A pril 18, 2001
Page A2
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Olhoerurr
Police News/Vancouver
County W ill Investigate
Hospital Shooting
M ultnom ah C ounty m ental
health o ffic ia ls said they w ill
conduct a sep arate in v e stig a ­
tion o f the fatal sh o oting o f a
M exican m an d u ring a c o n ­
frontation w ith police at G a te ­
way P acific H o sp ital, a P o rt­
land psy c h ia tric facility .
O ffic ia ls w ant “ to see if
th e r e w a s n e g l e c t , ” s a id
Janice G ratton, m anager o f the
Behavioral H ealth D ivision for
M ultnom ah C ounty.
Portland police are co nduct­
ing th eir ow n internal in v e sti­
gation into the sh o o tin g o f 29-
year-old Jose S antos V ictor
M ejia Poot o f Y ucatan.
M ejia P o o f s ’ fam ily and the
M exican consul in Portland
have qu estio n ed w hether it
was necessary to kill M ejia.
C oncern has grow n among
H isp a n ic le a d e rs o v e r the
shooting after it was learned
that M ejia Poot had been taken
to the psychiatric hospital by
police w hile reportedly suf­
ferin g an e p ile p tic seizu re
aboard a city bus.
“ If th e r e 's evid en ce that
th e re ’s fault o f either the hos­
pital or the (police) bureau,
we have to strongly look at
litigation," said Carlos Rivera,
a prom inent H ispanic activist
and m em ber o f the H ispanic
advisory council to the Port-
land Police Bureau.
T he p o lic e in v e s tig a tio n
m u st d e te r m in e w h e th e r
deadly force w as ap p ropriate,
and w hether a language b a r­
rier had anything to do w ith
the shooting, R ivera said.
Pedro Mej ia Z um arraga, fa­
ther o f the dead m an said he
visited his son at the hospital
the day before the shooting to
take him his epilepsy m ed i­
cine, but no one there u n d e r­
stood him. M ejia Z um arraga,
who speaks no E nglish, said
he met no one at the hospital
who spoke Spanish or M aya,
the native language spoken by
the fam ily.
Crime Stoppers
Inside-A
M ixed Bag for Clinton
on Civil R ights......... A4
Local Doctors Help
U nderserved............ A 5
Neighborhood Cooling for
Downtown................. A6
Metro-
This Week
He is 6’ 0” tall, weighing 200
pounds, with black hair, brown
eyes and tattoos on his chest,
abdomen and upper left arm. He
is known to have used the names
or aliases o f Eddie Chaney and
Troy Bains. Investigators believe
Chaney may have fled to the Se­
attle area.
Crime Stoppers is offering a
cash reward o f up to $ 1,000 for
information, reported to Crime
Stoppers, which leads to an arrest
in case or any involved felony
crime, and you can remain anony­
mous. Call Crime Stoppers at 503-
832-HELP.
Women Wanted For Bank Fraud
The Portland office o f the
Federal Bureau o f Investiga­
tion, in cooperation w ith Crime
Stoppers, is asking for help in
identifying and apprehending an
individual involved in a scheme,
which has cost area banks thou­
sands o f dollars.
According to the FBI, the sus­
pect used the identity o f another
person to obtain fictitious iden­
tification from the Oregon D e­
partm ent o f M otor Vehicles.
She then used the identification
to open fraudulent bank ac­
counts, which were unutilized
to pass stolen and counterfeit
checks. This unknown individual
and others have defrauded banks
o f over $200,000.
The suspect is described as a
black female, 5’ 5” tall, weigh­
ing 240 pounds with black hair
and brown eyes. She has used
the alias o f Shawna Renee
Cunningham (date o f birth
Jan. 30, 1975). Crime Stop­
pers is offering a cash re­
ward o f up to $1,000 for
in fo rm a tio n , re p o rte d to
Crime Stoppers which leads
to an arrest in this case or
any unsolved felony crime,
and you need not give your
name. Call Crime Stoppers
at 503-823-HELP.
