Teenagers arrested with two guns after spray painting episode at Salem city park
UPDATE: 8:45 a.m. Aug. 12 – New information about outstanding warrants has been released by prosecutors.
A report of late-night graffiti painting at a northeast Salem city park led to the arrest of four juveniles and the recovery of two handguns, according to the Salem Police Department.
The agency said in a release on Sunday, Aug. 11, that at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday a neighbor reported spray-painted graffiti was being put on fencing at Hoover Park. The park is behind Hoover Elementary School, which is on Northeast Savage Road between Northeast D Street and Ellis Avenue.
When police officers arrived, four teenaged boys fled in a car, subsequently stopped just blocks from the park, the agency said.
The two handguns were inside the car, but police didn’t disclose whether they were loaded.
One 16-year-old taken into custody also was wanted on outstanding warrant for unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon related to a January 2023 crime. A 14-year-old taken into custody also had a warrant for fourth-degree assault. The two others taken into custody were also 16.
Each of the teens faces charges of unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree criminal trespass. They were lodged at the Marion County Juvenile Department.
The Salem agency noted that neighborhood parks such as Hoover are closed daily from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
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Les Zaitz is editor and CEO of Salem Reporter. He co-founded the news organization in 2018. He has been a journalist in Oregon for nearly 50 years in both daily and community newspapers and digital news services. He is nationally recognized for his commitment to local journalism. He also is editor and publisher of the Malheur Enterprise in Vale, Oregon.
