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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2017 Houfmuse arraigned on murder charges in Hermiston shooting By Hermiston Herald Murder charges were filed Tuesday against Tyree Quaddray Houfmuse in connection to a fatal shooting in Hermiston last month. The Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office filed charges of first-degree manslaughter and murder against Houfmuse, 35, of Tacoma, for the death of James Cragun. The district attorney also filed a charge of felon in possession of a firearm. Houfmuse has been in the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton, since police caught him Monday in con- nection to Cragun’s shoot- ing death May 27 in Herm- iston. Houfmuse attended the arraignment via video, speaking from the jail. He was represented by defense attorney Kara Davis of Intermountain Public De- fenders. Davis asked to defer en- tering a plea until the de- fense had time to look at preliminary police reports and other relevant docu- ments. Prosecu- tor Jaclyn Jenkins with the Umatilla County Dis- trict Attor- Tyree ney’s office Houfmuse said that it would be possible to get some of those documents to the defense. She asked that Houfmuse be held on no bail, due to his charges and repeated offenses. She also asked for a couple of weeks so the case could be taken through grand jury. Davis said that bail had to be set. “There’s no facts. We don’t have an indictment yet,” she said. Jenkins repeated the re- quest for no bail, but said if the court wanted to set bail, she asked that it be set at $1 million, due to Houfmuse’s prior violent crimes. Davis said that Houf- muse qualified for indi- gent defense, and that a million dollars was ex- travagant. Judge Dan Hill set the bail at $1 million, citing the nature of Houfmuse’s charges. Houfmuse will appear before a grand jury later this week. A preliminary hearing is set for June 20 at 8:15 a.m. at the Stafford Hansell Building in Herm- iston. Cragun’s mother and sis- ter were in the courtroom for the arraignment. “Hopefully, this time he stays in jail and doesn’t get the chance to do this to any- body else,” said Cragun’s sister, Cynthia Bailey. Bailey said from what she had heard, her brother and Houfmuse knew each other back in high school, but did not know much about their relationship at the time of the shooting. She also stated that Houf- muse was seeing her broth- er’s ex-girlfriend. Houfmuse was arrested Monday by Umatilla po- lice after a traffic stop and turned over to Hermiston Police Department before he was lodged in the Uma- tilla County Jail in Pendle- ton. Two seriously injured in crash Hermiston Herald Two Boardman residents were seriously injured in a three-vehicle collision on Highway 207 on Monday near Interstate 84. A teenager was seriously injured, and was taken by air to a hospital in Richland and later to Spokane. Oregon State Police is investigating the crash, which took place at 10:31 a.m. Monday. The inves- tigation thus far indicates that Markus Smith, 20, was driving a silver Pontiac Grand Am with a 13-year- old male passenger. The Pontiac was at the stop sign at the top of the I-84 east- bound exit ramp of exit 182. The Pontiac pulled onto Highway 207 and into the path of a commercial vehi- cle operated by Kevin Hel- zer of Hermiston. The Pontiac sideswiped Helzer’s vehicle and spun, striking another vehicle, which was facing south and waiting to turn onto I-84 eastbound. Smith was seriously in- jured and transported by ground ambulance to Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston. The boy, whose name was not released by HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 LOCAL NEWS OSP, suffered critical inju- ries and was transported by LifeFlight to Kadlec Medi- cal Center in Richland, and then to a Spokane hospital. Helzer and Glen Sharp, the driver of the other com- mercial vehicle, were not injured. As of Tuesday morning, the condition of both Smith and his passenger were un- known. Good Shepherd said Smith was no longer a pa- tient at the hospital, but did not say whether he had been released or transport- ed to another facility for further care. City Council passes $57.3 million budget By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer The Hermiston City Council passed a $57.3 million budget for 2017- 2018 on Monday. The budget appropri- ates money for a number of large projects, including construction of the new se- nior center downtown, the West Highland Trail for bicycles and pedestrians, new money-saving sol- ids-handling equipment for the recycled water treat- ment plant and various up- grades to city parks. On the personnel side, all staff will receive a 2.5 percent cost of living in- crease, and the city is add- ing a building maintenance position and a human re- sources specialist. The council also put on its Hermiston Urban Re- newal Agency hat to pass the agency’s budget, most of which will be dedicated to a $900,000 festival street project on NE Second Street in front of City Hall. After passing the bud- get, the council approved a bid from National Meter & Automation Inc. to replace all city water meters with remote-read meters and insulate them. The project was paid for by $1.2 mil- lion in bonds that will be repaid through the rate in- crease the council enacted in 2016. Prior to the regular City Council meeting the coun- cil held a work session to hear a presentation from Umatilla County Fire Dis- trict 1 Chief Scott Stanton about the fire district’s first year as a combined district with Stanfield and Hermis- ton. Stanton said the first year has gone well, and has given the community added benefits such as 24/7 staffing at Station 22 on Di- agonal Road. He said there have been two house fires where response time was cut down from seven min- utes to under two minutes due to that change. He also said that since January the district has had only one delay of service where an ambulance could not im- mediately respond to a call because everyone was al- ready in service, which is a much lower number than in previous years. Stanton said the dis- trict’s call volume was up 6.5 percent in 2016 com- pared to 2015, with a 22 percent increase in fires and a continued upward trend of motor vehicle crashes. “Distracted driving seems to be a common theme,” he said. Stanton said the district will be holding a ground- breaking sometime within the next month for the new four-story training tow- er that the department is building out at the Westland Road station in partnership with Blue Mountain Com- munity College. The dis- trict is also working with Good Shepherd Medical Center on creating a com- munity paramedic program that will potentially help cut down on ambulance runs and emergency room visits by working with community members on managing chronic diseases and following post-opera- tion discharge instructions. Concealed Carry Permit Classes F RIDAY , J UNE 22 ND • 1:00 & 6:00 Best Western 2255 Highway 395 South. Hermiston, OR Required class to get an Oregon or multi-State permit. Class includes: • Fingerprinting & photo • Oregon gun laws • Washington gun laws • Interstate travel laws • Interaction with law enforcement • Use of deadly force • Firearm / ammunition / holster selection Multi-state: $80 or Oregon only: $45.00 360.921.2071 FirearmTrainingNW.com : FirearmrainingNW@gmail.com Dad hasn’t had a vegetable in 6 months time to call (855) 562-0177 At Brookdale communities your dad will have options for healthy meals with great company, because both nutrition and social connections are important. 32506 HermistonHerald BROOKDALE SENIOR LIVING and BRINGING NEW LIFE TO SENIOR LIVING are the registered trademarks of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. ©2017 Brookdale Senior Living Inc. All rights reserved. Call (855) 562-0177 today to schedule your complimentary lunch and visit. We are available 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday. Bringing New Life to Senior Living® brookdale.com PM