Rain
6 l°F High
Through Hie
Weekend
Today
Showers
48°F tow
Saturday
Showers
57°F High
63°F High
47°F Low
48°F tow
Showers
St. Johns to Get Help
Raising Kids............. BI
El O bserv ad o r........ B4
M urder Trial Begins
for E x-K lansm an....B 5
Sunday
Scattered Showers
60°F High
65°F High
48°F tow
53°F tow
ThoughtfortheWeek
. . . there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in
writing a poem.
— Booker T. Washington
in History
p e o p le , a n d in ju r in g 5 0 0 . T im o ­
th y M c V e ig h w a s c o n v ic t e d o f
th e b o m b i n g a n d s e n t e n c e d to
b e tt e r k n o w n a s M a r k T w a i n ,
d ie d in R e d d in g , C o n n .
A p ril 22, 1889, the O k la h o m a
A p r i l 18, 1 9 0 6 , a d e v a s t a t ­
in g e a r th q u a k e s tr u c k S a n F r a n ­
c is c o , f o llo w e d b y r a g in g fire s .
A b o u t 7 0 0 p e o p l e d ie d .
A p r i l 1 9 ,1 9 9 5 , a tr u c k b o m b
e x p lo d e d o u ts id e th e A lf r e d P.
M u r r a h F e d e r a l B u i l d i n g in
O k la h o m a C i t y , k i l l i n g 168
d e a th .
A p r i l 2 0 , 1 9 7 1 , th e U n ite d
S ta t e s S u p r e m e C o u r t u p h e ld
th e u s e o f b u s i n g to a c h ie v e
ra c ia l
d e s e g r e g a tio n
in
sc h o o ls.
A p r il 2 1 , 1 9 1 0 , a u th o r
S a m u e l L a n g h o r n e C le m e n s ,
L and R u sh b e g a n at n o o n as th o u ­
sa n d s o f h o m e s te a d e r s s ta k e d
claims.
Man Wanted For Burglary
The Portland Police Bureau,
in cooperation with Crime Stop- j
pers, is asking for your help on
locating and apprehending Troy
Leo Chaney.
A felo n y a rre st w arran t
charges Chaney with burglary in
the first degree. He is also wanted
in Washington for escape. In­
vestigators also want to speak
with him about a sexual assault
which took place in the 1500
block of Southwest 12th Ave. on
Feb 13 at about 3 p.m.
Chaney is described as a 26-
year-old black male, with a date j-roy Leo chanex
of birth of Aug. 11, 1974.
Weather
A p ril 2 3 , 1969, S irh a n S irh an
w as se n te n c e d to d e a th fo r a s s a s ­
sin atin g N e w Y o rk S en. R o b ert F.
K en n ed y . T h e se n te n c e w a s la te r
red u c e d to life im p riso n m e n t.
Figure Wrong on Internet Connection Story
W e regret that the am ount o f m oney raised for the C hiss K isanga S cholarship Fund, as rep o rted in last w e e k ’s pag e
o ne "Internet C on n ectio n " article, w as w rong. T he figure should have been S 1,700, a fraction o f the estim ated $20,000
need ed for the T anzania stu d en t’s tuition, room and board, an d ticket hom e. T hose interested in donating to the fund should
m ail checks m ade out to R edeem er L utheran C hurch, 5 4 3 1 N E 20lh A v e., Portland, O R. 97211 or call P astor R ozell G ilm ore
at(503)284-0848.
Oregon Teen Appears in
Court on NY Internet Threat
W H ITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — An
O regon teen-ager w ho allegedly m ade a
th r e a t th a t s h u t d o w n s e v e ra l
W estchester C ounty schools last month
w as released on hrs ow n recognizance
last w eek but is forbidden to use the
Internet. B enjam in Ballard, 18, o f Port­
land, appeared in federal court in W hite
Plains beforeU .S. Magistrate Judge Lisa
M argaret Smith on a charge o f transmit­
ting an interstate threatvia the Internet. A
pretrial hearing w as set for M ay 9. Until
then, Smi th ordered Bal lard to stay o ffthe
Internet, leave his house only to go to
w ork and school, and surrender his pass­
port. Ballard tlew in from O regon forthe
proceeding, accom panied by his lather.
