Police report quiet New Year’s
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 10:55 AM PST
Ontario — The Ontario Police Department encountered a quiet New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and reported no DUI arrests or crashes, OPD Capt. Mark Alexander said this morning.
He said the only arrest OPD made was Monday for a probation violation. Police arrested Barry Hamilton, 47, Ontario, after his wallet was evidently lost and returned to OPD. When Hamilton went to claim his wallet, it was determined he had not updated his address as required by law for registered sex offenders. He was issued a detainer and taken into custody.
The Malheur County Sheriff’s Office reported one DUI crash over New Year’s, and another car crash on New Year’s Eve not involving alcohol.
The DUI crash occurred at 5:54 p.m. New Year’s Eve when the driver of the vehicle, Robert Bashon, 59, Vale, was driving on U.S. Highway 20 near Grove School Lane, just west of Vale. According to MCSO Lt. Craig Smith, Bashon failed to negotiate a curve in the road and his vehicle rolled onto its side after it went off the shoulder.
Upon investigation, sheriff’s deputies determined Bashon had been drinking, and his blood alcohol content level registered at a .13.
Neither he, nor his passenger, Nancy Bashon, Vale, had been injured. Robert Bashon was charged with DUII and having an open container.
Smith said New Year’s was uneventful other than that crash.
“One’s too many, but in years past we’ve had more than that, so it was a good New Year’s in that respect,” Smith said.
Malheur County Sheriff’s deputies responded to another vehicle crash that took place New Year’s Eve earlier in the afternoon.
At 2:24 p.m. deputies responded to a two-vehicle crash on Hillside and Vale View Drive, near Vale. The crash occurred when Mary Bagley, 54, Brogan, turned her 1986 Isuzu left in front of a 1997 Honda Accord driven by Jessica Ecklund, 27, Texas, causing a head-on collision. There were no injuries, and Bagley was cited for careless driving.
