Juniper Canyon raid turns up stolen generator; woman arrested

Central Oregon’s SWAT team assisted in a raid Wednesday on a home in the Juniper Canyon area south of Prineville that turned up a stolen generator and other items that led to the arrest of a 62-year-old woman.

Crook County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant around 11 a.m. at a home in the 6300 block of Southeast Canyon Road, Sgt. Bill Elliott said.

The sheriff’s office was investigating a generator stolen about a week ago from a citizen in the Davis Loop area, Elliott said.

The sheriff’s office requested the assistance of the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team for the raid, which turned up the stolen generator, methamphetamine paraphernalia and some of the equipment used to move the generator, the sergeant said.

Margaret Ruth Verduin was contacted at the home during the raid and arrested on charges of possessing stolen property and methamphetamine possession.

Verduin was taken to the county jail in Prineville and held on $22,500 bail for a time. She was released under the jail’s matrix system pending a June 6 court date, a jail officer said.

Elliott said the sheriff’s office also was assisted by BLM law enforcement and Crook County Fire and Rescue.