REGION
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.
East Oregonian
Umatilla River north bank
committee to meet Wednesday
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Marchers gather in the Hermiston First United Methodist Church for speeches and food fol-
lowing the annual Martin Luther King Jr. March on Monday morning. The march, which cele-
brated its 20th year this year, drew dozens of marchers to downtown Hermiston in celebra-
tion of Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy.
McKell Wilson, left, and Izzy
Soto, both members of the
Blue Mountain Community
College soccer team, wash
windows at the Pendleton
Center for the Arts. The team
decided to help out as a part
of the MLK Day of Service,
which celebrates the legacy
of civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Suspect in custody connected
to armed robbery in M-F
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
MILTON-FREEWATER
— A suspect in custody for
allegedly robbing the First
Stop Mart at gunpoint in
Milton-Freewater
earlier
this month had been released
from jail less than 24 hours
prior to the incident.
Documents fi led with the
Umatilla County District
Attorney’s Offi ce reveal
Michael James Metcalfe,
19, was arraigned on Thurs-
day for four felony charges,
including two counts of
fi rst-degree robbery, one
count of second-degree kid-
napping and one count of
violating his probation.
Umatilla County Sher-
iff Terry Rowan confi rmed
Saturday that Metcalfe was
arrested on Jan. 6 and is
suspected of being one of
the two men who robbed
the Milton-Freewater store
on Highway 11 at about
6:30 a.m. on Jan. 3.
According to court doc-
uments, Metcalfe was pre-
viously lodged in the Uma-
tilla County Jail until he
was issued an “emergency
release due to overpopula-
tion” at 8:12 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Rowan said the jail can
typically hold up to 230
inmates, though the capac-
ity can fl uctuate depending
on whether there are prison-
ers who are going through a
drug or mental health crisis.
When mattresses and
temporary housing for
inmates starts to run out,
Rowan said the jail will
evaluate the risk assess-
ments that are performed
on each inmate when they
are brought in. The assess-
ments, he said, include crim-
inal history, current offenses
and factors like whether the
inmate has a job or residence
to return to.
Inmates are deemed
either a low, medium or high
risk, Rowan said. Those in
the low to medium category
are selected for release when
necessary.
“It’s supposed to be a pre-
dictive tool,” Rowan said of
the risk assessment. “But
we can’t predict the future.
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Sometimes
the tool can
be spot-on,
and some-
times it can
miss out on
someone
Metcalfe
who is just
hell-bent on
wrecking our community.”
Metcalfe was previously
arrested Dec. 28, 2019,
on four felony charges,
including one count each
of unlawful possession of
methamphetamine and her-
oin, possession of a prohib-
ited fi rearm and violation of
probation.
Metcalfe was on pro-
bation for a prior felony
conviction from when he
pleaded guilty on Nov. 12,
2019, to fi rst-degree theft of
a fi rearm and unlawful pos-
session of a fi rearm.
Metcalfe failed to appear
for his scheduled court date
the morning of Jan. 3, and
Milton-Freewater
police
arrested him on Jan. 6 for a
detention warrant. Metcalfe
was listed as a “transient”
on the department’s media
bulletin.
While Rowan said he’d
need to pull fi les to know
exactly what prompted the
Jan. 2 release, he added it’s
likely Metcalfe was graded
as a low or medium risk.
Metcalfe is being held
at the Umatilla County Jail
with a bail of $300,000.
As Measure 11 crimes,
fi rst-degree robbery carries
a mandatory minimum sen-
tence of seven years and six
months, while second-de-
gree kidnapping carries a
sentence of fi ve years and 10
months.
The second suspect in
the First Stop Mart armed
robbery remains at large,
Rowan said, and the investi-
gation is ongoing.
In the initial release from
the sheriff’s offi ce on Jan. 3,
one suspect was identifi ed as
a possibly white male of an
unknown age who is 6 feet
tall. The employee reported
he was wearing blue jeans
and his face was covered.
The second suspect
was identifi ed as a male
of unknown age and race
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who is 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-9
in height. The employee
reported he was wearing
blue jeans, tan work boots,
a dark-colored ball cap and
black backpack. The sus-
pect’s face was covered with
a light blue bandana.
