A2 • Friday, April 22, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Surf Pines man
Break-ins: Church, thrift shop were hit
sentenced to prison
for producing
child pornography
Continued from Page A1
tims’ statements, “I think all
of us were very impressed
and moved by their compo-
sure and courage that they
A Surf Pines man demonstrated today.”
received a 17-year sentence
The sentencing comes
in federal prison on Mon- more than a year after the
day for producing child Oregon Court of Appeals
pornography.
overturned Cazee’s Cir-
Kirk Richard Cazee, 60, cuit Court convictions for
was convicted in U.S. Dis- “peeping Tom” crimes that
trict Court in Portland for he committed from about
crimes involving the sex- 2014 to 2017.
ual exploitation of two girls
Cazee had been caught
younger than 16.
lurking around homes in his
He had been indicted by neighborhood, peeking into
a federal grand jury in Sep- windows, and recording
tember 2018 on 10 counts victims in states of undress
that covered producing, and engaged in private,
receiving, possessing and sometimes sexual behavior.
transporting child pornogra-
A jury found Cazee guilty
phy. As part of a plea deal, of more than 20 counts that
Cazee pleaded guilty to two involved invading personal
counts of producing the privacy, criminal trespass,
pornography.
stalking and using a child
The U.S. Attor-
in a display of sex-
ney’s Offi ce in Port-
ual conduct. He
land said that from
was sentenced to 35
about 2006 to 2010
years.
Cazee posed online
The
appeals
as, alternately, a
court found that
young man and a
Cazee’s cellphone,
teenage boy to get
which
contained
teenage girls to trust Kirk Richard pornographic vid-
Cazee
him and send him
eos of underage
sexual images of
girls, had been
themselves.
seized without probable
“In at least one instance, cause. Once the incriminat-
Cazee mailed a webcam and ing cellphone evidence, and
a teddy bear to a minor vic- the evidence that stemmed
tim and convinced her to from it, was deemed off -lim-
produce sexually explicit its, the victims’ testimony
videos for him using the could not be substantiated.
webcam,” the agency said The case was dismissed.
in a statement.
Clatsop County Dis-
The victims spoke at the trict Attorney Ron Brown
sentencing hearing. One praised federal prosecu-
was 15 when Cazee manip- tors for pursuing a case
ulated her into believing she against Cazee. “I was glad
had developed an online to see him get what he got,”
relationship with a young Brown said.
man. Cazee later led her
Some of Cazee’s Clat-
to believe that the boy had sop County victims were
died of cancer. Only when present at his sentencing on
federal investigators con- Monday, Brown said.
tacted her did she learn what
With credit for time
Cazee had put her through.
served, Cazee will be in
Kevin Sonoff , the public his mid-70s when he is
aff airs offi cer with the U.S. released. “The world will be
Attorney’s Offi ce, District a better place for that length
of Oregon, said of the vic- of time,” Brown said.
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
Seaside man sentenced
to prison for theft
The Astorian
Damien James Arrin
Ruiz, 27, of Seaside, was
sentenced to fi ve years in
prison for several thefts and
burglaries that took place in
2020 and 2021.
In July 2020, he commit-
ted fi rst-degree aggravated
theft at End of Trail Pub-
lic House in Seaside, sec-
ond-degree burglary at the
Seaside Elks Lodge and
Inca’s Inc. clothing store
and second-degree theft by
removing items from septic
trucks.
In November 2020, he
committed second-degree
burglary at Seaside Rentals
and the Clatsop Behavioral
Healthcare offi ce in Seaside.
And in November, he
committed second-degree
burglary at Astoria law
offi ces.
door and entered, Marilyn
Dito, a thrift shop volunteer
said.
Inside, the entire jewelry
case was emptied. They also
tore the place apart.
“They broke into the
locked cabinet then the safe
for our till money and dona-
tions,” she said. “To add
insult to injury, two of our
fi re extinguishers were dis-
charged throughout the
store. It was a huge mess.”
