Spilyay Tymoo
February 9, 2022
Page 7
Standoff
closed hwy.
for 6 hours
Highway 26 between War m
Springs and Madras was cloesd to
traffic for six hours last Wednes-
day afternoon, February 2.
The incident began about 8:30
a.m., when Warm Springs Police at-
tempted to make a vehicle stop
based on an outstanding warrant.
Rather than pull over, the driver
continued south on the highway,
before turning off on Pelton Dam
Road, where the driver then
stopped.
The driver, a 41-year old female
from Warm Springs, was taken into
custody without incident.
The male passenger, Janson
Harrington, 34, refused to exit the
vehicle. He brandished a firearm,
barricading himself inside the ve-
hicle, according to police. This
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
Scene of the stand-off on Pelton Dam Road.
prompted the six-hour closure of
the highway.
After extensive negotiation, a
tactical team used a flash-bang de-
vice to get Mr. Harrington from
the vehicle, authorities said.
Harrinton was wanted for
crimes on the reservation, and on
a felony probation violation out of
Jefferson County. At the scene of
six-hour standoff were War m
Springs and Madras police, sher-
iffs deputies and other members
of the Central Oregon Emergency
Response Team. Also on the scene
were two Bearcat armored vehicles,
a K-9 team, and a drone helping
keep watch on the vehicle.
Most fortunatley, the incident
ended without injury.
Portland Area IHS reports lower covid cases New leader for NAGPRA
The Portland Area of the In-
dian Health Service reported the
tied-for-lowest Covid-19 seven-day
incidence rate among the 12 IHS
areas. The most recent data is
through early February.
The Portland Area and Califor-
nia Area each reported a recent
seven-day incidence rate of 20.4
percent, followed narrowly by the
Alaska Area at 20.6 percent inci-
dence rate. For comparison, the
seven-day incidence rate for the
Tucson Area was 46.4 percent.
This number reflects the seven-day
incidence rate among those tested
during the time frame. The Billings
Area was at 46.4 percent; and Al-
buquerque at 40.1 percent. In other
early February IHS covid data from
around Indian Country:
The IHS has conducted more
than 4 million covid tests for its ser-
vice membership across Indian
Country. Of the total, 426,146 have
returned positive since the pandemic
began. The data shows an increase
in cases from late January to early
Driver killed in Jan. wreck
In late January an SUV driver
traveling at a high rate of speed,
and passing other vehicles on
Highway 26 on the reservation,
collided head-on with a pickup
truck, killing the driver and leav-
ing two other people with minor
injuries. The incident happened
Friday, January 28.
Warm Springs Police and
medics responded to the two-ve-
hicle crash about 6 p.m. near
milepost 74.
Based on the investigation,
the driver of a 2007 Lincoln
SUV was heading west at a high
rate of speed and attempting to
pass other vehicles when he
struck an eastbound 2014 Ford
February. Warm Springs has cases
falling in recent weeks, from the
large spike that happened in the
weeks following the December holi-
days.
Two of the IHS regions with the
highest overall incidence are in Ari-
zona: The Navajo Area and the
Phoenix Area. The Oklahoma City
Area has also been among the high-
est, with Albuquerque. In fact, the
Oklahoma City Area is now ap-
proaching the top hot-spot long held
by the Navajo Area.
Young Life
Youth Club
meeting in
Warm Springs
pickup truck towing a small
utility trailer. The driver died
at the scene.
Oregon State Police re-
sponded to assist with the in-
vestigation and crash recon-
struction. Speed is considered
a primary factor in the crash.
The crash and investiga-
tion shut down a 25-mile
stretch of the highway for
several hours.
The highway was closed be-
tween mileposts 71 and 96,
with drivers urged to use al-
ternate routes, such as high-
ways 35 and 216. The highway
didn’t reopen until early Sat-
urday.
The Young Life Youth Club
meets on Thursdays in War m
Springs from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m.
The club meets at the modulars
by the former elementary school,
where Bridges used to be located.
There are food and games and
more. Feel free to stop by! For
more information contact Shontae
Thomas at 541-771 9724.
The Warm Springs
Community Action
Team is offering Tax
Aide again this year.
You can schedule an
appointment for Febru-
ary by calling 541-553-
3148.
Courtesy WSPD
Tribal police photo at the scene.
CODE makes inter-state
drugs, weapons arrests
The Central Oregon Drug En-
forcement Team last week con-
cluded a lengthy surveillance op-
eration with the arrest of a Ma-
dras couple on inter-state drug and
weapons charges.
Officers with the Drug En-
forcement Team received a war-
rant for the arrest of David
Toedtemeier, 31, and his wife
Kylee, 38. The officers stopped
the couple’s vehicle in late January
on Highway 97 near LaPine.
At the stop, the Warm Springs
Police Department narcotics K9
alerted the officers to the presence
of the drugs in the vehicle.
Officers then found a large
amounts of fentanyl, metham-
phetamine and heroin, disguised as
Oxycodone pills. They also recov-
ered a loaded pistol. Mr.
Toedtemeier would then face a
Pills and other drugs
seized during arrests.
CODE
felon-in-possession charge. The
couple also had their infant child in
the vehicle, bringing a charge of en-
dangering the welfare of a child.
After the arrests, officers
searched the Toedtemeier residence,
recovering more drugs and weap-
ons.
An allegation is that weapons
were being exchanged in California
for drugs.
Federal officials announced the
hiring of the first full-time Native
American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act investigator at the
Department of the Interior.
The new employee will help en-
sure that museums and other insti-
tutions are complying with the fed-
eral law, which requires the return
of ancestral remains and cultural
property to their rightful American
Indian, Alaska Native and Native
Hawaiian caretakers and owners.
“Repatriation is a sacred respon-
sibility for many Native Ameri-
cans,” said Chuck Sams, a citizen
of the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation who
serves as director of the National
Park Service.
“We hope our efforts to stream-
line the requirements of NAGPRA
and invest in additional staff will
lead to more instances of proper
repatriation and reburial of Indig-
enous ancestors and cultural items,”
said Sams, who is the first Native
person to lead the National Parks.