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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2020)
July 17, 2020 T he C olumbia P ress 6 Letter to the editor Officer deserves major apology The very public destruction of Warrenton Police Officer Robert Wirt’s stellar reputa- tion by community members is mind-boggling. Rumor and falsehoods, per- petuated in a Facebook post by a community member, caused Officer Wirt untold misery by the community’s rush to judgment. Moreover, the owner of the establish- ment where the incident al- legedly occurred, summarily banned him (June 19, The Columbia Press front page article). Judge, jury and rep- utation-executioner of an up- standing community police officer. Talk about vigilante justice! An independent, outside investigation by a reputable law firm proved the allega- tions against Officer Wirt were unfounded and false. I applaud City Manager Linda Engbretson and Po- lice Chief Matt Workman for their level-headed ap- proach to discern fact from fiction by contracting with an outside entity for this in- vestigation. Those who perpetrated and perpetuated this travesty need to do the right thing by publicly apologizing to Offi- cer Wirt: the Facebook post- er who is a community mem- ber, the owner of Bubba’s, and anyone else in Warren- ton who spread this vile false allegation. Mary Ann Brandon Warrenton Legal ad IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON FOR THE COUNTY OF CLATSOP In the Matter of the Estate of DEAN GERALD DYKSTRA, Deceased Case No.: 20PB04175 NOTICE TO INTERESTED PERSONS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Daniel G. Hartzell has been appointed personal representative of the Estate of Dean Gerald Dykstra. All persons having claims against the estate are required to present them, with vouch- ers attached, to the undersigned personal representative c/o Lawrence, Lawrence & Queener P.C., 427 S. Holladay Drive, Seaside Oregon 97138, within four months after the date of first publication of this notice or the claims may be barred. All persons whose rights may be affected by the proceedings may obtain additional information from the records of the court, the personal repre- sentative, or the attorney for the personal representative, Benjamin F. Law- rence, at the above address. Dated and first published on July 3, 2020. Benjamin F. Lawrence Attorney for Personal Representative Visit our website! www. thecolumbiapress.com You’ll find back issues, expanded articles, additional photos and can pay for your subscription. Free Obituaries The Columbia Press publishes free obituaries of commu- nity members who pass away. These free obituaries are 7 to 12 inches long and include a photo. We’ll do the writing for you. Those who want to write their own obituaries to honor a loved one may do so. These are $7.50 per column inch and can in- clude a photo. Please call us at 503-861-3331or send an email to office@thecolumbiapress.com. Officer: Investigation finds no misbehavior Continued from Page 1 side of Wirt’s face, then Wirt turns his head and leans back and away from the man’s hand. Wirt’s hands come off the bar as he leans back to avoid the man’s hand. • In Salcedo’s original ac- count, he said a buddy was roughhousing with Wirt and had put an arm to his neck. Wirt put his hands up in the air. In a second Facebook post, Salcedo adds that the officer looked around for someone to challenge him, which appears to be an exaggeration of the movement Wirt made to lean away from the man. • Several witnesses observed that the friend had been drink- ing, which is consistent with his movements, which appear unpredictable and unsteady. “This provides a reasonable ex- planation for why Wirt would back away to avoid him,” Starr wrote. • Although Salcedo is consis- tent in his view that he heard the words “I can’t breathe” multiple times, it was loud in the bar and he was 14 feet away. There was music coming from overhead speakers and plexiglass panels obstructing both his view and the sound. • None of the other witness- es corroborate the statement, “I can’t breathe.” In the video, an unidentified customer be- hind Wirt turns her head to look at what’s going on, but her body language suggests it warranted nothing more than a glance as she does not react or lean over to talk to anyone as if she saw something un- usual. Another unidentified customer sits with his back directly to Wirt and has no re- action at all. • Salcedo’s brother, Jesse, was closer to Wirt and heard nothing. • Before the man put his hand on Wirt’s neck, he leaned across Wirt to shake the hand of another customer seated next to the off-duty officer. “When Juan reviewed the security video with me during the investigation, he stated credibly that he could not see the handshake … from his van- tage point and that it altered his original perception,” Starr wrote. The security camera looks down instead of diagonal- ly across the bar at eye level, which was Juan Salcedo’s van- tage point. The handshake oc- curs at or below the level of the bar. “I also give weight to the fact that Juan volunteered to me that he carries a bias against police and acknowledged that I might choose to give his statement less credibility as a result,” Starr wrote. “He did not wait for me to discover that on my own (perhaps via his so- cial media posts). That leads me to conclude that Juan held the genuine belief that what he posted on Twitter was ac- curate, although he may have rushed to judgment based on his own perceptions.” Juan Salcedo was surprised about the attention the mat- ter received, Starr wrote. His brother’s Facebook posts, which amplified the message, received even more reactions. “None of the witnesses at the bar recalled hearing any talk from Wirt or his associ- ates about George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, or any of the current political topics to sug- gest that the comment ‘I can’t breathe’ was at the forefront of their minds that Saturday night,” Starr wrote. “Nor did the complainants or any of the witnesses even express a con- cern about Wirt holding a ra- cial bias when interviewed.” In the radio interview, Wirt said his reputation has been destroyed, he’s lost thousands of dollars and a barbecue side business. He’d even run a bar- becue on Superbowl Sunday a few weeks before the incident in the parking lot at Bubba’s Sports Bar. electrician to help determine whether the cause of a fire’s origin is electrical. “John comes from a fami- ly that is very familiar with firefighting,” Alsbury said. “John’s father, John Sr., was very involved in the fire de- partment.” John Shepherd Sr., who died in September, retired from the fire service after 28 years, 14 of them as Ham- mond Fire chief. Watson became a firefight- er while attending Warren- ton High School. After grad- uation, he joined the Marine Corps and served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. After his service, he returned to Warrenton and quickly became active as a volunteer firefighter. In 2010, Watson was hired as Warrenton’s first paid fire- fighter. “Scott, too, excelled as a leader and quickly became the assistant fire chief,” Als- bury said. “Scott has been an exceptional employee and has shown his leadership skills daily.” WFD: Two longtime firefighters promoted Continued from Page 1 to make the department run more efficiently and effective- ly.” The promotions were made effective July 1. Shepherd was hired as a training captain for WFD shortly after the merger of the Hammond and Warren- ton fire departments. He excelled as a leader within the department, Als- bury said. Shepherd also is a member of the Clatsop Coun- ty Fire Investigation Team, using his skills as a certified