Oregon State Police on Friday made their first arrest in connection to the ongoing occupation of a federal wildlife preserve in Burns after a man drove into town in a vehicle reportedly stolen from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, according to the Harney County Sheriff's Office.
Authorities identified the man as Kenneth Medenbach, 62, and charged him with unauthorized use of a government vehicle. He's the first protester to face arrest since militiamen started occupying the wildlife refuge in rural Oregon on Jan. 2.
Under Oregon law, the charge is a Class C felony which, upon conviction, can carry a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Medenbach in a grocery store parking lot after finding him in a vehicle that had a federal government license plate on it, according to OregonLive.com. The vehicle, and another next to it, had signs that said "Harney County Resource Center," on them, the name protesters have given to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, according to the news website. The driver of the other vehicle had already gone into the grocery store before police arrived.
Harney County deputies said the vehicles, a van and a truck, were previously reported stolen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency runs the wildlife refuge.
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is grateful for the quick actions from law enforcement," said USFWS spokeswoman Megan Nagel. "We will continue to work with law enforcement to recover vehicles bought and paid for by the American people to care for their national wildlife refuge."
Court records showed Medenbach was out on bail at the time of his most recent arrest, awaiting trial for a "seven-month residential occupation of government land between May and November 2015," according to a report from The Guardian.
He was previously convicted of the same crime in 1996, according to the newspaper.
