NEWS
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019
Sheriff’s offi ce seeking missing man
HERMISTON HERALD
The Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Offi ce was search-
ing for three local men
— Dylan Jonathan Chris-
tensen,
Jason
Edward
Moore and Casey Hale —
Monday, but two have been
found.
The department reported
Monday morning that
Christensen, 27, of Irri-
gon, pointed a black AR-15
rifl e at someone in the area
of 32293 West Progress
Road, Hermiston, at around
6:45 p.m. Sunday. He fi red
the rifl e into a fi eld, accord-
ing to the sheriff’s offi ce.
The Oregon State Police,
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Ser-
vice, Umatilla and Stanfi eld
police departments, and the
sheriff’s drone searched
the area Sunday but were
unable to fi nd Christensen.
He was located Monday
evening by sheriff’s deputies
at a residence on Progress
Road in Hermiston. After an
investigation, he was taken
into custody and lodged at
the Umatilla County Jail on
multiple charges, including
menacing, second-degree
Christensen
Moore
disorderly conduct, point-
ing a fi rearm at another, and
attempted unlawful use of a
weapon.
The sheriff’s offi ce was
still looking for a man miss-
ing in Umatilla as of Tues-
day afternoon.
Deputies around 1 p.m.
Police say latest report reveals
drop in violent crimes
Nineteen violent crimes
have been reported so
far this year
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
Violent crime decreased
and traffi c stops, arrests and
information requests have
increased so far in 2019,
according to the Hermiston
Police Department’s second
quarter crime report.
Reports of violent crimes
between January and June
have decreased by 39%,
with 19 violent crimes
reported so far this year,
despite the population of
Hermiston increasing by
12.3% since 2010.
Chief Jason Edmiston
said that historically, Herm-
iston has a relatively low
violent crime rate with a
higher property crime rate,
possibly because HPD takes
all property crime reports.
“Bad things do happen,
we’ve been fortunate they
don’t happen with great fre-
quency,” Edmiston said.
Traffi c stops increased
by 10% compared to the
fi rst half of 2018, but are
still down by 6% over the
10-year average.
“Last year we were
plagued with injuries and ill-
ness, so our patrol was run-
ning pretty ragged some-
times,” Edmiston said.
Edmiston said that this
year, the traffi c offi cer was
able to focus solely on traffi c
calls and stops, which likely
contributed to the uptick.
So far this year, the
HPD has made 674 arrests,
up from 608 at this time
last year, marking an 11%
increase. Up 2% from last
year, case investigations this
year have incurred a 10%
increase over the 10-year
average.
An administrative sec-
ond quarter report released
by HPD revealed an 88%
increase in information
requests.
Edmiston said the depart-
ment collects raw data on
information, but that he
didn’t know exactly what
was causing the increase.
He said some of the increase
could be caused by records
requests from state agencies.
“What we’re seeing is
not sustainable,” he said.
Having received nearly
2,500 requests this year,
Edmiston said the depart-
ment will consider reduc-
ing the amount of hours the
lobby window at the sta-
tion is open. He said traffi c
at the window can interfere
with other tasks, such as fol-
lowing up on information
requests.
Police catch Hermiston man who taunted them on Facebook
HERMISTON HERALD
A Hermiston man’s gloating on Face-
book over escaping arrest was short-lived.
Aaren Antheny Rivera Barrera, 27, was
arrested July 23 in the Hermiston Walmart
parking lot on a warrant for felony parole
violation. He is in Umatilla County Jail
without bail.
Barrera ran and successfully hid from
Hermiston Police Department offi cers four
days earlier when they attempted to serve
the arrest warrant. He celebrated by brag-
ging on Whats Happening Hermiston, a
popular community Facebook page.
Calling out Offi cer Mike Ellwood “and
his lil’ goons” in a profanity-laced post,
he wrote “YOU COULDN’T CATCH
ME TODAY EVEN WHEN YOU HAD
AN ARMY WITH YOU TIME TO PLAY
MARCO POLO.”
Many of the commenters on the post,
which has since been deleted, expressed
their hope that police would fi nd Bar-
rera soon. On July 23 they got their wish,
as an offi cer spotted Barrerra in a Mer-
cedes-Benz driven by Austin Leroy James,
who was also wanted on a misdemeanor
failure to appear warrant, in the Walmart
parking lot. Both men were arrested and
taken to jail.
The police department celebrated with
a Facebook post showing a picture of Bar-
rera in the back of a patrol car .
the water and while oth-
ers checked Moore’s last
known address in Hermis-
ton. Associates of Moore
reported they had not seen
him since July 9 and his
current whereabouts were
unknown.
The sheriff’s offi ce
reported it considers Moore
is missing and possibly in
danger, and asked anyone
with information regarding
his whereabouts to contact
the 24-hour dispatch cen-
ter and reference case No.
19-1027.
In the third case, Hale,
S u n d a y
responded
to the area
near
the
nature trails
just north
of
Third
Hale
Street and
Scapplehorn
Road along the Colum-
bia River in Umatilla after
a citizen who was picking
blackberries found a stack
of clothing, a cellphone and
a wallet with identifi cation
belonging to Moore, 45,
along with a suicide note.
