Sisters man gets seven years for fatal crash

Gabriel Todd Ellis, of Sisters, will spend nearly seven years in prison in connection with a drunk-driving crash that killed a close friend.

Judge Stephen Tiktin handed down the sentence last Wednesday in a case relating to a crash on a forest road south of Sisters in the early hours of Saturday morning, November 1, 2008.

According to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, Ellis, then 25, was driving a 1987 Chevrolet S10 Blazer with James Robert Stark and Teddy Ian Scot Howell, 32, both of Sisters, as passengers.

The vehicle rolled approximately 60-70 feet down an embankment on Forest Service Road 4606, approximately 2.9 miles down from Three Creek Road.

Stark was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled, and the vehicle came to rest on top of Stark, pinning him under it. Ellis and Howell attempted to locate Stark at the crash scene, but due to darkness, were unable to find him.

Ellis and Howell walked from the scene to the City of Sisters which took them approximately an hour-and-a-half.

Local 911 Dispatch received the report from Ellis and Howell of the motor vehicle crash at 3:58 a.m. Deputies from the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the Black Butte Ranch Police Department were initially dispatched to 913 E. Cascade Ave. in Sisters where deputies contacted Ellis and Howell.

Deputies and officers conducted a search of the area that Ellis and Howell described as the crash location. After an approximately 50-minute search of the area, a Black Butte Police officer located the crash scene. The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon State Police, with the assistance of the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department conducted an investigation at the scene.

They found Stark dead at the scene.

Ellis was arrested on multiple charges; he ultimately pleaded guilt to criminally negligent homicide, drunk driving and third-degree assault. Ellis will reportedly receive drug and alcohol treatment during incarceration.