Neighboring
Patty’s
Wicker Cafe lost sentimen-
tal pieces, petty cash and
kitchen equipment.
“They broke out the back
window. and stole a col-
lectors’ ‘Maltese Falcon,’
poured out of the same mold
as the original one,” owner
Patty Strain said. “They took
strange things: a kitchen
scale and a can of PAM
cooking spray.”
Strain estimated dam-
age at about $350 to $400.
“They probably $15 for the
silver out of the till where I
count my change,” she said.
“And where they broke that
window.”
Rev. Sue Irvin of Our
Saviour’s Lutheran Church
at 320 First Ave. said even
weeks later, the incident is
hard to talk about.
“We had a window in our
offi ce area broken,” Irvin
said. “We had some evidence
that whoever did it wan-
dered through the building
looking for money and they
found our petty cash and
some assistance money for
people in the community.”
As in the thrift shop, the
fi re extinguisher had been
moved, although it had not
been used, Irvin said.
“It was very diffi cult for
the congregation to know
that the church had been bro-
Volunteer assesses damage at the Spay and Neuter Thrift Shop.
ken into,” she said. “We are
working together as a con-
gregation to move forward
and to practice forgiveness.”
When Donna Denhart,
who handles billing and
other duties at Coastal Eye
Care on S. Holladay Dr.,
came in to work Wednesday
morning, she noticed some-
thing in the middle of the
hall glistening.
“Then I realized that lis-
tening was glass and real-
ized the thing in the middle
of the hall was a rock,” Den-
hart said. “We went on a lit-
tle bit further down the hall
and found out that it was my
offi ce window that the rock
was thrown into.”
Like the other break-ins,
the pin was pulled on the fi re
extinguisher. The shop was
also vandalized and looted.
Around 9 p.m. Wednes-
day night Seaside offi cers
responded to the Nike Outlet
Store at 1111 N. Roosevelt
for a report of a burglary.
As in the other incidents, an
unidentifi ed male threw a
rock through the front door
and entered the business.
Toya’s Chiropractic on
Fourth Avenue was also hit.
“I don’t know why they
chose those places over oth-
ers,” Gregory said. “This
person probably scoped
these places out and decided
that it was time to do what
he wanted to do. With them
all occurring at the same
time frame, we believe this
is our suspect.”
The person is believed to
have left the area, he said.
Police don’t understand
why the fi re extinguishers
were tampered with. “That
baffl ed us as well,” Greg-
ory said. “When we fi gure
that out, we’ll put it in the
report.”
While impacted busi-
nesses are still compiling
insurance reports, Greg-
ory estimated an aggregate
loss of $9,000, including
property damage and stolen
goods.
Gregory said he believed
this was a “random rash”
of incidents rather than an
indication of a larger crime
wave in Seaside.
To help deter future inci-
dents, he advised businesses
to use security cameras when
possible. “It really helps our
cases tremendously.”
After the thrift shop
break-in, the community
has been supportive and
kind, Dito said. The shop off
Broadway along the river
walkway operates on a small
budget to support spaying
and neutering of household
pets.
“They’re going out of
their way to contribute what
they can to help defray the
losses,” she said. “Our land-
lord has been responsive to
our needs as well.”
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
RESPONDER REPORTS
PUBLIC SAFETY LOGS
April 9
1:59 p.m., 500 block Beach Drive:
An assault is reported at a hotel.
Another agency is assisted.
3:10 p.m., Fourth and Roosevelt:
A person is arrested on a warrant
at the scene of a reported fi re in
a building.
April 10
4:29 p.m., Avenue A: A distur-
bance is reported.
5:28 p.m., 10th and Necanicum:
A phone contact is given regard-
ing a motor home for sale.
day: A counterfeit bill used at a
restaurant is collected by police
and a case for fraud was taken.
9:13 p.m., Tenth and Prom: A
person is arrested and charged
with driving while intoxicated.
10:06 p.m., 2200 block S. Prom:
Fire investigation.
