed
pursuit, Roberts said, but kept driving on
Frazer. He soon found the car wrecked
atop the railroad tracks near Southeast
Fourth Street.
“It looked the vehicle blew a tire,
or something caused the tire to blow,”
Roberts said.
The car rolled and came to a rest on
its wheels, he said, but the driver and
passenger were not inside.
Roberts said police later found the
driver, Delbert Farriris, hiding near
the tracks. And the passenger, Joseph
Higheagle, tired to hide on nearby
private property. He, too, was taken
into custody. Both men are Pendleton
residents.
Police arrested Higheagle on a
warrant, Roberts said, and arrested
Farriris for felony attempt to flee,
reckless driving as well as reckless
endangering.
Both men were booked both into the
Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton.
HEPPNER — The
driver of a semi truck
hauling cattle crashed
Friday in Morrow County.
The driver, Cesar
Israel Eudave Avila,
27, of Washington, was
trapped in the cab of
the truck for about 20
minutes before being
transported to Good
Shepherd Medical Center,
Hermiston, for treatment
of a laceration, according
to Morrow County
Sheriff Kenneth Matlack.
Matlack said all of
the cattle survived and
only one needed medical
attention, according to the
crash report. They were
moved to a secure field
nearby and arrangements
were made for the owner to
pick them up.
The 9-1-1 call came
in at about 5:50 p.m. on
Friday, with a report of a
truck that had rolled over
at the intersection of Big
Buttercreek and Little
Buttercreek roads. Matlack
said the truck appeared
to have been traveling
fairly slowly when “for
reasons we don’t know at
this point” it slid off the
shoulder and rolled over.
Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office and
Umatilla County Fire
District responded.
The fire district also
has stayed busy Friday
night with a brush fire at
Joy Lane and Kik Road,
Hermiston. Firefighter
James Franz said the blaze
burned about 10 acres of
grass and brush but did not
threaten structures. The
district as well as the fire
department from Umatilla
responded.
Fire crews have gone
back to the burn multiple
times since Friday night,
Franz said, because it
keeps reigniting.
That happened again
Saturday at about 1:50
p.m., after the district
was on the scene of a
small and slow-moving
grass fire on the 80400
block of Sagebrush Road,
Hermiston.
The Pendleton Fire
Department at around noon
Saturday put out a small
fire on a dry, brushy hillside
on the 600 block of Airport
Road near the property
of Pacific Power and just
Oregonians encouraged to stock up on emergency supplies
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
As a string of natural
disasters tests Americans’
emergency preparedness,
the Oregon Office of
Emergency Management is
encouraging all Oregonians
to assess their own readi-
ness.
“We have had several
high-level events, not only
in Oregon but around the
nation, that have really
underscored the importance
of being prepared,” Umatilla
County emergency manager
Tom Roberts said.
In honor of National
Preparedness Month in
September the OEM and
Regional Water Providers
Consortium have issued
the #14Gallons Challenge,
which encourages people
to stock up on 14 gallons
of water per person in their
household and share a
photo on social media with
the hashtag #14Gallons.
Photos will be entered into
a drawing for a seven-gallon
emergency water storage
container or emergency kit.
The idea is to get people
thinking about the recom-
mendation to store enough
food, water, batteries and
other emergency supplies to
last for two weeks. Roberts
said he encourages Umatilla
County residents to partici-
pate.
“You’ll be decreasing
the probability that first
responders will have to put
themselves in harm’s way to
assist you,” he said.
In some disasters, such
Page 3A
BRIEFLY
Two arrested in metal theft from
Good Shepherd and local business
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
as an earthquake, there is
no advanced warning that
allows people to run to the
grocery store for supplies.
In other cases people
can avoid the danger by
packing up supplies and
sentimental items and
evacuating when told to by
law enforcement.
Roberts said one thing
he has noticed in news
coverage of Oregon’s wild-
fires and hurricanes in Texas
and Florida is that residents
will appear on the news to
say that they have chosen to
ride out the disaster at home
instead of participating in
the evacuation order that
has been issued.
“That’s a very dangerous
thing to do,” he said. “If
you’re under mandatory
evacuation it’s because
we’re not going to be able
to help you, potentially, if
things go as bad as we think
they might.”
At least eight people
have been found dead so
far after Florida was hit by
Hurricane Irma, despite
evacuation orders from the
governor. The Miami Herald
has reported it will take
“weeks” for the electricity
to come back on in some
cities after a power outage
that wiped out electricity for
more than half of the state.
To be alerted to local
evacuations and other
disaster-related information,
Umatilla County residents
can sign up for the county’s
emergency alert notification
system by going to the
county website (co.umatilla.
or.us) and clicking on the
AlertSense button in the
upper right-hand corner.
All landlines in the county
are already registered, but
residents can add a cell
phone and/or email address
to receive alerts of evac-
uations, standoffs, Amber
alerts, hazardous materials
spills and other emergency
information while on the go.
Those who sign up can also
choose to receive severe
weather notifications from
NOAA. The AlertSense
system can be used to warn
residents county-wide or
can be targeted to a specific
neighborhood or city.
For list of recommended
supplies for a two-week
emergency preparedness kit,
visit redcross.org/get-help/
how-to-prepare-for-emer-
gencies.
below the headquarters
of the Pendleton Police
Department and the local
office of Oregon State
Police. The fire blackened
maybe a couple of hundred
square feet before a team
put it out.
Colby Pipe to
re-open factory
in Pendleton
PENDLETON —
When it comes to Rocky
Mountain Colby Pipe
Co., Denver’s loss is
Pendleton’s gain.
Rocky Mountain Colby
Pipe Vice President Bill
Quinn said the company
will re-open its Pendleton
plant Sept. 18 and has
rehired 40 workers to staff
it.
The factory at 4650
McKennon Rd. closed in
February due to “market
conditions,” laying off all
but four employees.
During that time, Rocky
Mountain Colby Pipe sold
its Denver facilities and
used the proceeds to invest
$10 million in equipment
upgrades to the Pendleton
plant.
Quinn said the
Pendleton plant will no
longer manufacture PVC
pipe, focusing its efforts on
electrical conduit.
The employees being
brought back to work
represent a little more than
half of the employees who
worked the plant before the
shutdown. Quinn said the
plant could eventually go
back to a 75-person staff,
but it won’t happen in the
near future.
The company had an
estimated $99 million in
sales last year.
Riverside goes
into half-hour
lockout Monday
BOARDMAN — A
miscommunication led to a
Boardman school lockout
Monday.
According to a Morrow
County School District
press release, Riverside
Junior/Senior High
School locked its doors
from 11:24 a.m. to 11:58
a.m. while the Boardman
Police Department
responded to an incident
in the area.
Boardman Police
Chief Rick Stokoe said a
school staff member had a
conversation with a parent
Monday morning where
the staff member heard the
parent saying he was going
to “shoot” the school.
As the school was put
on lockout, the police
spoke with the parent, who
told authorities that he had
said he was going to “sue”
the school and not “shoot”
it. Once police determined
that the school wasn’t
under threat, Riverside
lifted the lockout.
Under the lockout
procedure, a school’s
outside doors are locked
while students and staff
maintain normal business.
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