Marine deputies searched
18, of Milton-Freewater
was missing, but the sher-
iff’s offi ce later posted on
Facebook that he had been
found and was “fi ne.”
The sheriff’s offi ce ini-
tially reported Hale had
been last seen on Friday
at around 11 a.m. He was
driving a black 2013 Ford
Edge on Mill Creek Road,
near Camp Kiwanis at the
Oregon-Washington
bor-
der. The vehicle was found
unoccupied and crashed
approximately 20 feet off
the roadway near 61463
Mill Creek Road.
Three arrested on drug charges
HERMISTON HERALD
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Offi ce
arrested three people Saturday on drug
charges.
The sheriff’s offi ce in a news release
reported deputies conducted a search
of a residence at 1735 N.E. Second St.,
Hermiston.
During the search, deputies found meth-
amphetamine, heroin and marijuana, along
with evidence of drug sales, packaging
materials and drug paraphernalia.
Following the search, deputies arrested
Christina Lyn Connors, 34, of Portland, for
possession and delivery of methamphet-
amine and heroin, and Leah Renee Obrien,
50, of Hermiston for possession of a con-
trolled substance.
Information from the incident led depu-
Connors
Obrien
Creason
ties later that day to 1072 W. Orchard Ave.,
No. D6, Hermiston, where they arrested
Damion Nathaniel Creason, 28, of Port-
land, on a felony arrest warrant for a pro-
bation violation. He now also faces charges
for possession and delivery of a controlled
substance, methamphetamine and heroin.
The trio was behind bars at the Umatilla
County Jail but were released. The sheriff’s
offi ce reported the investigation is ongoing
and more charges are possible.
Hermiston area man arrested in Tillamook
HERMISTON HERALD
Timothy Allen Kelly, of
Hermiston, was arrested by
the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive
Task Force on July 23 on
charges including theft and
burglary, as well as fi rst-de-
gree arson.
He was sent to the Tilla-
mook County Jail, awaiting
transfer to Umatilla County.
The Hermiston Police
Department thinks that on
Aug. 14, 2018, Kelly threw
an explosive device through
a window at 1100 West Sun-
land Ave. at 4:30 a.m.
Hermiston Police Chief
Jason Edmiston said at the
time, the HPD had issues
getting someone to accept
ownership of the residence
following the owner’s
arrest and imprisonment for
assault charges. No inuries
were reported.
Hermiston, Oregon
Thank you to the following businesses for supporting
Newspapers in Education
Their generous support of the Hermiston Herald NIE program helps provide copies
of the newspaper and unlimited access to HermistonHerald.com and the e-Edition
to
to schools
schools throughout
throughout the
the community.
community.
1090 W. Hermiston Ave.
Hermiston, OR
541-567-8229
JeremyJLarsonDMD.com
1739 N. First St.
Hermiston, OR
541-564-0264
OldWestFCU.org
Delgado’s
Delgado’s Beauty
Beauty Salon
Salon
&
& Medical
Medical Massage
Massage
1150 W. Hartley Ave. #D
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-571-3629
Our patients are the very
heart of our practice
541-276-1260
BLUECC.EDU
YOUR
BUSINESS HERE:
2411 NW Carden Ave.
Pendleton, OR 97801
Call Today & Donate!
800-522-0255
Bert's Auto
Salvage & Towing
Rick’s
Car Wash
620 E. Main St.
Hermiston, OR
541-567-3908
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
750 W. Elm Ave. Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-6414 • UmatillaElectric.com
DuPont Pioneer
Hermiston
541-567-1860
pioneer.com
2212 SE 9th St. Hermiston, OR 07838
BertsAutoSalvage.com
30775 Baggett Ln.
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-1042
541-567-5050
541-567-5050
QUIZNOS.COM
QUIZNOS.COM
1565
1565 N.
N. FIRST
FIRST ST.
ST. #9
#9
HERMISTON,
HERMISTON, OR
OR 97838
97838
Starvation Ridge
Starvation
Ridge Farming
Farming
79937
79937 S.
S. Edwards
Edwards Rd.
Rd.
Hermiston,
Hermiston, OR
OR 97838
97838
541-567-5842
541-567-5842
YOUR
BUSINESS HERE:
Call Today & Donate!
800-522-0255
1705 E. Airport Rd.
Hermiston, OR 97838
541-289-9800
541-289-9800
eotechermiston.com
eotechermiston.com
For more information on the NIE Program, visit HermistonHerald.com/hh/nie.
To make
make a a donation,
donation, call
call 800-522-0255.
800-522-0255.
Bulls. Broncs. Music. Drinks. Dancing.
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Family Night
Youth Night
Ladies Night
Columbia Basin
Party Night
$5 tickets for kids 12 &
under. Rodeo tickets
include admission into
the Umatilla County Fair.
A night designed
to support
FFA & our youth.
Rodeo action &
complimentary
wine tasting.
Music, drinks, and
dancing at Chute 8
after the rodeo.
Aug. 7-10, 2019
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
www.FarmCityProRodeo.com
Admission to Umatilla County Fair
included with purchase.
1705 E Airport Rd, Hermiston, OR
541-564-8500
General Seating
Handicapped Seating
Handicapped Companion Seating
Child (Wednesday)
Military (Thursday)
Reserved Seating
$17
$17
$17
$5
$10
$20