HPD makes two major but unrelated arrests
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, October 27th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – Two major arrests are made in Hermiston. One involved a man charged with multiple felonies for child sex abuse. The other involved a domestic violence incident at Walmart that turned into a pursuit through the city late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
Steven Ira Brown, 36, of Hermiston was arrested on numerous child sex abuse charges, some of which are no-bail offenses. Chief Jason Edmiston said the victim was a teenager whose family was known to the suspect. Brown is someone Edmiston is familiar with, but not for past crimes.
“We don’t have a whole lot of history with him criminal-wise, but he’s one of those antagonists on social media that has an opinion about everything,” Edmiston said.
One of those opinions was a criticism of the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office for going light on a man charged with child sex abuse crimes similar to the ones Brown now finds himself facing.
When police went to the 700 block of West Ridgeway Avenue to serve Brown with an arrest warrant, he refused to come out and refused to let officers enter. Rather than using forcible entry, Edmiston said Brown was allowed to consult with his attorney.
“We didn’t want to elevate things that didn’t need to be elevated,” Edmiston said.
Once the attorney received a text copy of the arrest warrant, Brown surrendered to police.
Anthony Robert Jones, 44, of Hermiston is in jail facing multiple felonies for what began as a report of domestic violence at Walmart and ended with a high-speed car chase and foot pursuit.
Edmiston said police received calls from Walmart that a man with a knife had hurt a woman. When officers arrived, the man had fled. The injured woman, who suffered at least one knife wound, told officers the man was her husband and he was demanding she give him money.
The suspect returned to the scene, slipped into his truck, and took off with officers in pursuit. The chase went through Hermiston, and even passed by Edmiston’s house twice.
“Mr. Jones eventually crashed into a garage door of a house on the 500 block of East Pine, then fled on foot,” Edmiston said.
By this point, the Oregon State Police and the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office were involved, and the officers set up a perimeter and tracked Jones down.
Edmiston said Jones’ criminal history shows 11 arrests for 38 citations locally dating back to 1996. Charges against him include first-degree robbery, aggravated assault, two counts of attempt to elude, reckless driving and reckless endangering.
Charges against him include first-degree robbery, aggravated assault, two counts of attempt to elude, reckless driving and reckless endangering.
