Wallowa County Chieftain
From A1
wallowa.com
February 14, 2018
COURT
‘IT’S THE ONLY TIME THAT
SORT OF THING HAS HAPPENED
IN THE COURT ROOM SINCE
I’VE BEEN HERE.’
Continued from Page A1
not dissimilar, minus the
freight dolly, from Anthony
Hopkins being wheeled off the
plane in “The Silence of the
Lambs.”
Ryan’s voice far preceded
him up the stairs, incessant,
almost nonsensical. He wore
a spit mask and was shack-
led hand and foot. He donned
a suicide gown, essentially a
hospital gown, and had report-
edly attempted to end his own
life earlier that morning in
Umatilla County Jail.
Spurning the orders of
Judge Russell B. West, Ryan
kept up his endless chatter, lib-
erally sprinkling his language
with every imaginable pro-
fanity. Deputy District Attor-
ney Rebecca Frolander served
as prosecutor while attor-
ney James Schaeffer provided
defense. A plea deal had been
agreed to for Ryan.
Ryan seemed unable to
make up his mind about nearly
every question West asked
of him, up to and including
whether he was happy with his
attorney or whether he pleaded
guilty of his own free will. He
often interrupted West and in
a complete non sequitur, told
Frolander she was very beau-
tiful, which caused one of the
other women in the courtroom
to visibly blanch.
Frolander said that Ryan
District Attorney
Mona Williams
Kathleen Ellyn/Chietain
Wallowa County Courthouse was locked down while Preston Robert Ryan was hustled in and
out of Circuit Court by law enforcement Feb. 7.
had showed up at his father’s
house approximately three
days before Christmas and had
probably used meth shortly
after he arrived, as well as the
day of the incident that led to
his arrest. His father and step-
mother were sitting inside the
house when they heard gun-
shots outside.
FIRES
Continued from Page A1
presenters at the meeting were
focused on helping Wallowa
County residents prepare for
the inevitable.
“It’s not if, it’s when,” said
USFS Wallowa Unit Forester
Matt Howard.“We live in a fire
dependent ecosystem. We all
have a choice: to be proactive
or reactive.”
The wildfire protection
commission, which includes
Wallowa County Emergency
Services Manager Paul Kar-
voski, Wallowa Resources
Director Nils Christoffersen,
Wallowa County Natural
Resource Advisory Commis-
sion Chairman Bruce Dunn,
representatives from ODF
and USFS and many others,
worked for 18 months to pro-
duce the plan.
Wallowa County as a whole
faces “high and extreme” risk
A7
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Key players in the creation of a new fire plan for Wallowa
County met to explain the process and need Feb. 7: Steward-
ship Forester Tim Cudmore, left, Wallowa Resources Director
Nils Christoffersen, Wallowa Unit Forester Matt Howard, Gary
Willis of Lostine and Ron Polk of Lostine.
for catastrophic fire, said
Jenny Reinhart, a member of
the commission. Other coun-
ties in that category include, in
order of risk, Grant, Klamath,
Wallowa, Umatilla and Baker.
The U.S. Forest Service,
Oregon Department of For-
estry and local fire depart-
ments are experienced and
will act quickly when a wild-
fire starts, said Howard, but
whether they’re dealing with
an entire neighborhood going
up in flames or fighting to cre-
ate a fire break between forest
and homes is a choice home-
owners may make for them.
“Are you out looking at
your home, pulling needles out
of your gutter, moving your
wood pile, pulling back your
vegetation in June or are you
wishing you’d done that in
August as a fire comes down
and threatens your property?
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Ryan’s father ventured out-
side and found his son with
an AR-15 assault rifle. After
calming him and having him
relinquish control of the rifle,
‘If a fire threatens
their communities,
they will have a
plan, they won’t
have to think it up
as they go.’
Matt Howard
USFS Wallowa Unit forester
As you are evacuating, are you
hoping for the best when you
come back? Did you do that up
front? Did you work with your
community?”
Besides Joseph, four com-
munities ranked as having
the father also found a shotgun.
Both weapons were turned in
to law enforcement.
West followed Frolander’s
sentencing recommendation,
which included 30 days of jail
with credit for time served,
three years of supervised pro-
bation as well as drug and
alcohol treatment and a mental
health examination.
Frolander said that Ryan’s
initial arraignment, which
took place by video from jail,
was delayed for some time by
Ryan’s antics in being removed
from his cell. Two guards had to
escort Ryan to the video hear-
ing, where he wore restraints,
including the spit mask.
The incident also disrupted
the plans of a group of Enter-
prise Elementary School stu-
dents who were planning to
work on a documentary about
the courthouse. They finished a
truncated version of their proj-
ect later in the day.
District attorney Mona Wil-
liams said although Ryan’s
court hearing was unusual, law
enforcement has dealt with
similar situations previously,
including transporting prison-
ers trying to kick out vehicle
windows.
She said that one per-
son brought into the court for
a mental health issue turned
over the defense table, which
sent the courtroom employ-
ees scurrying for an exit as law
enforcement took the defen-
dant down.
“It’s the only time that sort
of thing has happened in the
court room since I’ve been
here,” said Williams.
Ryan was taken back
to Umatilla County Jail.
Although he had long ago
served the 30 days in jail,
he was being held on addi-
tional charges stemming from
his time there. Those charges
include two counts assaulting
a public safety officer, one of
the reasons for the spit mask,
unauthorized use of a motor
vehicle and aggravated harass-
ment. His bail is set at $60,000.
Ryan told the court he
intends to reside in Oregon
after his release.
“extreme” wildfire risk in Wal-
lowa County: Allen Canyon/
Bear Creek; Imnaha Corri-
dor; Lostine Canyon; and Wal-
lowa Lake-Ski Run. Others
with “high” wildfire risk are
Alder Slope; Davis Creek; and
Divide/Prairie Creek.
Mitigating risk in those
areas will be discussed in
future meetings.
One community is already
addressing those risks. Los-
tine has become the first com-
munity in northeast Oregon to
begin the process of becom-
ing an official “Firewise”
community.
“What these folks are doing
for the Lostine, I hope will
be a model,” said Howard.
“They are working together to
make their homes and proper-
ties more resilient to wild land
fire. They will work through an
evacuation plan. If a fire threat-
ens their communities, they
will have a plan, they won’t
have to think it up as they go.”
A copy of the county’s
plan will be posted online
through Wallowa Resources;
other informational meetings
are planned including sev-
eral meetings with Wallowa
County Commissioners.
ODF can assist landown-
ers in finding funding to reduce
fuels and make their property
fire resistant and defensible.
ODF Stewardship Forester Tim
Cudmore is the contact per-
son for that information: Tim-
othy.J.Cudmore@oregon.gov.
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