OCTOBER 16, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7
NELSON,
continued from Page A1
“Chris was very good in encour-
aging them to assist law enforcement,”
Bickers said. “Because of how sophis-
ticated Chris is in the process, it went
very quickly. In my opinion, this was the
most successful overdose investigation
I’ve been a part of. They went straight
up vertically in four days.”
“The case was successful because
of the cooperation from everyone in-
volved,” said Nelson, who was on a
DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) task
force at the time. “Sgt. Andrew Cope-
land and his team did a good job identi-
fying everyone involved that night. They
provided that information to me the
next morning. We spoke to the room-
mate about what was occurring at the
home and what she knew.”
From there, Nelson and his team
found who the source of the drugs was
and kept working their way up the drug
supply chain.
Nelson noted a couple of sus-
pects weren’t initially cooperative, but
changed their tunes after talks with
Bickers. Once the cooperation was
gained, ascension up the drug supply
chain continued.
“Kathleen has been a driving force
behind Len Bias cases in Portland and
has been recognized by many fed-
eral prosecutors,” Nelson said. “AUSAs
around the country have been talking
with her.”
Likewise, people have been talking
with Nelson and Roelof.
“We have used this case as a teaching
tool with the National Advocacy Cen-
ter,” Bickers said. “Chris and Garrett
have been requested by other agencies
to teach on this case. It went really well.
It really was spearheaded by Chris and
the Keizer Police Department.”
A top person of the supply chain,
Sergio Quezada-Lopez of Mexico, was
arrested a week after Putnam’s death.
He entered a guilty plea in August 2014
to conspiracy to distribute heroin in
quantities of one kilogram or more that
resulted in death. During the investi-
gation, it was learned Quezada-Lopez
was a high level member of a large scale
conspiracy involving the distribution of
signifi cant quantities of heroin in Ore-
gon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado.
Nelson credited the hard work of all
involved.
“I appreciate the recognition, but
the success for this case was not done
by one person,” he said. “It was done by
an entire team. It was local prosecutors
from the Marion County District At-
torney’s offi ce, offi cers with the Keizer
and Salem Police Departments, all the
agencies involved with the DEA, all of
the police agencies in the Portland area.
The success of the case was the joint ef-
fort by law enforcement and prosecu-
tors. We could have not done it without
all of the cooperation. We were the case
agents, but we were really accepting the
award on behalf of everyone involved.”
LUCAS,
continued from Page A1
“I called my dad and explained the
opportunity. He told me to stay and
do it. He’s always been my biggest
supporter,” Lucas said.
The course was intended to take
about a year to complete and then
the graduates would be hooked up
on the local pro wrestling circuit.
“You learn how to take a bump
and protect your head. Then you
learn footsteps, which is the psychol-
ogy of wrestling moves. It’s like being
a ballerina. You have to learn certain
techniques to do certain things even
down to applying simple things like a
hammerlock,” he said.
Lucas completed the entire gaunt-
let in nine months and credits his
amateur background for seeing him
through.
Then, on his way home from one
of his two jobs on his bike, in the week
set to graduate, fate dealt him a cruel
twist: he was hit by a car. The bike
frame crumpled causing the chain to
fl y free. The chain wrapped around
Lucas’ arm and he was dragged along
until the driver was able to stop.
“I was riding across from a park
where they have softball games there.
Luckily, there were games going
on and, when I was run over, I had
people who saw what happened and
called for help. If it wasn’t for that I
Thomas Lucas in
a wrestling mash
from his days of
training to be a pro
wrestler.
Submitted
probably wouldn’t be here,” Lucas
said.
He woke up six weeks later in
a nursing home fi lled with senior
citizens a few weeks before his 19th
birthday. He remembers the year be-
cause he was given a WWE video
game for his birthday to fi ll his time
and the game title years always run
ahead of the current one.
“I was diagnosed with a traumatic
brain injury, short term memory loss
and the doctors told my family that
if I survived the coma I might not
be able to walk or talk again or do
much of anything for myself,” Lu-
cas said. “I think I was stubborn, like
all the women in my family. I think
learning how to take the bumps in
wrestling also helped.”
He spent the next several years
learning how to function as a survi-
vor of a brain injury, but picked up
a number of skills along the way. He
earned a Career Readiness Certifi -
cate and another certifi cate in guest
and lodging services from the Ar-
kansas Career Training Institute.
Lucas fi nally moved to Oregon
about three years ago and began
working with Vocational Rehabili-
tation Services to fi nd a job. After a
year of temporary job placements,
Lucas decided he wanted to add a
GED to his arsenal of credentials
and began working with tutors at
Keizer’s Mid-Valley Literacy Center.
In September, he got approval for
special accommodations – like extra
time, a calculator for the math por-
tions and an assisting reader – to take
the tests at Chemeketa Commu-
nity College where he’s just begun
classes.
“Having a brain injury isn’t part
of my plan, but I’ve got to deal with
it,” Lucas said. “The thing I’m hav-
ing diffi culty with now is what to do
after the GED. I get six free credits at
Chemeketa if I pass the GED with
them and I’d like to put them toward
a degree.
“The biggest thing for me is not
letting my brain injury overpower
me. If I don’t do something it should
be because that’s my choice.”
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