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Sisters, Oregon
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Sheriff's deputies receive awards
By Jim Cornelius

Corporal Wayne Morgan of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office received a Lifesaving Award from the Oregon State Sheriff's Association on December 5. He was honored for an incident in May in which he saved a Sisters man from suicide.

Another local deputy, Tim Hernandez, was honored for exceptional work in connection with the homicide of a Redmond woman allegedly slain by a group of teens last spring.

Morgan responded to a call regarding a suicidal 52-year-old man in Sisters on May 14. The man's wife had found a note indicating that the man was going up Three Creek Road to end his life. He was apparently distraught over financial problems.

Morgan and Deputy Randy Graves did not locate the man on the main road heading up to Three Creek Lake, so they split up and began searching the labyrinth of forest roads that branch off Three Creek Road.

Corporal Morgan spotted a set of tire tracks on the 900 spur off Forest Road 1514 and followed them, although he was not sure whether the tracks were fresh. The narrow, rocky road wound deep into the forest and Morgan could not be sure he was not following a false trail and wasting precious time.

But the corporal pressed on and came upon the man's truck parked at a makeshift campsite along the road. The engine was running. A vacuum cleaner hose ran from the exhaust pipe into the vehicle.

Morgan expected to find the man dead, but as he approached the car he saw movement in the truck. Morgan appraoched the vehicle and yanked the hose out of the exhaust pipe.

At that moment, Deputy Jeff Winters, who was interviewing the man's wife, radioed Morgan that the man was armed with a .22 caliber rifle. Morgan saw the muzzle of the rifle through the truck window and he backed off to await back-up.

The man roused himself and hit the gas, taking off up the forest road. Morgan followed, while Deputy Graves maneuvered his four-wheel-drive rig into a blocking position on the road ahead and took a position on an overlooking ridgeline.

The man stopped as soon as he saw his way blocked.

An hour-long standoff ensued. Corporal Morgan several times talked the man out of his truck, only to see him leap back in and put the rifle to his head with his finger on the trigger. Once the man drove toward the roadblock, but stopped short of ramming the police vehicle.

The man then got out of the truck with the rifle. At that point, things could have ended badly. Sheriff Les Stiles told The Nugget that Morgan's calm, cool response in that moment earned him the credit given by the Sheriff's Association.

Morgan emphasized that, though he was holding the rifle, the man never made any threatening move toward him or toward Graves in the rocks above.

Corporal Morgan finally persuaded the man to put away the rifle and walk off into the woods. The man put the rifle back in his truck and walked away.

By this time, Deputy Winters had arrived on the scene and several deputies approached the man and took him into custody without incident.

Morgan transported the man to the hospital for treatment. Since the incident, the man is reportedly doing well.

Deputy Hernandez was cited for distinguished achievement for his work connected with the Barbara Thomas homicide investigation last spring. Hernandez was working on a report of runaway teens. According to Stiles, he worked that runaway case hard, following up leads and closing in along their trail.

"He made extraordinary efforts to track these kids," Stiles said.

That trail led to a horrific crime scene, where the teens -- including Thomas' son -- had allegedly killed her in a savage manner.

Hernandez had developed considerable information about the teens and got their descriptions and other pertinent information out so quickly that a dragnet was in place before the teens were far down the road.

They were quickly nabbed attempting to cross the Canadian border.

"Deputy Hernandez is single-handedly responsible for catching those five kids," Stiles said.

Hernandez lives just east of Sisters.

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