PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 18, 2016
Man arrested
after taking car
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
A 28-year-old Keizer man
was arrested after a carjacking
incident Wednesday morning.
Shortly before 11 a.m.
March 9, Keizer Police Depart-
ment offi cers were dispatched
to a carjacking incident at the
Keizer Quality Suites on Wit-
tenberg Lane. According to a
release from the Keizer Police
Department, the 51-year-old
male victim told police he had
been pushed down by a man in
his 20s, who then stole his blue
2015 Subaru Outback from the
south parking lot of the hotel.
The victim suffered minor
abrasions when he fell to the
ground. The suspect was report-
ed to be armed with a crowbar,
or some similar tool. The sus-
pect was later identifi ed as Ryan
Otero.
While offi cers searched the
area, Sgt. Trevor Wenning spot-
ted the Subaru going eastbound
on Dearborn Avenue near Verda
Lane. Wenning followed Otero
as he drove south on Verda Lane.
Once other offi cers joined
Wenning, a high risk traffi c stop
was initiated on Verda just north
of the Salem Parkway. Otero
pulled the vehicle over.
“The suspect was initially
stopped where he pulled over
because that was when the fi rst
offi cer (Wenning) had a cover
offi cer (Jay Prall) catch up to
him to assist with the high risk
traffi c stop,” KPD deputy chief
Jeff Kuhns said. “We don’t want
offi cers trying to conduct high-
risk traffi c stops on their own if
a cover offi cer is nearby. In this
case, Sgt. Wenning simply fol-
lowed the stolen vehicle until
offi cer Prall caught up to them
and then he initiated the high-
risk traffi c stop.”
Initially Otero complied
with verbal commands and ex-
ited the car with his hands up,
but moments later he became
defi ant, reentering the vehicle
and then exiting again with a
crow bar. An offi cer deployed
his Taser twice, but was ineffec-
tive both times in incapacitating
Otero.
Kuhns said neither deploy-
ment reached Otero.
“The distance between the
deploying offi cer and the sus-
pect was too far,” Kuhns said.
“In our case the probes didn’t
even strike the suspect, from the
best we can tell.”
Kuhns noted other offi cers
at the scene had their guns
pointed at Otero since he posed
“an imminent threat of serious
bodily injury or death” to of-
fi cers once he armed himself
with the crowbar.
“It’s common for one offi cer
to announce to the others he
or she is going to deploy a less
lethal option in an attempt to
incapacitate a suspect, but oth-
er offi cers will maintain lethal
cover on the suspect simultane-
ous to the deployment of less
lethal,” Kuhns said.
After the second Taser at-
tempt, Otero threw the crow-
bar towards offi cers, got back
into the Subaru and attempted
to drive away. He was only able
to drive about 50 yards before
striking two police vehicles.
There were no injuries, but all
three vehicles sustained moder-
ate damage and had to be towed
away.
“We did not want him to
get to the Salem Parkway fl ee-
ing from the offi cers because
the traffi c light was red for east-
bound traffi c,” Kuhns said. “My
experience tells me had the sus-
pect made it to the Salem Park-
way he probably would have
disregarded the red traffi c signal
and proceeded through the in-
tersection. Odds are his doing
so would have resulted in a seri-
ous traffi c crash because at this
time of day the Salem Parkway
is heavily traveled by motorists.”
When Otero got back into
the Subaru, two offi cers already
in their vehicles and reacted.
“One of them immediately
cut in front of the fl eeing ve-
hicle in an attempt to cut the
suspect off,” Kuhns said. “The
suspect maneuvered around
this police vehicle to avoid be-
ing cut off, but another offi cer
was right behind and to the left
Wood named fi nance director
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Tim Wood can take off the
interim label.
Wood had been serving
as interim Finance Director
for Keizer since Susan Gahls-
dorf retired from that position
on Jan. 8. Wood had worked
alongside Gahlsdorf for six
years as assistant controller,
while Gahlsdorf spent her last
year working on a transition
plan that included Wood being
trained on her duties.
City Manager Chris Eppley
said four fi nalists for the posi-
tion were interviewed. In early
March, Eppley announced
Wood had earned the job. He
mentioned the news again
during the March 7 Keizer
City Council meeting.
“Tim Wood has been fi lling
in as acting fi nance director,”
Eppley said. “He is fi lling in
no more. Tim is our new per-
manent fi nance director. We’re
glad to have him on board.”
Eppley noted all four fi nal-
ists were strong candidates.
“They were all very good,”
Eppley said. “Tim rose above
them. Any of them would have
worked out well, but the deci-
sion was clear.”
Mayor Cathy Clark was
pleased with the level of ap-
plicants as well.
“We had a number of good
candidates,” she said. “This ap-
pointment is very good for
Keizer indeed.”
In other recent council
business:
• Councilors approved
new equipment for the Lacey
Court water fi lter plant. The
item was part of the consent
calendar, but Clark pulled the
item so she could ask about it.
“There’s a lot of discus-
sion around town about water
quality,” she said. “I wanted
to see how this addresses that
concern.”
Bill Lawyer, Public Works
director for Keizer, noted the
plant hasn’t been used.
“This one is not in ser-
vice due to water problems,”
Lawyer said. “Hydrogen sul-
fi tes are the main issue. It’s not
harmful, but it is annoying. It’s
the rotten egg smell. There is
manganese in the well. That
creates some staining. We fl ush
it every spring. It’s a real dark
purple color. The plant hasn’t
been online most of its life be-
cause of the problems. We have
found the solution, so we’re
putting it back online.”
Eppley
acknowledged
complaints come in about the
water.
“The two main complaints
we get are smell and yellowing
of whites or on the inside of
the dishwasher,” Eppley said.
“That is common for ground-
water systems. There are two
really simple ways to fi x a lot
of those issues. If you have
braided plastic water lines, wa-
ter will sit. Water reacts with
the sulfi tes. Replace the line
with a copper pipe line and it
gets rid of the issue. It’s a cheap
and simple solution. Also, wa-
ter softeners do a great job fi l-
tering out manganese. You can
do both things for less than
$200.”
• Matt Lawyer was con-
fi rmed as the newest member
of the Keizer Parks and Rec-
reation Advisory Board. With
the appointment, the Parks
Board is back up to a full ros-
ter of nine members. Lawyer’s
fi rst Parks Board meeting was
last Tuesday, March 8.
• The process to fi ll the
council seat vacated by Bran-
don Smith has been amend-
ed. Applications are still due
March 28 at 5 p.m., but the
special meeting for candi-
date presentations has been
bumped up a week to Monday,
April 4 at 6 p.m.
Councilors will vote that
night, with the new person
being sworn in at the April 18
council meeting.
Joe Guerra
Ins Agcy Inc
Joe Guerra, Agent
3791 River Road N
Keizer, OR 97303
Bus: 503 - 463 -1388
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