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
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