A Linn County Sheriff’s dispatcher who, in 2020 was named the department’s Dispatcher of the Year, is facing charges of stealing thousands of dollars from the agency over three years.
Tara Ann Trudell, 34, of Albany, is accused of seven counts of first-degree theft. The case was filed in mid-March after an investigation by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, at the request of newly appointed Sheriff Michelle Duncan, she said.
““Earlier this year, shortly after becoming Sheriff, it was brought to my attention that an employee may have taken a large amount of paid leave time over a three-year period and purposely did not submit the proper documentation to have it removed from her time banks,” Duncan said in an emailed statement.
She said the Benton County investigation concluded that Trudell had improperly taken 670 hours of leve time over the three years.
“This equates to approximately $20,195 of paid time off that was not deducted,” Duncan said. “The investigation was completed by their agency and the employee was cited for Aggravated Theft I. The employee was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, which is still ongoing
Court documents allege Trudell took some $11,000.
Trudell’s attorney, Daniel E. Thenell of Portland, has asked Judge Michael Wynhausen to order the county to produce copies of “time sheets, corrections to time sheets, revisions to time sheets, audit trails showing changes and emails” from 2013 to the present for several current and former Sheriff’s Office employees: Duncan, Lt. Micah Smith, Capt. Dave Snippen and former dispatcher Anne Otto, who has since died, along with “all documents, emails, and texts regarding allegations of time concerns or time sheet inaccuracies by any dispatch employees from 2013 to present.”
More recently, on May 5, the defense has asked for all legal documentation, reports and “emails cheffing decisions” connected with an investigation of Snippen by Albany Police Detective Mike Wood.
Duncan said the judge will have to decide whether the requested documentation is relevant to the case.
“In my opinion, this attorney is simply trying to smear me personally and the Sheriff’s Office through this motion.
“When the issue arose regarding Trudell, we conducted a check of all employees and her records were the only ones that were suspicious,” Duncan said. “That is why I requested the outside agency to investigate her and her alone.
“Myself, Micah Smith, and Dave Snippen have all been employees throughout our careers that were so dedicated to this office and our community, we often lost our own vacation time because there was work to be done. When you go over the maximum amount of accrual, you lose it. This has happened more than once to all three of us over the years.”
She noted that the department is “in the middle of the internal investigation” dealing with employees and personnel, so she could not say more.