Fallen firefighter escorted back
home
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 136 NO. 43 8 Pages
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Stolen vehicles speed through
Heppner
Two stolen pickups
were involved in a high
speed chase that reached
speeds of 106 mph and end-
ed in two separate crashes
just outside of Heppner on
Tuesday, Oct. 31.
According to the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office, law enforcement
responded to a report of
trespassing on a farm in the
Ione area. Two vehicles left
the farm and headed toward
Heppner on Highway 74.
Sheriff’s deputies encoun-
tered the vehicles there and
a chase ensued. On High-
way 74 through the mill
zone, the pickups reached
106 mph, according to the
sheriff’s office.
As the vehicles entered
Heppner, officers slowed
their pursuit, but the pur-
sued cars did not slow. Both
vehicles proceeded south
on Highway 207, where
the chase resumed and the
trucks split up.
One vehicle, driven by
Buddy James Buoy, 42, of
Portland turned onto Shobe
Creek Road and continued
at high speeds for 10 miles
before joining Upper Rhea
Creek Road. He lost control
on a curve, drove off the
hillside and crashed, ac-
cording to the sheriff’s of-
fice. The truck was disabled
and Buoy was arrested.
The other truck, driven
by an unidentified female,
headed south on Highway
207 at 20-25 mph, weaving
back and forth and not al-
lowing deputies to pass. The
suspect then drove off the
highway, through a fence
opening and attempted to
drive down a steep canyon
hillside, rolling the vehicle
and seriously injuring the
driver. The trapped driver
was extricated and trans-
ported to Pioneer Memorial
Hospital, Heppner, and later
transported to another hos-
pital via Life-Flight. The
female driver has numerous
charges pending.
The suspects and the
trucks are believed to have
been involved in a theft
of several vehicles that
occurred early Tuesday
morning from a car dealer-
ship in Pasco, WA. Some
of the vehicles from that
incident were recovered in
Boardman.
Jr. cheer clinic held
The Heppner Varsity Cheerleaders held its annual Jr. Cheer clinic on Oct 24 - 26. The HES
students performed during half time at the Heppner vs Corbett football game.
Front row (L-R): Kallihan Baker, Morgan Milligan, Kathrine Lindsay, Paige Miller, Teagan
Roy, Khloe Rodriguez, Opal Reid and Tenley Rosenbalm. Second row (L-R): Darla Dial,
Emberlee Nichole, Emillia Martin, Zariah Cavin, Eva Warden, Aria Panky, Haven Gray,
Addison Coe and Isa Payne. Third row (L-R): Brooklyn Hendricks, Claire Lindsey, Maya
Payne, Rebecca Ellsworth, Lincoln Ellsworth, and McKensy Maben. Fourth row (L-R): Kaitlyn
Martin, Journey Caven, Makayla Silvia, Rylee Palmer and Madison Ashbeck.
Heppner Haunt comes to town
Lexington Fire Department, town council members and residents braved the cold and rain
to pay their respects.. -Photo by Wayne Gordon
Hillsboro fire and emergency vehicles passed through Hep-
pner as they escorted Grimaldi back to Tualatin. -Photo by
David Sykes
Ryan Grimaldi. -Contributed
photo
Portland area fire departments saluted as Grimaldi passed
by. -Contributed photo
Ryan Grimaldi, 31, a
Hillsboro firefighter/para-
medic died on Friday, Nov.
3 when a tree fell on him
while on a hunting trip in
the mountains of Morrow
County.
On Sunday, members
of the Hillsboro fire depart-
ment and other firefighters
and their families trav-
eled to Heppner to escort
Grimaldi’s body to Crown
Memorial Center in Tuala-
tin. A service will be held
on Nov. 11.
Morrow County Sher-
iff ’s Office along with
emergency and police ve-
hicles from Banks, Yamhill,
Lake Oswego, Pendleton,
Hermiston/Stanfield, Hep-
pner and Ione joined in the
procession.
Residents and fire
trucks in Heppner, Lexing-
ton and Ione lined the high-
way to pay their respects as
the procession passed by.
-See FIREFIGHTER/PAGE
FIVE
Mock accident staged at
Heppner High School
A mock accident exer-
cise was acted out on Nov.
3 in the parking lot at Hep-
pner High School with both
Heppner and Ione High
School students participat-
ing and observing. Morrow
County Sheriff’s Office,
Heppner Rural Fire De-
partment, Heppner Ambu-
lance, A-1 Martin’s Towing,
Sweeney’s Mortuary and
Community Counseling
Solutions all participated.
The mock accident was
a re-enactment of a drunk
driving accident with real- The mock drunk driving accident shows one high school
istic injuries and emotions, male as deceased and through the windshield of the mini
one drunk driver and his van. -Photo by David Sykes
deceased passenger and
two injured, scared and
entrapped high school girls
in the other vehicle. The
Fire Department cut apart
the car allowing EMS to get
the injured girls out, while
the disoriented and upset
drunk driver was being run
through intoxicated testing
by a Sheriff’s Deputy on the Fire fighters, EMS and the Sheriff’s department work to
-See ACCIDENTPAGE
FOUR
extract two high school girls from the second vehicle. -Photo
by David Sykes
ABOVE: Heppner Gazette-Times and Sykes Real Estate received some scary visitors on
Halloween. -Photo by David Sykes. RIGHT: BEO employees got into the Halloween spirit
last Tuesday. Pictured (L-R) Sarah Santora, Tricia Rollins, Bev Benson, Jessica Peterson,
Emma Wright, Hannah Rinehart, Taylor Kershner, Kaitlynn Pratt, Paola Flores.
Gazette-Times Trophy Corner
Tyson Rob-
inson, pic-
tured with
his dad, got
his first deer
through the
Mentored
Youth pro-
gram on the
Creth Har-
ris ranch on
Rhea Creek.
-Contributed
photo
The Heppner Gazette-
Times wants to see pic-
tures of your trophy ani-
mals from this hunting
season. Stop by to have
your picture taken, drop
off photos, mail them to
PO Box 337
in Heppner,
email them
to editor@
rapidserve.
net or text
cell phone
photos to 541-980-6674.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396
For farm equipment, visit our web site at www.mcgg.net