Metcalfe is listed as
a white male standing at
6-foot-1 and 150 pounds
on the jail roster. Rowan
said there are no additional
details known about the sec-
ond suspect at this time.
The robbery was the fi rst
of three armed robberies
that occurred in the area in
recent weeks.
On the early morning of
Jan. 6, a paper carrier for the
Union-Bulletin was struck
in the face and robbed at
gunpoint by a suspect cov-
ering their face with a blue
bandana.
One week later on the
morning of Jan. 13, a suspect
who was armed and masked
stole cash from Sam’s Cor-
ner Market on Broadway
Avenue in Milton-Freewater.
At a city council meet-
ing later that night, the
Union-Bulletin
reported
Milton-Freewater
Police
Chief Doug Boedigheimer
said evidence was begin-
ning to support the theory
that the robberies are con-
nected and people were
working together to commit
them.
In
previous
emails
with the East Oregonian,
Boedigheimer declined to
comment on the connection
between the robberies.
“These are open investi-
gations with progress being
made,” he wrote. “When the
cases have run their courses,
I’ll proactively send out
appropriate information on
my timeline.”
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PENDLETON — When
the Pendleton City Council
considered taking steps to
sell property on the Uma-
tilla River’s north bank in
2017, some nearby resi-
dents opposed the move.
The city never sold the
land and, three years later,
is in the process of fi guring
out the best use for it.
The city formed the
North Bank of the Umatilla
Advisory Committee to
help address the issue. The
committee will be holding
a community meeting at
the Pendleton Recreation
Center’s Foundation Room
on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
A committee press
release lists many of the
benefi ts of having the
Umatilla River run through
town: The Pendleton River
Parkway on the south side
of the river connects sev-
eral parks and landmarks
and provides exercise
opportunities, the river
attracts wildlife, making
it ideal for hobbyists like
birdwatchers and fi shers,
and the river waters and
trees make it a prime cool-
off spot in the summers.
But the city also admits
there are problems sur-
rounding the river, some of
it on the north side.
A recent increase in the
outdoor homeless popu-
lation means illicit camps
are sprouting up in more
secluded areas along the
river, sometimes creating
fi re hazards.
With little in the way
of offi cial paths that lead
down to the north bank,
people often trespass onto
private property to access
the north side of the river
and leave behind trash that
can create environmental
hazards.
Debate also continues
over how to best maintain
the vegetation that grows
along the river. While the
herd of goats that graze
along the river each year
can prevent overgrowth
from turning into a fi re
hazard, some residents say
the lack of plants the goats
leave behind hurts local
wildlife.
The north bank com-
mittee hopes to solicit
input and create “a shared
vision” around how the city
should utilize the area.
BRIEFLY
Man killed in Morrow
County crash
is conducting a crash investigation. It is
currently unclear what other agencies
provided aid during the accident.
MORROW COUNTY — A Wasco
County man died Monday morning in a
single-vehicle car accident on Bombing
Range Road.
Mark Steven Willis, 44, of Wamic,
was driving a logging truck northbound
on Bombing Range Road towards Board-
man early Monday morning. According
to the Morrow County Sheriff’s Offi ce,
Willis pulled the truck over the road’s
narrow shoulder near milepost 18 and the
truck tipped onto its side and rolled, spill-
ing logs.
Willis was found deceased shortly
before 6 a.m. Law enforcement offi cials
said he was not secured in the vehicle by
his seatbelt when found, and that he died
from trauma to his head and body.
There was a fi re which may have orig-
inated in the engine, but the vehicle was
not fully engulfed.
The Morrow County Sheriff’s Offi ce
Milton-Freewater garage
damaged by fi re Friday
MILTON-FREEWATER — The
garage on a home in Milton-Freewater
was damaged by a small fi re Friday night.
It took place at a residence near the
U.S. Bank branch in central Milton-Free-
water in the 100 block of South Elizabeth
Street.
Milton-Freewater Fire Chief Shane
Garner said his department received the
call around 7:45 p.m. and his fi refi ghters
had the fi re out within about 10 minutes.
Garner said about 30% of the garage
was damaged. He said there were no signs
of suspicious activity, and an investiga-
tion is pending.
There were no injuries.
— EO Media Group
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