MARCH 26, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
Old scam is City mgr. says he dismantled gun
in car on previous occasions
surging in
Oregon
The Oregon Department of Justice
(DOJ) has reason to believe that a group
of scammers are setting their sights
on Oregon to perpetrate “grandparent
scams.” In grandparent scams, older
adults are duped into handing over cash at
their front door, thinking they’re helping a
loved one who is in danger.
Scammers pose as panicked grand-
children in trouble, calling or sending
messages urging you to wire money
immediately. They’ll say they need cash
to help with an emergency – like paying a
hospital bill or needing to leave a foreign
country. Here are some tips to avoid fall-
ing victim to the scheme:
• Resist the urge to act immediately –
no matter how dramatic the story is.
• Verify the caller’s identity. Ask ques-
tions that a stranger couldn’t possibly
answer. Call a phone number for your fam-
ily member or friend that you know to be
genuine. Check the story out with some-
one else in your family or circle of friends,
even if you’ve been told to keep it a secret.
• Don’t send cash, gift cards, or money
transfers – once the scammer gets the
money, it’s gone.
• Never open your door for anyone you
don’t know.
• Call the police immediately if you
have reason to believe you’ve fallen victim
to this scam or any other scam.
Victims can file a complaint online
at www.oregonconsumer.gov or call
1-877-877-9392.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Keizer City Manager Chris Eppley
said he was “preoccupied” when he
brought a loaded firearm into the Keizer
Civic Center and negligently discharged
it while disassembling it for repairs.
Keizertimes obtained a portion of
Eppley’s incident report regarding the sit-
uation and verified its authenticity. The
part of the report Keizertimes received is
Eppley’s description of what happened.
Eppley states that he had brought
pieces of firearms into city hall before to
perform repairs and modifications, but
never a full firearm.
On those occasions, Eppley writes he
disassembled the firearms in his car. On
March 4, he brought a full and loaded
gun into city hall. He intended to replace
a part of the slide and was disassembling
the firearm when it discharged under his
desk. Even as he disassembled the fire-
arm, Eppley stated “it didn’t occur to me
that I was disassembling a firearm in my
office instead of in my car.”
“Minor damage was done to the front
panel of my desk that I will repair but no
other damage occurred,” Eppley wrote.
The incident “greatly startled” another
employee in a nearby office. He apolo-
gized to her and notified several other
individuals including human resources
personnel, the chair of the civic center
safety committee and Mayor Cathy Clark.
The full text of the incident descrip-
tion reads as follows:
“From time to time I have brought into
my office parts of a firearm, either the
slide, or the grip, but not both at the same
Speed Bump By DAVE COVERLY
time, so as to not have a functioning fire-
arm in the City Hall, when wanting to do
a modification or repair to a component.
When I do this, I strip the firearm in half
and leave 1/2 of it in my car (either the
slide or the grip module) so as to not have
a functioning firearm in my office. Today
I received a part for a slide that I wanted
to replace and I was intending to bring in
just the slide to install the part and then
take the slide back out to my car. I was
preoccupied, however and forgot to do
the disassembly in my car resulting in
my having a fully functioning firearm in
my office. I’m not sure why it didn’t dawn
on me that I had a full gun with me. I was
rushed and simply didn’t pay attention
to exactly what I was doing right then.
While I was disassembling the firearm,
(once again, it didn’t occur to me that I
was disassembling a firearm in my office
instead of in my car) it negligently dis-
charged under my desk. Minor damage
was done to the front panel of my desk
that I will repair but no other damage
occurred. The incident greatly startled
Tammie Harmes [sic], for which I am
deeply sorry for, and I am keenly aware
that I both violated a City Policy and
also put my fellow co-workers in danger,
which is also something that I am incred-
ibly upset about. I have notified the City
Attorney, apologized to Tammie, notified
Jeff Hayen [sic], Safety Committee Chair,
HR (both Kristen and Machell), and also
called and informed Mayor Clark as she
is my direct supervisor.”
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