Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home Police Department arrested 31 individuals five or more times in 2015.
Those individuals accounted for 223 arrests in 2015. The arrests cleared 291 cases.
That year, police cleared 1,430 cases by arrest.
Those 31 individuals account for a third of 1 percent (.34) of the population of Sweet Home. They accounted for 20.34 percent, slightly more than one in five, of Sweet Home cases cleared by arrest.
The majority of the arrests were court-related, with warrants for failure to appear or failure to comply, contempt of court or probation violation.
One individual was arrested on more new charges than warrants. He was arrested six times in 12 cases on 17 new charges, two counts of contempt of court, failure to appear and probation violation. Another was arrested five times on six cases and seven charges, only one of which was court-related, probation violation.
Recidivism is an issue for law enforcement everywhere, said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. “I’m not sure who has an answer for it.”
Many of these individuals are on probation, and they’re still involved in illegal drug activity, Lynn said. Nearly all of these cases connect to some form of substance abuse, he said. In a couple of these cases, mental illness may be a factor.
Four individuals were arrested 10 times or more in 2015. They are:
Jesse Davis, 20, who was arrested 20 times in connection with 27 cases. Charges against Davis included 31 warrant charges and 15 new charges, including eight counts of second-degree theft and seven counts of criminal trespass. His arrests account for 1.89 percent of cases cleared by arrests. No charges were felonies, and no cases involving him have gone to Linn County Circuit Court.
Davis was convicted in Sweet Home Municipal Court on four charges of third-degree theft in 2014. All of them resulted in multiple warrants.
In 2015, Davis was convicted in Sweet Home Municipal Court of seven counts of third-degree theft, contempt of court and first-degree criminal mischief. The court issued warrants in connection to some of those convictions.
A check this week revealed that he currently has no active cases in Sweet Home Municipal Court.
Sweet Home Police arrested Shawn Gali 11 times in 12 cases, with 15 charges, including nine warrant charges and six were new charges.
New charges included harassment, four counts of third-degree theft and one count of second-degree theft. Gali’s first arrest was in June. None of the arrests involved felony charges, and Gali has no record with Linn County Circuit Court since 2007.
In 2015, Gali, 37, was convicted of harassment and two counts of third-degree theft in Sweet Home Municipal Court. The court issued warrants during the year in connection to the theft charges.
Gali currently has four open cases, three for third-degree theft and one for second-degree theft, in Sweet Home Muncipal Court.
Amanda Herbert, 27, was arrested 10 times in 16 cases, on 23 charges, including 10 warrant charges and 13 new charges. New charges included five counts of third-degree theft, two counts of second-degree criminal trespass, three counts of first-degree criminal trespass, two counts of unlawful possession of meth and offensive littering.
Herbert pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful possession of meth in Linn County Circuit Court in 2015. The court issued a show-cause warrant for her on March 10 to determine why the court should not revoke her probation. According to the affidavit, the Parole and Probation office has not had contact with Herbert, and “there is a concern that Herbert may have left the state of Oregon and this office is unaware.”
Herbert was convicted of third-degree theft and second-degree criminal trespass in 2015 in Sweet Home Municipal Court. The court issued warrants during the year in connection to the theft charge.
Herbert currently has six open cases in Sweet Home Municipal Court, based on a check early this week. Charges include three counts of second-degree criminal trespass, third-degree theft, contempt of court seeking punitive sanctions and violation of a release agreement.
Theresa Alberts, 27, was arrested 10 times in 10 cases, with 17 charges, including 12 warrant charges and five new charges. New charges included harassment, first-degree criminal trespass, first-degree burglary, theft of services and third-degree criminal mischief.
In Linn County Circuit Court, Alberts pleaded guilty to third-degree theft and first-degree criminal trespass in 2015. The burglary charge was dismissed.
Alberts was convicted of a charge of third-degree theft in 2014 in Sweet Home Municipal Court. The court issued multiple warrants in connection to that charge through last month.
In 2015, she was convicted of second-degree criminal trespass in Sweet Home Municipal Court. The court issued multiple warrants in connection to that case during 2015.
Alberts has a single case open in Sweet Home Municipal Court on a charge of second-degree criminal trespass.
The fact that a person has open cases and arrests to do not indicate that he or she is guilty.