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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2015)
News Man charged with domestic violence and kidnapping woman in different locations around Grant County such as Dog Creek, John Day Fossil A Mt. Vernon man is being Beds National Monument and charged with multiple counts Sagaser’s home. of domestic violence, includ- In addition, Sagaser was ing kidnapping, strangulation indicted Friday in a separate and assault. case for unlawful possession Matthew Eric Sagaser, 31, of methamphetamine, criminal appeared in Grant County Cir- forfeiture and felon in posses- cuit Court Friday for a hearing sion of a restricted weapon — on a grand jury indictment. metal knuckles. He was indicted on 29 He was arrested last week counts of domestic violence. in Canyon City, after the Grant The charges are second-de- &RXQW\ 6KHULII¶V 2I¿FH DQG JUHH NLGQDSSLQJ ¿YH FRXQWV John Day Police Department of coercion, nine counts of worked together to investigate fourth-degree assault, strangu- the reported incidents. lation, four counts of menacing According to the indict- and nine counts of recklessly ment, Sagaser allegedly kid- endangering another person. napped the woman by secretly The alleged abuse occurred FRQ¿QLQJKHULQDSODFHZKHUH since July against the same she was not likely to be found. He reportedly committed coer- cion by threatening the woman to not leave an area, not tell hospital staff about the nature of her injuries and not tell a third-party about the cause of her injuries. The woman was injured by Sagaser allegedly strangling her, striking her head against concrete, head-butting, kicking and elbowing her and shooting at her with a CO2 airsoft gun IURPZLWKLQ¿YHIHHW Sagaser is due back in court next month for a plea hearing. He will either plead not guilty and a trial date will be set, enter a guilty plea and settle the case or waive his right to a speedy trial and set another hearing. He remains in custody on $85,000 bail. By Kyle Spurr Blue Mountain Eagle Patient escapes mental health facility By Kyle Spurr Blue Mountain Eagle JOHN DAY — A convict- ed sex offender from Jackson County was found by police in a ditch near Dog Creek off High- way 26 Sunday evening after he escaped from the Juniper Ridge Acute Care Facility. Dusty Brian Korner, 31, Central Point, broke through the fence at the facility on Ford Road just after 6 p.m., Saturday. John Day Police and employ- ees at the facility searched for .RUQHUDQGFRXOGQRW¿QGKLP Oregon State Police even- tually located him at 7:20 p.m., Sunday. “He escaped and we believed he just camped out in the woods by the Dog Creek area on High- way 26,” John Day Police Sgt. Damon Rand said. “Nothing has been reported broken into or stolen.” The escape is the third known incident since the facili- ty opened in 2013. The facility holds 11 rooms for patients experiencing vary- ing levels of mental crisis. The patients are either court-man- dated to be there or voluntarily check-in. Korner, who escaped over the weekend for more than 24 hours, was admitted to the facil- ity by court order. Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter is reviewing the case for possi- ble charges. The last escape occurred in January when a 25-year-old man also broke through the fence, WKURXJKDÀDZLQLWVGHVLJQ Kimberly Lindsay, executive director of Community Coun- seling Solutions, the company that operates Juniper Ridge Acute Care Facility, said the facility has been in the process of designing and building a new fence. A purchase order was submitted in early August and the new fence was supposed to be installed in September, but the contractor said it was back- logged and unable to be put in until late October or early No- vember. “It was just sickening be- cause had the fence went in in September, this would not have hap- Dusty pened,” Lind- Brian say said. Korner The cur- rent fence is ÀDZHG EHFDXVH LW ZDV EXLOW RQ non-compacted ground. Por- tions of the fence are leaning and weakened. Community Counseling 6ROXWLRQV UHFHQWO\ ¿OHG D ODZ- suit against Baarstad’s Gen- eral Contracting, the Pendle- ton-based general contractor who built the facility, for failing to property compact the soil under the fence. The $125,000 lawsuit claims Baarstad’s breached the contract and was negligent. Korner likely slid through a broken part of the fence, or put some leverage on the fence and broke it to escape. Unlike a prison yard, Lindsay said, staff does not always supervise the patients. :KHQ WKH VWDII FRQ¿UPHG Korner had escaped, they im- mediately contacted the police, checked the safety of the other SDWLHQWV DQG QRWL¿HG .RUQHU¶V family. “We are so sick of making these phone calls to the family,” Lindsay said. “It’s embarrass- ing. The family worked pretty hard to get this person in, and you feel like in that moment you failed.” Korner was convicted of sex abuse in 2002 in Jackson Coun- ty. In 2011, he was charged with failing to report as a sex offender. His criminal record also shows charges of interfer- LQJZLWKDSHDFHRI¿FHULQ and disorderly conduct in 2010. Lindsay said she under- stands the local community’s concerns. She admits she can- not defend her decision to let months pass before having the fence replaced, or explain why there have been multiple