The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Sisters deputies with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dana Michael Roy of Washington last year, after incidents involving threats to people living in the forest near town.

On April 1, Roy, age 43, was sentenced to probation, restitution, and time served on multiple counts, including attempted robbery in the second degree and unlawful use of a weapon. A count of first-degree robbery and a count of menacing were dismissed.

The incidents unfolded on the morning of February 7, 2023, when deputies with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to an unwanted subject call at the Mainline Station where McDonald’s and Chevron are located. Staff reported a man was making concerning comments to the staff about houseless camps across Highway 20 in the adjacent Forest Service land. Deputies arrived quickly in the area, and identified the man in question as Dana Roy. Deputies had an initial contact with Roy, and then released him after they determined there was no probable cause for an arrest at that time.

Deputies then conducted additional interviews at some homeless camps near the area, and found that Roy had approached a man at his camp. Roy pointed what appeared to be a handgun, and later brandished a knife at this man and ordered him to give him two backpacks and his sleeping bag, which the man did. Roy took those items and then went to another camp and cut a tarp and a tent, and ransacked the camp. Deputies searched the area and recovered the two stolen backpacks and the sleeping bag, which had been abandoned by Roy in the forest. Deputies also found the camp which had been damaged by Roy.

Based upon this information, deputies recontacted Roy, who was still in the area and placed him in custody without incident. Roy was required to appear in Deschutes County Circuit Court for his sentencing and was represented by a public defender.