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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2016)
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 5 Local Capa’s handler transition going smoothly at BCPD BY KERRY McQUISTEN News@TheBakerCountyPress.com “The transition is going very well,” said Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner. The transition is that of changing the department’s new drug dog Capa’s handler from Officer Co- leton Smith to Sgt. Wayne Chastain. At the end of February, Smith resigned from his handler duties. He had served as Capa’s han- dler since returning from Florida with the dog last Halloween. Lohner said the de- mands of keeping up on the required maintenance training with the dog, on top of the responsibilities of being assigned a full- time patrol shift, and then caring for a police animal 24/7/365 became difficult to manage, and led to the resignation. Chastain was assigned to the role that same week due to his prior experience as a canine handler—he was one of the handlers for former drug canine, Turbo, who retired last year. Said Chastain, “I handled Turbo for the first couple years he was with us. I attended a two-week han- dler’s course in Northwest Washington sponsored by the kennel we bought Tur- bo from. After that, Turbo and I spent another week in Portland training and from there obtained double certi- fication as a drug detection team. One certification from the Pacific North- west Police Detection Dog Association, and one from the Oregon Police Canine Association.” In Turbo’s 121 deploy- ments, the dog helped seize: 47 ounces of marijuana (just shy of four pounds), 1.3 ounces of methamphetamine, one gram of cocaine, two firearms and one stungun, one ounce of ketamine, 200 pills of Oxycontin, 662 pills of Ecstasy, $16,651 cash related to drug sales, and over 41 pieces of drug paraphernalia—and 43 persons were arrested for drug crimes as a result of Turbo’s searches. Chastain went on to say, “Capa is a two-year-old puppy that had very little obedience training at his kennel in Florida. My family and I are starting obedience training with a local dog trainer Wednes- day March 16, 2016, and this will be ongoing until both our family and Capa are adjusted. Capa and I have been working and training together now for Johnston sentenced CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Photo Courtesy of the BCPD. Sgt. Wayne Chastain with Capa. about two weeks while at work, and we are ready to take the certification test- ing. I will not have to go back to a basic handler’s course as the concepts have remained the same from when I worked Turbo. We are scheduled to take the certification test in Mountain Home, Idaho, on March 28th.” There are other big dif- ferenced between the dogs. Said Chastain, “Turbo was an aggressive alert dog, meaning he scratched at the source of the odors he was trained to find. Capa is a passive alert dog, meaning he sits and stares at the source of the odor. “This has been my big- gest adjustment because as a passive alert dog, the dog can be more dependent on the handler during the alert—meaning he will alert and then look at me to deliver the toy when the objective is to have the dog continually stare at the odor—because they are trained to think the odor is their toy.” Chastain added, “After working with Capa for the last couple of weeks, I am excited to get us certified and working as a team. He is a great dog and will provide a great service to our community in the years to come.” Johnston was convicted of propelling blood at Baker City Police Chief Wyn Lohner by tossing a used tampon at him during the course of an arrest on March 30, 2015 for a re- straining order violation. The tampon hit him in the hand and chest. Lohner said Tuesday that Photo courtesy of the the restraining order had Baker County Sheriff’s Department been intended to prevent her from contacting her Marlene Johnston. juvenile daughter. The State called Chief Lohner as their only wit- ness in the case. “I was on the stand twice, but couldn’t tell you for sure how long. Maybe an hour at the most,” said Lohner. The defense called Tom Johnston and the defendant Marlene Johnston as wit- nesses. At trial, Marlene Johnston claimed that she dropped the tampon and did not Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press throw it in the direction of Lohner. Chief Wyn Lohner. Johnston was remanded to the Baker County Jail following the verdict and her sentencing was announced Monday. Said District Attorney Matt Shirtcliff, “She was sen- tenced pursuant to the Oregon sentencing guidelines— three years, formal probation, 30 days jail, 50 hours community service and complete a psychological evalua- tion and to follow any recommended treatment from that evaluation, and a $200 fine.” Shirtcliff added, “We were pleased with the jury’s verdict. The Oregon Legislature passed this law to protect law enforcement officers and corrections employees from being subjected to dangerous bodily secretions being intentionally thrown or propelled at them. Being sub- jected to these types of substances like blood put officers at risk.” Lohner concluded, “This case was not personal to me, but rather it became a matter of principle. In my opinion, the actions perpetrated showed a complete disrespect for law enforcement and the role every police officer is tasked with. If society ever condones such absolute con- tempt for the police, we will have lost our ability to serve our communities in a safe and productive manner.” Crash Photo courtesy of Carl Dedrick. One driver died Tuesday on I-84 outside Huntington. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 All eastbound traffic had stopped to include a 2015 Kenworth pulling a 2012 Utility semi-trailer, operated by Abraham Garza Tanguma, age 33, from Rio Grande City, Texas, at milepost 348. At about 11:55 a.m., a 2015 Freightliner pulling a Great Dane semi-trailer, operated by Milton Vaughn, age 62, from Altoona, Kansas, was also driving eastbound, when he approached the stopped traffic and crashed into the rear of Garza Tanguma’s vehicle combination at high- way driving speeds. Vaughn’s vehicle was transporting hazardous materials (Aluminum Oxide Powder UN3175) and the containers were breached and leaking. Hazmat 14 with the Ontario Fire Department arrived and were assisted by H20 Envi- ronmental from Boise, Idaho for cleanup. Vaughn sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Berezin was life flighted to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise, Idaho and Garza Tanguma was transported by ambulance to Saint Alphon- sus Medical Center in Ontario. The Interstate was closed westbound for approxi- mately four hours and eastbound for approximately nine hours. OSP was assisted by Oregon Department of Transpor- tation, Hazmat 14 with the Ontario Fire Department, H20 Environmental, the Baker County Sheriff's Office, and the Huntington Rural Fire Department.
