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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2016 Astoria man gets ive years for theft, robbery His girlfriend joined him on crime spree By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian An Astoria man who counterfeited money and committed robbery and theft with his girlfriend was sen- tenced to five years in prison Thursday in Clatsop County Circuit Court. Cameron James McKey, 25, was first arrested in October for attempting to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at the Astoria Mini Mart. In December, he stole personal belongings out of two storage units in War- renton. Less than a month later, he robbed a woman in Astoria and stole more than $1,000 worth of tools from Englund Marine & Indus- trial Supply. During the last month to thefts and robbery, first-degree forg- McKey was with ery, third-degree his 28-year-old robbery and three girlfriend, Robyn counts of first-de- Joyce Spear. gree theft. Other Spear, of Asto- charges of bur- ria, is facing simi- glary and theft lar charges for the were dismissed robbery and thefts. as part of the plea She is also accused Cameron James negotiations. of a separate coun- The Clatsop McKey terfeit attempt at County District the Mini Mart. In Attorney’s Office addition, she is is still determin- charged with pos- ing the restitution sessing heroin and amount McKey methamphetamine. owes the victims. She is in jail and The victims recov- due back in court ered some of their next month. belongings, but not “They were on all of the items. a crime spree,” McKey and Robyn Joyce Astoria Police Spear reportedly Spear Deputy Chief Eric stole crab pots, ani- Halverson said. mal traps, camp- “They would be arrested and ing gear, parts of an antique go to jail and get out and grandfather clock, dishes continue.” and other items from the two McKey pleaded guilty Warrenton storage units. The Astoria woman who was robbed in January accuses the couple of spray- ing her with Mace, stealing about $100 in cash and put- ting needles and drugs in her pocket so if she called police it would look like she was in possession of the drugs, according to Astoria Police. Before the counterfeit arrest, McKey denied he knew the $20 bill was fake and claimed he got it from the bank. Police seized McK- ey’s vehicle, which belonged to Spear’s mother, and found evidence of about a dozen more counterfeit bills. The bills appeared to be poorly photocopied. Astoria Police are reminding businesses and residents to examine money carefully. “People need to be aware and make sure they take a good look to try to deter- mine if it is legitimate or not,” Halverson said. Local man seriously injured after crash near Fort Clatsop By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian An Astoria man tow- ing a gillnet boat was seri- ously injured and flown to a Portland hospital after he crashed his pickup truck into a tree Thursday morn- ing near Fort Clatsop. Blake Charles Painter, 36, crashed at about 10:30 a.m. on Fort Clatsop Road just south of Fort Clat- sop in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. Emergency respond- ers used the Jaws of Life to remove him from the pickup truck. Painter is known for his appearance on the Discov- ery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch.” Fort Clatsop Road was shut down Thursday after- noon just past the entrance to Fort Clatsop, but travel- ers were still able to access the park. Clatsop County Sher- iff’s Office, Oregon State Police, Warrenton Fire and Police departments, Lewis and Clark Fire Depart- ment, Olney Fire Depart- ment, Medix and park rangers all responded to the scene. First responders found the pickup truck com- pletely destroyed against the tree. The boat was damaged and fell off the trailer. The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Corrections department poised to add inmates at two prisons By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Despite a $55 million investment in pro- grams to reduce the prison population, the state Depart- ment of Corrections is poised to spend $4 million before fall to add beds at two mini- mum-security institutions. The legislative Emergency Board approved the additional allocation to the Department of Corrections last week. The money will pay for additional staff and secu- rity equipment at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras and prepare the moth- balled Oregon State Peniten- tiary-Minimum in Salem to accept female inmates. The department already received $2.5 million in Febru- ary to move 787 male inmates from a minimum-security facility to a larger vacant medi- um-security building at Deer Ridge, where there is room to add more beds. Another $3 million approved last month will pay for security equip- ment to complete the move and add 200 beds to the prison. The Emergency Board also approved 33 additional posi- tions at the prison to serve the additional anticipated inmates. Another $1 million was approved to pay for the pro- cess of reopening the Ore- gon State Penitentiary-Min- imum in Salem — an annex of the Oregon State Peniten- tiary, which was mothballed in 2010 to save money during the recession. Opening the annex will relieve pressure from the state’s only women’s prison, Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville. The threshold number of inmates that can safely be housed at Coffee Creek is 1,280, said Colette Peters, director of the Department of Corrections. The facility is currently operating with 110 emergency beds. Its popula- tion hovers just above or below the threshold on a daily basis, Peter said. The April prison population forecast projects the average daily women’s population to exceed 1,300 as early as June 2017. The Department of Cor- rections could request another $9.5 million in September to actually open the minimum security annex and accept female prisoners. The depart- ment also anticipates request- ing another $3.9 million in the fall to fully staff Deer Ridge and add another 100 beds, Peters said. The Department of Cor- rection’s biennial bud- get failed to account for the cost because the state pro- jection for the inmate popu- lation ballooned in the past year. The April forecast proj- ects the prison population to grow from 14,636 this year to 15,319 by March 2026. The Justice Reinvestment Fund was created in 2013 to give resources to counties to set up support services for offenders on probation and parole. The bill also restruc- tured the state’s sentencing guidelines to try to ebb the low of offenders into the prison system. The Criminal Justice Com- mission divvied up $15 mil- lion from the fund in 2013-14. About $40 million was ear- marked for the fund for 2015- 16. The $9.5 million expansion at Deer Ridge would come out of the $40 million amount. Peters said the Justice Rein- vestment program is working. Without it, she said the depart- ment would have needed to build a new prison at Junction City this year and opened it next year. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. Discover the secrets of packing light for any trip. Including how to: • Pack for a two week trip in an 18lb carry-on • Prepare for airport security • Protect personal data with RFID products • Pack for a cruise Saturday, June 11 th 9:00am and 12:00pm AAA North Coast Learn secret tips and tricks to packing from travel expert Anne McAlpin . 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