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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.
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