Bend man’s arrest prompts police effort to help family

At first, it sounds like just another Central Oregon drug bust, though at an unusual location – a Bend fast-food restaurant. But coming just two days before Christmas, the arrest was followed by a police and community effort to make sure the man’s three children might still find a reason to smile on Christmas.

Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team detectives had developed information that Olen Grimes, 38, of Bend, was involved in trafficking street-level amounts of methamphetamine in the Bend area, said Lt. Clint Burleigh.

On the afternoon of Dec. 23, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Street Crimes Unit contacted Grimes in a Dairy Queen on South Highway 97, Burleigh said. Grimes tried to run away while throwing personal items into a restaurant garbage can, which police said included about a quarter-ounce of meth.

Grimes was taken into custody without incident and detectives recovered the discarded drugs, Burleigh said.

But then, detectives learned Grimes drove to the restaurant with his 12-year-old son, who was still in the vehicle when his father was arrested, Burleigh said.

The state Department of Human Services (Child Welfare) responded to the scene to help with Grimes’ son. The detectives soon learned Grimes had two other children at home.

The CODE Team detectives then contacted the family and “found they were under hardship during this holiday season,” Burleigh wrote in a news release.

So the detectives reached out to the Shop with a Cop program, coordinated by the sheriff’s office, for help.

The CODE and DCSO Street Crimes Unit detectives used their own personal money and resources from Shop with a Cop to buy the three children presents for the holidays. Burleigh said the presents were delivered to the children on Christmas Eve by CODE Team detectives.

Burleigh also noted that Dairy Queen provided the 12-year-old with free ice cream during the trying time of his father’s arrest, while Food 4 Less donated a gift certificate for a holiday meal to the extended family caring for the three children.

“Both businesses showed the true meaning of the holiday season, making sure all these children were taken care of,” Burleigh said.

The lieutenant also give recognition to the Shop with a Cop program’s coordinators, volunteers and the many citizens and businesses who donate to the 15-year-old effort, a joint venture between area law enforcement agencies and local Wal-Mart stores.

“This is another example of our community coming together, making a difficult situation easier to navigate through, Burleigh wrote. “With thoughtfulness of these detectives, the businesses involved and the resources we have come to depend on, we have captured the true spirit of community.”

Grimes, meanwhile, remained held at the county jail on Wednesday, facing drug possession and distribution charges, as well as first-degree child neglect and criminal driving with a suspended or revoked license. He is being held without bail on a probation violation, jail records showed.

Burleigh said the three children have been placed into protective custody and are saying with extended family.