Ex-Portland detective demoted for misuse of car suing city
PORTLAND, Ore. — A former Portland police detective who left the bureau last year after he was demoted for misusing his police car is suing the city of Portland, alleging racial discrimination.
Robert N. Hollins III had racked up nearly 100,000 miles in three years on the car, including more than 15,600 miles in under five months, according to a police summary of the findings released earlier this year. He also left a police surveillance assignment to take care of family affairs out of town without telling a supervisor, the summary report disclosed.
Hollins said in the suit that the high mileage resulted from the extensive amount of overtime he worked and the fact he was regularly on call for 24 hours at a time, according to the suit.
He seeks $960,000 in damages, arguing that his demotion has hindered his ability to obtain another investigative job, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
A unanimous Police Review Board in April 2019 recommended Hollins be fired for “untruthfulness” for not being honest about what led to the excessive mileage on his unmarked police car. Then-Chief Danielle Outlaw didn’t agree that Hollins was untruthful and instead demoted him.
The demotion became effective last Sept. 7, 2019, and Hollins left the bureau at the end of that month.
City attorney Tracy Reeve and Police Bureau spokesman Officer Derek Carmon both declined comment on the lawsuit.
Iona, Idaho, man dies in motorcycle crash
IDAHO FALLS — A 64-year-old Iona man was killed Tuesday night when his motorcycle veered off of River Road and struck the embankment of a driveway, according to the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office.
Jeffery L. Carlson died at the scene of the crash, which occurred at 5:50 p.m. at 107th N. River Road, according to a press release issued by the sheriff’s office. Carlson was reportedly not wearing a helmet. Deputies also found evidence that alcohol may have been a factor in the accident, according to the press release.
Idaho Falls paramedics and an Idaho State Police trooper arrived to find bystanders attempting life-saving efforts. Paramedics continued those efforts until they determined he had died of his injuries.
Montana plane crash kills two, injures one
SEELEY LAKE, Mont. — Two people have died and one has been hospitalized after a plane crash in Montana.
The crash happened Saturday night north of Seeley Lake Airport, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on its Facebook page. Authorities located the damaged plane early Sunday morning.
The pilot and the passenger who died in the crash have been identified as Charles E. Wolff, 67 of Green Valley, Ariz., and Wayne D. Cahoon, 59 of Seeley Lake, Mont. It is not clear who was flying the plane.
A second passenger was transported to a hospital. Authorities did not provide details on the passenger’s condition.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the crash of the aircraft, which it identified as a Cessna 172, a single-engine, four-passenger plane.
Seeley Lake is about 98 miles northwest of Helena.
Idaho search and rescue truck damaged in crash
BURLEY, Idaho — A Mini-Cassia Search and Rescue vehicle was damaged Monday evening when it collided with a pickup that turned in front of it.
The search and rescue extraction truck was driving west at about 8:30 p.m. on Idaho Highway 81 near 450 East when a Ford F-250 tried to make a left turn from the eastbound lane into a home’s driveway, according to a crash report from the Minidoka County Sheriff’s Office.
Gabriel Elton, driver of the Ford, said “dusk-like conditions” kept him from seeing the other truck, the report says.
Mark Welch, driver of the search and rescue truck, told investigators that visibility was not poor.
Welch said he did everything possible to avoid a head-on collision, but the rescue truck ended up hitting the backside of the Ford, separating the rescue truck’s tire and axle from the truck and deploying the truck’s airbags, the report said.
Elton and Welch said they were not injured. Kim Razee, a passenger in the rescue truck, said she had some back pain after the crash.
Elton was charged with an infraction for not yielding while making a right turn, the report said.
Kennewick firefighter procession honors another 9/11 victim
KENNEWICK — Tri-Citians gathered on Kennewick Avenue on Saturday to remember retired firefighter Steve Bailie, whose death was considered in the line of duty because the cancer was linked to his work helping in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York.
About 30 fire trucks traveled through Kennewick in a procession to the cemetery.
The toxic dust breathed by rescuers has killed hundreds of other firefighters.
