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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2015)
AUGUST 7, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3 Suspect cuffed in robbery with mace School Board tackles guiding principles Offi cers with the Keizer Police Department arrested a Keizer man last week ac- cused of attempting to rob a Salem man during a meeting to complete a Craigslist trans- action. Joshua J. Smith, 28, of 4343 Rivercrest Drive North was arrested and charged July 29 with attempting to rob a 29-year-old Salem man of guitar pedals the victim was there to sell. Smith has been charged with third degree robbery, fourth degree assault, fi rst degree theft and unlaw- ful use of mace. Bail was set at $30,000. Shortly after 5 p.m. on July 28, KPD offi cers responded to 452 Cummings Lane North, John Knox Presbyterian Church, to a report of a rob- bery that had just occurred. The victim said he was as- saulted during the robbery when the suspect sprayed him with a chemical weapon agent similar to mace or pep- per-spray that incapacitated him and his ability to de- fend himself or prevent being robbed. When offi cers arrived they found the man lying on the ground in the church parking lot next to his vehicle. The offi cer confi rmed he had been sprayed in the face with some type of chemical weapon agent and observed his eyes were swollen shut and he had mucus coming from his nose and mouth. The vic- tim also reported he was hav- ing diffi culty breathing as he suffered from the effects of the chemical agent the sus- pect had assaulted him with. Paramedics from the Keiz- er Fire District responded to render aid. The victim was treated and released on the scene. The initial investigation determined that after the suspect robbed the victim he fl ed on foot to the south of the church parking lot on Toni Avenue North. Addi- tional KPD offi cers and a K-9 Unit from the Salem Police Department responded to the area in an effort to locate and apprehend the suspect, but the search was unsuccessful. In addition to providing a suspect description and his last known direction of travel, the victim provided investi- gating offi cers with the tele- phone number he said the suspect called from when they made arrangements to meet. Further investigation revealed this telephone num- ber belonged to a pay phone located at the 7-11 store at 4380 River Road North, ap- proximately fi ve blocks from the location the robbery oc- curred. Offi cers later responded to the 7-11 where they were able to view surveillance video of a person who used the pay phone that matched the description of the suspect provided by the victim. On July 29, offi cers contin- ued to investigate the incident and were contacted by the victim who told investigators he believed he had found the guitar pedals the suspect stole from him. He said he believed the suspect was attempting to sell the stolen property on Craigslist. After learning this information the investigators were able to identify the per- son who was selling the pos- sible stolen property. Smith resided within ap- proximately a half mile of where the robbery occurred the previous evening. The fol- low-up investigation contin- ued July 29 with undercover offi cers arranging to meet with the seller of the guitar pedals at 2 p.m. at an auto parts business in the 4200 block of River Road North. The seller arrived and was observed wearing the same clothing the suspect from the previous evening’s robbery was described to have been wearing. Undercover offi cers approached him and took him into custody without in- cident and they recovered the guitar pedals. Smith was trans- ported to the Marion County Correctional Facility. By HERB SWETT For the Keizertimes The Salem-Keizer School Board represents the owners of the school system, speaks with one voice after reaching a de- cision, has only one employee and must keep its members from promoting nepotism or cronyism. Those were among the principles discussed July 28 at a work session on governance, which included the district’s administrators. Although the board cannot vote on a policy in a work session, the matter is expected to be on the agenda of the board’s August meeting. Rick Kimball, board chair- person, noted that the gover- nance principles had been in effect for several years but said that, with many new adminis- trators as well as one new board member, it was time to make sure all district leaders knew about the policies. Kimball credited Sandy Husk, who preceded Christy Perry as permanent superinten- dent of the district, with intro- ducing the governance system to the Salem-Keizer School District. While encouraging expres- sion of opinion by individual board members before a deci- sion is made, the policy calls for all board members to support the decision after it is reached. District voters, as the own- ers of the public school system, elect the board, to which its one employee, the superinten- dent, reports. The other admin- istrators, the teachers and the classifi ed employees work for the superintendent. The governance system limits the authority of the su- perintendent. Those limits are read at board meetings monthly through the year as executive limitation policies. Many com- ments have been made about the negative wordings of the policies, but they have been so worded to remind the pub- lic, board members and district employees what administrators cannot do. Policies regarding fairness bar board members from seek- ing district jobs for relatives or friends, and from voting on facilities in which they have fi - nancial interests. Paul Dakopolos, district legal adviser, noted that board mem- bers have personal liability for illegal actions by the board. He said that, in cases of potential or actual confl icts of interest, board members must declare them. He added that board members are encouraged to disclose po- tential confl icts annually. Maj. Gen. Dan R. Hokan- son was recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and assigned as deputy com- mander of the U.S. Northern Command and vice com- mander of U.S. Element, North American Aerospace Defense command. Hokanson, a one-time Keizer resident, had been serving as adjutant general of Oregon National Guard. “Our loss is the country’s gain,” Gov. Kate Brown said of the move in a press re- lease. “I am proud to see Maj. Gen. Hokanson’s dedicated service recognized with this promotion. We will miss his steady, thoughtful leadership. During his tenure, he guided the state to develop a synchro- nized response to a Cascadia Subduction Zone event, over- saw the deployment of 1,400 service members; and led the Oregon National Guard’s re- sponse to state emergencies, including wildfi res and search and rescue operations.” The new assignment will take Hokanson to Colorado Springs, Colo., where he will help oversee preparation and response to threats and aggres- sion aimed at the U.S. and its territories. Hokanson gets promotion CONCEAL CARRY PERMIT CLASS TH MONDAY, AUGUST 10 1PM -or- 6PM at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Rd NE Oregon - Utah (Valid 35 States) OR / Utah: Valid in WA $80 or Oregon only $45 3 WAYS TO SIGN UP! CALL: 360 -921-2071 WEB: www.FirearmTrainingNW.com EMAIL: FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com