10:35 p.m., Avenue A: Suspi-
cious circumstances are reported
at a hotel.
April 12
1:18 p.m., Seventh and Prom: A
request for a welfare check turns
into an EMS call.
1:38 p.m., Forest Drive: EMS call.
2:05 p.m., 33000 block Beerman
Creek Road: Medical call.
on. A few minutes later this loca-
tion is the scene of an EMS call.
3:08 p.m., 800 block 12th Ave-
nue: EMS call.
4:51 p.m., Shore Terrace and N.
Wahanna: Two females are re-
ported going through mailboxes.
5:56 p.m., 800 block Avenue M:
Fire investigation.
9:45 p.m., 900 block Fourth Av-
enue: EMS call; another agency
is assisted.
April 14
3:54 a.m., 900 block Broadway:
Caller reports property damage
and that someone broke into
their home.
10:30 a.m., 1500 block N. Holla-
day: Fire investigation.
9:03 p.m., 24th Avenue and
U.S. Highway 101: Gunshots are
reported.
2:23 p.m., 12th Avenue: Caller
reports license plate stolen off
her car while she was at the
movie theater.
10:54 p.m., N. Holladay:
Suspicious circumstances are
reported.
5:42 p.m., Wahanna and Shore
Terrace: A disturbance is report-
ed between a male and a female.
April 11
April 13
3:24 p.m., Klaskanine River:
Water rescue.
9:31 a.m., 400 block S. Down-
ing: An abandoned vehicle is
reported.
8:32 a.m., 2100 block Middlefork
Road: Car fi re reported.
11:11 p.m., 11th and Necani-
cum: Property theft.
MEMORIAL
10:15 a.m., Avenue A: A hotel
employee reports fi nding am-
munition in a toilet.
John Ward
3:04 p.m., Avenue A: Fire alarm
at a hotel.
Sunday, May 1
WARD, John — Cele- Restaurant & Lounge, 179
bration of life, drop in from N. Hemlock St. in Cannon
3 to 7 p.m., Driftwood Beach.
Display case vandalized at the
Spay and Neuter Thrift Shop.
4:26 p.m., First and Holladay: A
person is arrested on a warrant.
4:30 p.m., 1100 block S. Holla-
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11:00 a.m., Prom and Avenue U:
EMS call.
11:30 a.m., Police headquarters:
A person came in to register as a
sex off ender.
2:20 p.m., 400 block S. Prom:
People sleeping in their car on
private property are advised of
ordinances and that they are
trespassing; they agree to move
10:56 a.m., Police headquarters:
A person came in to register as a
sex off ender.
11:26 a.m., 200 block S. Roos-
evelt: EMS call.
following a crash April 4 at
9:11 a.m., on U.S. Highway 26
at milepost 11. Troopers say a
white Chevy Tahoe traveling
westbound left the highway
while negotiating a curve.
Hamilton fi refi ghters and
ODOT were on scene. The
vehicle was towed by Gary’s
Towing.
Multiple citations
Jacob Lewis Jackson, 22, was
arrested April 7 at 9:56 p.m.
on U.S. Highway 101 near
milepost 22 after troopers
pulled him over after witness-
ing multiple traffi c violations.
He admitted to consuming
alcohol but refused to take the
fi eld sobriety test. Eventual-
ly he did submit to the test
and was arrested soon after,
charged with driving while
intoxicated. He was taken to
the Seaside police department
for processing and while there
submitted to a chemical test
showing a .17% blood alcohol
content. He was issued crimi-
nal citations and released and
given a summons to appear in
court June 7.
Suspended license
OREGON STATE
POLICE
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
Vehicle leaves highway
A 76-year-old Seaside man was
transported to the hospital
A citation was given to a Lap-
ine man April 10 at 10:36 a.m.
on U.S. Highway 26 at milepost
1 after he was pulled over for
expired plates. Investigation
revealed his license is suspend-
ed and he has no insurance.
See Log, Page A3