escapes in the facility’s three years of operation. “I wish I had the ability to convey the sadness, under- standing and wanting the com- munity’s trust and their faith,” Lindsay said. “While we do a lot of great things and while we have these moments where we take steps back, we are working in overdrive to address this and we just feel horrible.” Local law enforcement is taking the escapes seriously because they can pose a public safety risk. The police and facility are continually working to better handle such incidents. “That is something we are WU\LQJ WR JHW ¿JXUHG RXW´ 6JW Rand said. “It is a public safety concern.” Cindy’s Grooming Hours Mon. 10-2 Tues. 9-5 Wed. 10-2 Other times available by appointment only 150 Dayton, John Day Call or text Cindy Legg for more details 541.620.0187 WANTED Information leading to conviction of trespassers and/or poachers on Silvies Valley Ranch 00 $2,500 REWARD Approximately the first of September, a nice mule deer buck was killed and left to rot on our ranch. Last year, four poachers were caught and prosecuted, and four other dead elk were found rotting. Please help us catch trespassers and poachers who have no respect for private property rights and who give all hunters a bad name. If you legally wound an ani- mal that comes onto any of our property, please come to ranch headquar- ters at Bridge Creek and we will help you find and clean it at no charge. Otherwise, do not go onto our property unless accompanied by a Silvies Valley Ranch associate. We will press charges, sue for damages, and are actively patrolling our property with ATVs, by horseback, and videocams. CALL Silvies, Oregon Sheriff Glenn Palmer 541-575-1131 Sheriff Dave Ward 541-573-6156 Colby Marshall 541-573-5150 x110 www.silviesvalleyranch.com 1-800-SILVIES Wednesday, October 14, 2015 C OPS & C OURTS Arrests and citations in the Blue Mountain Eagle are taken from the logs of law enforcement agencies. Every effort is made to report the court disposition of arrest cases. Circuit Court CANYON CITY – The Grant County Circuit Court UHSRUWHG WKH IROORZLQJ ¿QHV and judgments: • Andrew Franklin Wed- ding, 29, pleaded guilty to GULYLQJ XQGHU WKH LQÀXHQFH of intoxicants. He was sen- tenced to jail for 15 days, bench probation for 18 months and 40 hours com- PXQLW\ VHUYLFH DQG ¿QHG $1,800. His driver’s license was suspended for three years. The court dismissed one count of criminal driving while suspended or revoked. • Darren Allen Swog- ger, 48, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault. He was sentenced to jail for one day, bench probation for 18 months and 50 hours com- PXQLW\VHUYLFH+HZDV¿QHG $400 and ordered to have no contact with the victim. The court dismissed counts for strangulation and harass- ment. Grant County Sheriff CANYON CITY – The Grant County Sheriff’s Of- ¿FH UHSRUWHG WKH IROORZLQJ for the week of Oct. 2-8: • Concealed handgun li- censes: 7 • Average inmates: 13 • Bookings: 7 • Releases: 5 • Arrests: 1 • Citations: 2 • Fingerprints: 6 • Civil papers: 8 • Warrants processed: 6 • Asst./welfare check: 5 • Search and Rescue: 2 • Terrence Moon, 24, Canyon City, cited for failure to carry proof of insurance. • Joseph Wegner, 59, Gold Beach, cited for fail- ure to perform the duties of driver. A5 Grant County enforcing foreclosures ing to help the assessor’s of- ¿FHLQDZKLOH Since Carpenter was )RUWKH¿UVWWLPHLQPRUH elected last year, he indi- than a decade, the Grant cated he would be willing County District Attorney’s to help. 2I¿FH LV DVVLVWLQJ WKH 7D[ “I’m not an attorney. I $VVHVVRU¶V 2I¿FH LQ FRO- can’t go before the judge,” lecting owed property taxes Burton said. “We have to throughout the county. have the district attorney There are about 48 ac- as our legal counsel for the counts on the 2015 tax fore- foreclosure process.” closure list. The delinquent Carpenter said he has taxes for those accounts are previously practiced civil about $400,000. law and is comfortable re- The names of the people viewing the cases. on the foreclosure list will Previous district attor- be published in the Oct. 21 neys may not have had the edition of the Blue Moun- civil law experience, he tain Eagle. Once the names said. are published, District At- Multiple notices have torney Jim Carpenter will been sent to those who owe GHFLGH LI KH ZLOO ¿OH MXGJ- property taxes, according to ments against the people, WKH DVVHVVRU¶V RI¿FH :KHQ resulting in foreclosure. names publicly appear next $IWHUDMXGJPHQWLV¿OHG week in the newspaper, Bur- in Grant County Circuit ton said, it should not come Court, the homeowner has as a surprise. If people do two years to redeem the not pay before Oct. 21, a property before it is fore- 5 percent extra tax will be added to the owed amount. closed on. “We have been warning County assessor Lane Burton said there has not folks for a long time,” Bur- been a district attorney will- ton said. By Kyle Spurr Blue Mountain Eagle Pro Saw Shop and a Whole Lot More 02131 Blue Mountain Eagle A TTENTION G RANT C OUNTY V ETERANS : Did you know a service-connected disabled veteran is entitled to FREE use of Oregon State Parks? See your Grant County Veteran Services Officer today for more information, located at Grant County Courthouse. Open Mon, Wed, & Fri, 10 am - 4 pm, by appointment. Call 541-575-1631