Law enforcement tags some taggers
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, May 24th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
MILTON-FREEWATER – The Milton-Freewater Police Department and Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office recently detained several juveniles and arrested one adult male who were allegedly involved in a months-long spree of criminal mischief to public and private property. Multiple cases of graffiti have been reported since Jan. 1 with no known suspects.
MFPD and UCSO, along with assistance from the Milton-Freewater School District, developed several juvenile suspects, leading to the referral of three juveniles to the Umatilla County Juvenile Department. An adult, Henry Dwain Shaul, 19, of Milton-Freewater was also arrested and transported to the Umatilla County Jail for his alleged involvement.
The graffiti involved in this spree was not of an apparent gang nature,” Milton-Freewater Police Chief Doug Boedigheimer said. “One symbol seen and reported, the Nazi swastika, is not at this time believed to be an act or indicator of White supremacist presence or activity in Milton-Freewater and has not been specifically linked to the aforementioned group of individuals. The investigation into their crimes, as well as the swastika, is ongoing.”
The dollar amount of damage caused by the above mentioned individuals is not yet known, but is being totaled for the purposes of charging decisions to be made by the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office and the Umatilla County Juvenile Department.
