SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 38, NO. 29
SECTION A
APRIL 21, 2017
$1.00
Offi cer shortage delays home intrusion arrest
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
An intruder caused a Keizer
family to fl ee their home and
a shortage of offi cers on the
Keizer Police Department’s
(KPD) night shift delayed an
arrest by almost an hour.
About 4:30 a.m.,
on
Saturday, April 15, Offi cer
Eric Jefferson was dispatched
to a report of a burglary-in-
progress in the 1100 block of
Lockhaven Drive Northeast.
A 9-1-1 caller reported an
unknown male was banging
on the door of his home and
ringing the doorbell.
While en route to the call,
Jefferson was informed that
the caller had armed himself
with a gun and the suspect
“ We simply do
not have enough
night shift offi cers
to properly contain
crime scenes and
establish a good
perimeter”
— Jeff Kuhns,
Deputy Chief, Keizer Police
Jamie Reyes
was breaking a window to gain
entry.
After the man gained entry,
the man, his wife and two
dogs fl ed the home into the
backyard. The caller reported
he could see the suspect
walking down a hallway.
Jefferson and K-9 Buster
arrived moments later and
identifi ed the point of entry,
but because of the size of the
home and the lot, additional
support was needed to contain
the suspect if he decided to
fl ee.
“We simply do not have
enough night shift offi cers to
properly contain crime scenes
and establish a good perimeter
around such crime scenes,”
said Deputy Chief Jeff Kuhns.
“Not only were more offi cers
needed to contain the area and
set a perimeter, we needed to
evacuate the victims and their
two dogs from the immediate
area for their own personal
safety.”
Jefferson
and
Offi cer
Andrew McCowan waited
nearly 40 minutes for back-
up, in the form of four Salem
Police Department offi cers,
to arrive. At 5:20 a.m. offi cers
entered the home and found
the suspect asleep on a couch.
He was taken into custody and
found to be intoxicated.
Jamie Reyes, 23, was
arrested and told police he
believed he had broken into
his own house, a house he
was buying from his cousin.
He is charged with criminal
mischief and criminal trespass.
During the course of
questioning, Reyes also told
Jefferson that his brother,
Darius Adams, had dropped
him off at the home after a
night of partying at Tequila on
River Road North. Jefferson
had arrested Adams on
suspicion of driving under the
Please see DELAY, Page A8
Principal to committee:
We need sidewalks
Planning
commision
says ‘no’ to
c-store
North.
The project has been on
the city’s wish list for at least
a decade, but fi nding funding
for it has been more of a chal-
lenge.
The city applied for federal
funds to install sidewalks and
other pedestrian improve-
ments around 2008, but the
project was scored so low by
grant administrators that the
city hasn’t even attempted it
again.
“Arterials and collectors
get most of the federal fund-
ing and (Delight) is a local
road,” said Bill Lawyer, Keizer
Public Works director.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Conversations about a pos-
sible fueling center at Safeway
on River Road will continue
if the Keizer City Council
accepts the recommendation
of the Keizer Planning Com-
mission.
However, the recommen-
dation does not permit a
convenience store associated
with a fueling center.
At issue is a text amend-
ment to the city’s develop-
ment code. In the 1990s, the
then-city council approved
a special zone for an area
around the intersection of
Chemawa Road and River
Road North. The zone cur-
rently prohibits the place-
ment of gas stations in the
area as well as several other
types of development. Safe-
way – which did not send
any representatives to the
Wednesday, April 12, meeting
– needs the code altered be-
fore discussions can continue.
Even though the planning
commission is recommend-
ing a narrower set of param-
eters on the development that
Safeway requested, the coun-
cil could still alter the fi nal
amendment.
Planning commissioners
predominantly focused on
two topics during the meet-
ing: how to address impacts
to the Keizer Fire District
with increased traffi c at the
Safeway shopping center and
whether to allow a conve-
nience store in addition to
the fueling center.
Please see SIDEWALK, Page A9
Please see SAFEWAY, Page A9
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Cummings Elementary School students walk along the side of the road after the end of the school day.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The principal at Cum-
mings elementary school
had a message for the Keiz-
er Traffi c Safety Bikeways
and Pedestrian Committee
Thursday, April 13: prioritize
pedestrian access around her
school.
“I have severe con-
cerns about pedestrian traf-
fi c around the school,” said
Martina Mangan, Cummings
principal. “With no sidewalks
and heavy traffi c during drop-
off and pick up times we have
students walking around traf-
fi c jams.”
Mangan brought an ally
“ When I am there watching the
kids run back and forth along the
edge of the street, it is enough to
give you heart failure”
— Carol Doerfl er,
Crossing guard at Cummings Elementary School
with her to the meeting, Car-
ol Doerfl er, a member of the
West Keizer Neighborhood
Association Board and cross-
ing guard at the school. Doer-
fl er didn’t mince words.
“When I am there watch-
ing the kids run back and
forth along the edge of the
street, it is enough to give you
heart failure,” Doerfl er said.
Currently, the only avail-
able sidewalk around Cum-
mings, on Delight Street N.,
end at the building itself.
There are no sidewalks on the
opposite side of Delight and
none along Cummings Lane
Shelter gets parks
grant amid dissent
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Keizer Rapids Park is on
the path to getting it’s fi rst
picnic shelter thanks to the
narrow approval of a match-
ing grant request by the Keizer
Parks and Recreation Advisory
Board Tuesday, April 11.
The grant for $8,300 – all
of the remaining funds in the
matching grant budget for the
fi scal year – will help cover the
cost of a 16-foot by 24-foot
covered picnic shelter near the
sand volleyball courts on the
northwest side of the park. The
total cost of the project is esti-
mated at $26,300.
Hans Schneider, the driving
force behind the upgrade to
the sand volleyball courts a few
years ago, was the grant appli-
cant. He and his wife are com-
mitting $10,000 to the project.
Please see SHELTER, Page A9
Lady Celts
take first
and second
in long jump
PAGE A10
Treasury
wants
employees
to have
better plan
PAGE A2
Egg hunt
photos
PAGE A3
Slater
retires from
KFD after
22 years
PAGE A5
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Keizer Rapids Park will get its fi rst picnic shelter thanks to a matching grant approved last week.
The shelter pictured is near Grant Community School in Salem.