The charge is a felony that carries a
potential sentence o f five years in prison
upon conviction.
O fficials canceled classes in the
Edgem ont school district on M arch 23
after a student received an Internet threat
about * ‘a lot ofpeople dead' ’ at Edgemont
High School. The threat, w hich w as not
speci fic, w as sent via an A m erica Online
chat room , and thestudent, who was not
identified, notified police. Court papers
allege that Ballard pretended to be a
senior at Edgemont High School and
w arned the recipient not to go to school
the next day because ‘ ‘there ’ s going to be
a lot ofpeople dead tom orrow, but hey we
get to be on the n e w s"
The FBI, called in by G reenburgh
police and the office o f W estchester
District Attorney Jeanine Pirro, traced the
message to B allard's hom e and seized his
computer. The prosecution w as turned
over to federal authorities because the
threat was apparently m ade from out o f
state.
Police News Briefs
Couple Found Dead in Eastgate Lot
Police in P ortland are in ­
stigating the sh o o tin g death
a couple found dead in th eir
r o u tside a m ovie theater.
The m an and w om an w ere
and w ith m ultiple gunshot
w ounds ju st after m idnight
Sunday at the E astgate T he­
ater in Southeast Portland.
P o lic e spokesm an H enry
G roepper says a security guard
found the couple and called
911. The v e h ic le ’s engine
w as still running.
The victim s w ere id en ti­
fied as R am ona L. M cGee
and Jerry Jam es Spencer.
Both w ere 34 years old.
Beer Lures Pig on Loose to Captivity
A p o t-b e llie d p ig 's p e n c h a n t fo r
b eer w as h e r u ltim a te d o w n fall.
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty A n im al C o n ­
trol o ffic e rs sta lk e d th e b la c k -a n d -
w hite a n im a l u sin g ro p e s, c a g es an d
d o g fo o d as b a it a fte r g o lfers sp o tte d
the 2 2 -p o u n d p ig g ra z in g o n th e R o se
C ity G o lfC o u rs e . B ut it to o k a sau cer
o f b e e r b efo re th e p ig su ccu m b ed .
T h e b e e r sed ated the p ig en o u g h
th at an im al co n tro l o fficers w ere able
to p ic k h e r up. T h e p ig , n o w called
“ R o se ." is w aitin g fo ra n ew ow n er at
an im al c o n tro l’s h ead q u arters.
S h e lo v es d o g b iscu its and
c a n stan d o n h e r h in d feet on
com m and.
M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty allo w s
p o t-b e llie d p ig s as pets u n less
th e y w e ig h m o r e th a n 7 0
pou n d s.
Vandalized Glass Turns Into Art
ri-Met has figured ou, wha, to
vith all those bus stop glass
Is that get vandalized every
. It’s sandblasting them into
5 art. Officials call the program
innovative solution to an ex-
live problem." Tri-met says
lals scratch and deface about
I
750 glass panels a year. Each one
costs about 250 dollars. The public
agency’s solution is to pull the
vandalized panels down, sandblast
the scratched parts into artist-de­
signed motifs, and reinstall them.
The program is expected to save
Tri-Met at least 100 thousand dol­
4
lars a year. Tri-Met is now
testing a leaf pattern by Se­
attle artist Carolyn Law,
which will eventually be used
in more than 100 panels. The
agency plans to request pro­
posals from artists for addi­
tional designs this summer.
Á flame ior serious scratchers.
Overall < n 1<1 s «re 1.1.47. Musi be IH to pur< li.w Be a wiwrt player Know your limit.