Bar owner cited for illegal alcohol service

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, December 7, 2005

More charges have resulted from investigations into the fatal crash outside Wallowa on Nov. 11.

Donna Darby, 67, owner of Backwoods Saloon in Wallowa, was cited on Dec. 7 by the Oregon State Police for furnishing alcohol to an intoxicated person and allowing an intoxicated person to consume alcohol on their premises.

Both charges are misdemeanors, said OSP Sgt. Randy Palmer, and the maximum penalty could be one year in prison and a fine of $6,250.

Darby is the second person to be charged from Backwoods in the last few weeks. Jennifer Mansfield, a server at the saloon, was cited on Nov. 22 with similar charges.

No further charges are expected to be assigned to Darby, an OSP official said. Both sets of charges are related to the vehicle death of Jarako J. Holland, 31, on Nov. 6, he said.

At about 1:40 a.m. that morning, Christopher H. Hammerschmith, 31, Enterprise, drove his 2001 Chevrolet pickup truck off the roadway where it rolled over and landed near a fence about a third of a mile east of Wallowa towards Enterprise.

Witnesses reported to police that Hammerschmith was at Backwoods before the crash and Mansfield allegedly served him alcohol, Palmer said in a previous interview.

No charges have been filed against Hammerschmith. The case is still under investigation, officials said, and OSP blood alcohol tests on Hammerschmith have yet to be returned.

Marketplace