Moro citizens nab suspect

Payne and Whitaker were both at the fire hall in Moro — where they both volunteer — when they heard on the police radio that Deputy Dan DeHaven was in Moro in pursuit of a man he’d tried to pull over for speeding.

The driver got to Moro, jumped out, ran through some yards, and ran back to his vehicle and got back in, said Sheriff Brad Lohrey.

Payne heard where the vehicle chase was heading and jumped in his vehicle and was hoping to block the driver.

Payne spotted the suspect — who’d earlier bailed out of his pickup again and left it in gear, so it rolled over the sign for the senior center — and got out of his vehicle and simply told the man to stop.

The man did, and just stood there looking at him for a time, Payne said.

But then, Whitaker – who had taken off in another direction at first, and finally came upon the two of them — came around the corner and the man decided to run away again. But Payne was having none of it.

“I more or less grabbed him around the neck and we went around in a circle there, and Rick’s a big boy, he’s close to 200 pounds and Rick just piles on both of us,” he said.

“We were on our way to the ground when Rick comes flying on top of us. I appreciated Rick helping out.”

Whitaker said, “It was quick and fast, I can tell you that. It wasn’t no slow process.”

Payne added, “This poor guy was smashed between the sidewalk and the cyclone fence.

“So I got up and we had to get the owner of the fence to pull the fence over a little bit so we could get the guy out of it. It was really kind of a funny one.” DeHaven, who’d been giving chase around town, showed up out of breath and grateful, said Lohrey.

When DeHaven came upon the scene, Payne, who is 66, quipped to him, “We’re getting too old for this.”

Payne has been a volunteer firefighter for 41 years. Lohrey said, “I just appreciate the citizens helping the sheriff’s office out. I know the citizens of Sherman County always have our backs.”

Suspect Timothy Henkel, 47, of Billings, Mont., had warrants for his arrest, for dangerous drugs and theft, Lohrey said. “There’s always an underlying reason why you don’t want to get stopped,” he said.

Henkel was arrested on charges of eluding, failure to perform the duties of a driver for the hit and run of the senior center sign, and unlawful possession of methamphetamine, Lohrey said.

“I think that was the talk of Moro because it was right before lunch at the senior center,” Lohrey said. Payne noted the man was barefoot, and he was surprised he didn’t step on any goatheads — a noxious weed with painfully sharp spikes.

Whitaker, 41, has lived in Moro for a year and has volunteered in Hood River County with the fire department and as a police reserve. He is an emergency medical responder with the Sherman County Ambulance service.

Whitaker said, “I’m not saying everybody should be a vigilante or go looking for it, but if I was in the right place at the right time, I would want that kind of help too, because I think small communities need to stick together and keep it safe.”

Lohrey agreed. “You come through Sherman County, our locals are gonna catch you.”