Category PUBLIC SAFETY
State appeals federal judge’s dismissal of charge against DEA agent in fatal cyclist collision
The Oregon Department of Justice is arguing that U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane failed to follow federal law and ignored DEA policy when he dropped a criminal charge against agent Samuel Landis, who ran a stop sign and caused a collision that killed cyclist Marganne Allen.
Salem gang member gets 17 years for shooting death of 15-year-old boy
Gage Clark Adkins, 19, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for shooting and killing 15-year-old Matthew Newman in November 2023. Clark Adkins was on juvenile parole at the time of the shooting, a theme prosecutors say is increasingly common in Marion County.
‘Accident turned crime’: woman gets probation for fatal hit-and-run crash in West Salem
Micah Blacksmith, 37, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crash that killed 63-year-old Steven Bishop of Salem, a cancer survivor who loved music and collecting rocks.
Salem man gets 15 years for 2022 shooting death of man at Geer Park
Thomas Healy, 59, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter of 35-year-old Scott “Scotty” Tanner in a parking lot where they both slept. Tanner’s widow, Debby Clark, still wonders what prompted Healy to start the fight that led to her husband’s death.
Fire destroys south Salem home Monday, displacing resident and dog
An early morning fire Monday destroyed a home in the Morningside neighborhood, displacing a resident and their dog. Salem firefighters responded to the scene around 4 a.m. and remained at the scene until around 9:30 a.m.
Trucking companies embroiled in lawsuits over crash that killed 7 farmworkers
Truck driver Lincoln Smith and the trucking companies that employed him are facing four lawsuits alleging their negligence caused a 2023 crash that killed seven farmworkers and seriously injured three others.
Salem man with ties to motorcycle gang charged with drug trafficking in California
Justin Mac faces drug trafficking charges after police seized 48 pounds of methamphetamine from a vehicle in which he was a passenger south of the Oregon-California border. Court records described him as the president of the Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club’s Salem chapter as of 2022.
Takeaways: Report finds shootings tripled in Marion County over 10 years
A review commissioned A recent report released Tuesday by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office found that one in three shootings across the county over a decade involved gang members as victims, suspects or both. The involvement of teenagers in gun violence skyrocketed during that period.
Salem’s violent crime rate hit 15-year-high in 2024, report shows, as property crime declined
The number of violent crimes reported in Salem has nearly doubled since 2010. The city last year recorded its highest number of sexual and aggravated assaults in 15 years.