Airman dies in highway crash
U.S. Air Force member was on leave after overseas stint
BY William Lundquist
Argus Observer
Thursday, February 21, 2008 10:19 AM PST
Ontario — A member of the United States Air Force died Tuesday afternoon on U.S. Highway 95 when he rolled his pickup on the way to visiting his family, Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings said in a news release.
Hastings said Eugene Kim Ardissono, 21, Fremont, Calif., was going north on U.S. Highway 95 about 39 miles north of the Oregon/Nevada border at about 2 p.m. when his Ford Ranger pickup drifted across the southbound lane onto the west shoulder.
Hastings said Ardissono overcorrected and the pickup rolled several times before coming to rest upright in the middle of the highway. Ardissono had been wearing his seat belt, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hastings said Ardissono, according to his family, had just completed a two-year overseas assignment and was on a two-week leave visiting family members in California before going to his new assignment at Mountain Home.
The highway was partially blocked while an OSP collision reconstructionist and troopers investigated the crash, Hastings said.
In other public safety news, Ontario Police Department Capt. Mark Alexander is seeking the public’s help in solving an early morning burglary at the First Southern Baptist Church situated at 344 Southwest Second St. in Ontario.
He said more than $4,000 worth of computers, a bass guitar and audio equipment was taken after a window was broken. There are no suspects yet, so Alexander asks anyone with any information about the crime, or anyone being approached about buying the stolen items, to call the police.
Alexander said there have been a rash of church burglaries in the early spring during the past two years. He warned churches and businesses to be on alert, inventorying their property’s serial numbers. He said proper lighting and alarm systems can help catch thieves in the act. Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe also reported several citations. On Monday, at 7:17 a.m., Wolfe said a deputy on the back roads between Nyssa and Ontario spotted Javier Gomeza, 44, Nyssa, run a stop sign at high speed with his 2007 Chevrolet pickup, then do the same at three more intersections. When the deputy finally caught up with Gomeza and stopped him, Wolfe said, Gomeza told the deputy he was late for work and had been checking the intersections for headlights before running them. The deputy cited Gomeza for running the four stop signs and for careless driving.
Also failing to stop when he should have was commercial truck driver Stephen Anderson, 31, Sacramento, Calif., who drove by an open weigh station at Burns Junction at about 12:44 p.m. Feb. 13. Wolfe said Anderson told a deputy that he missed the turn into the weigh station and decided to keep going rather than turn around.
“He said he figured no one would bother to go after him way out there,” Wolfe said. “He was wrong.” Anderson was cited for failure to comply with commercial vehicle enforcement requirements and for not having his log book up to date.
Around noon Sunday, Wolfe said, two shoplifters were caught at Logan’s Foodtown in Vale. Janie Villastrigio, 30, Vale, and a 15-year-old girl were cited for third degree theft and barred from the store after taking makeup products out of boxes and concealing them in their clothes and packs.
Alcohol created problems for two young people soaking in the Snively Hot Springs on the Owyhee River early Saturday morning, Wolfe said. At about 1:19 a.m., he said, a deputy cited Alycia Adams, 18, Ontario, for being a minor in possession of alcohol. Wolfe said Christopher Child, 22, Vale was cited for furnishing the alcohol to Adams.
Outstanding warrants led to trouble for two other area residents. OPD’s Alexander said Benito Vasquez, 30, Ontario, was arrested about 1:40 a.m. Sunday on a state parole violation warrant and sent to the Malheur County Jail. The warrant was discovered when Vasquez was a passenger in a traffic stop on East Idaho Avenue.
Wolfe said Maria Sanchez, 26, Vale, was contacted at 7:39 p.m. Sunday on a contempt of court warrant out of the Malheur County Justice Court and cited to appear in court.
In Nyssa, Police Chief Lennie Elfering reminded citizens now is the time to clean up trash and graffiti and to get dog licenses renewed.
“We would like to take pride in Nyssa and show it off,” he said.
Every dog, whether an inside or outside pet, is required to have a license, Elfering said, and the licenses all expired at the end of the year. To avoid citations, he advised dog owners to purchase licenses at the city hall, and never let a dog run at large.
Homeowners and renters can also avoid citations, he said, by cleaning up their properties all the way to the centers of alleys and parking areas in front of houses. Trash must be dumped or picked up every week and not allowed to pile up anywhere.
Owners and renters are also responsible for removing graffiti from buildings and fences, Elfering said. Nyssa School District students help clean up graffiti, he said, but need donations of any color paint. Paint donations can be dropped off, he said, at the Nyssa City Shop, Stunz Lumber or the Nyssa Co-op Supply Store. Elfering reminded people to keep an eye out for taggers and call police about anything suspicious.
