Ottmar

A Morrow County Sheriff’s Office investigation into a theft of navigation equipment led to the arrest of a Hermiston man and solved a number of local cases.

The suspect, Chalen James Ottmar, 24, faces several charges. State court records show Ottmar has been on a downward spiral of crime since December 2018.

Hermiston-based Barton Laser Leveling Inc. on Aug. 6 reported the theft of equipment from a tractor near Pole Line Road and Homestead Lane outside Boardman. Morrow County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Taylor Wasserman responded to the scene, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office, and took a report for the theft of a RTK radio with receiver and a John Deere 2630 display from a John Deere tractor.

Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson said the theft occurred in July. He described the items as navigation equipment. The sheriff’s office reported Barton Laser valued the equipment at approximately $20,000.

The investigation led Wasserman to the auction website eBay, where Ottmar posted the missing goods. Wasserman worked with the the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois and others there to get the property back to the owner.

After gathering additional evidence, Wasserman obtained a search warrant for Ottmar’s residence, 19 Westview Drive, Hermiston. Members of the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office and Hermiston Police Department served the search warrant Oct. 1, arrested Ottmar and recovered property from crimes in Morrow and Umatilla counties.

According to the news release, the goods solved nine cases in all for the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office, Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, Hermiston Police Department, Oregon State Police and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Morrow County Sheriff’s Office hauled Ottmar to jail in Pendleton for two counts of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, two counts of trespassing and two counts of aggravated theft.

State court records show Ottmar in 2014 pleaded guilty to possessing less than 4 ounces of marijuana, in 2016 he pleaded no contest to violating the basic driving rule and in 2018 he pleaded no contest to speeding, all Umatilla County cases.

This year, Ottmar faced three separate criminal cases in Umatilla County.

He pleaded guilty in May to three counts of second-degree theft for stealing dog food, a cooler and and spa pump from three people in January and received 12 months of court- supervised probation.

Later that month, he faced first-degree theft and second-degree burglary charges for breaking into Highland Hills Elementary School, Hermiston, on Dec. 6, 2018, and stealing Apple iPads.

And in July the district attorney’s office charged Ottmar with criminal simulation and attempted third-degree theft for altering currency and trying to pass it off on June 23 at a McDonald’s. He took deals in both cases, pleading guilty on Sept. 20 to the theft and criminal simulation charges in exchange for two years of probation.

The Morrow County District Attorney’s Office last Wednesday arraigned Ottmar on preliminary charges in the latest case, including for aggravated theft, a felony. Nelson said Ottmar’s next court appearance is Oct. 31.

The delay is due to the court granting a request to release Ottmar from jail. Nelson explained Ottmar’s attorney, Steven Thomas of Pendleton, told the court Ottmar begins an addiction treatment program Monday in Eugene, and he asked the court to let him do that.

The hearing at the end of the month also means Nelson’s office has more time to present evidence to a grand jury for formal charges against Ottmar.