LOCAL
A6 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, AuguST 14, 2019
High-speed pursuits
lead to arrests
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Staff photo by Jessica Pollard
Alumni from the Hermiston High School Class of 1999 assemble a Buddy Bench at Rocky Heights Elementary School.
Class of 1999 helps bring Buddy
Benches to Hermiston schools
By JESSICA POLLARD
STAFF WRITER
When the recess bells
ring later this month, ele-
mentary school students
will have a place to go if
they find themselves with-
out a playmate, thanks
to the installation of 10
benches in Hermiston
School District’s elemen-
tary school playgrounds.
These aren’t just ordi-
nary benches. They’re
Buddy Benches — or
“friendship benches” —
which are meant to be a
safe space for students to
sit when they’re lonely or
having a bad day. Other
students can visit the bench
and invite kids to chat and
play.
“The Buddy Benches
create a beautiful opportu-
nity for students to be kind,
to see someone who doesn’t
have a friend to play with,
who may be having a bad
day,” said Melissa Pur-
swell, who teaches sixth
grade at Armand Larive
Middle School.
Purswell, who also heads
Armand Larive’s Kindness
Club, secured grant fund-
ing from the Hermiston
Education Foundation for
Buddy Benches last year.
After meeting with prin-
cipals at the elementary
schools, Purswell said it
was decided that each of
the five schools should
have two benches — one
for their smaller and one
for their main playground.
Purswell found herself five
benches short of this goal.
That’s when members
of the Hermiston High
School class of 1999, who
celebrated their 20-year
reunion last weekend,
stepped in.
Cody Hawes, a 1999
alumnus who now lives in
Utah, caught wind of Pur-
swell’s plan to get Buddy
Benches to Hermiston’s
schools.
“We
have
Buddy
Benches in Utah, and
they’re really helpful for
limiting bullying,” Hawes
said.
He, in partnership with
other class of 1999 alumni,
started a GoFundMe cam-
paign, which raised more
than $1,200 in three days.
Most of the donations,
Hawes said, came from the
group of former Hermiston
High School graduates.
A crew of seven alumni,
along with Purswell and her
son, installed the benches
Saturday. Purswell said
Armand Larive’s Kind-
ness Club will be making
an informational video for
students about how to use
them.
“It’s our job as adults
to not only create oppor-
tunities for our students to
practice kindness in action
but to model it. I can’t wait
for the students to use these
benches,” she said.
Jeffrey Alan Kelly of Irri-
gon is in jail on charges of
sexual abuse after leading
law enforcement on a chase.
Morrow County District
Attorney Justin Nelson said
a grand jury indicted Kelly
in secret. According to court
documents, the state accused
Kelly, 41, of sexually assault-
ing a girl younger than 14 in
December 2018. He pleaded
not guilty Tuesday to one
count of second-degree sod-
omy and two of first-degree
sexual abuse.
Circuit Judge Daniel Hill
set bail for Kelly at $275,000.
He remains in the Umatilla
County Jail.
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office arrested
Kelly on a warrant for the
charges Monday night, but
not before he tried to get
away.
Patrol Sgt. Nathen Braun
attempted a traffic stop on
Kelly “after some strategic
planning and organization,”
according to a news release
from the sheriff’s office.
Kelly and a passenger,
however, took off in a 2007
silver Chevrolet Suburban
down Highway 730.
Sheriff Ken Matlack,
patrol Sgt. Todd Siex and
three deputies worked to
close off escape routes, and
Kelly turned south on Divi-
sion Lane toward Depot
Lane and entered a cornfield
and a hemp field.
Several members of sher-
iff’s office followed. Kelly
stuck the Suburban in sage-
brush, then he and the passen-
ger bolted on foot. The sher-
iff’s office caught the pair
after about three minutes.
One sheriff’s vehicle also
became stuck in the rough
terrain and later removed,
along with the Suburban.
The sheriff’s office later
released the passenger, Lucia
Madrigal, 31, of Boardman,
without charges.
Kelly will face charges
related to the chase, includ-
ing felony eluding, criminal
mischief and reckless endan-
Kelly
Abell
gering. Nelson said his office
could charge Kelly with
failure to register as a sex
offender.
The state in 2009 charged
Kelly with first-degree rape,
sexual abuse and more. He
pleaded no contest to one
count of first-degree sexual
abuse and served about six
years in prison.
Kelly’s next hearing
is Aug. 22 for a pre-trial
conference.
The Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Office called off a
high-speed pursuit when it
became too dangerous.
Umatilla County sheriff’s
Lt. Sterrin Holcomb said
Stanfield police Saturday at
about 9:30 p.m. tried to stop
a black Acura Integra for
speeding on Highway 395.
“It was going at speeds
over 100 mph,” she said.
The driver got away, and
soon a sheriff’s deputy spot-
ted the car on East Highland
Extension, Hermiston. The
Acura wound up to 86 mph,
she said, and swerved into
oncoming traffic. The sher-
iff’s office ended the chase
due to safety concerns.
But the sheriff’s office
caught the suspect early Sun-
day, Sterrin said, when a dep-
uty responded to a report of
a suspicious vehicle on the
31000 block of Joy Lane,
Hermiston. The deputy
found the Acura with a front
plate matching the car from
the earlier chases. The dep-
uty arrested Adam Fredrick
Abell, 31, of Hermiston, on
10 charges, including felony
eluding, reckless endanger-
ing and felony methamphet-
amine possession. He, too, is
in the county jail.
Abell also has a fel-
ony weapons case pending
in Morrow County Circuit
Court. He bailed out of jail
on that case Thursday.
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