West Linn cops have their hands full over the weekend

By Kara Hansen

The West Linn Tidings, Mar 4, 2010 (3 Reader comments)

Maybe it was the full moon.

Police ended a dry spell for criminal activity at the end of last week, arresting two suspects in a string of local burglaries and using stun guns on two individuals in separate cases.

West Linn Sgt. Neil Hennelly said local police rarely find reason to use their Taser guns, which can deliver five seconds of electric shock to temporarily disable a suspect.

“I would imagine we have less than six Taser deployments a year,” Hennelly said. “It’s very, very rare.”

In the first case last week, employees at a local fast food restaurant were preparing to leave for the night when they grew wary of a man who made strange comments about the nearing ends of their shifts. The workers called police hoping an officer’s presence would act as a deterant.

As Officer Matt Lysaght drove through the area, Hennelly said, he spotted the man jaywalking and then staggering toward the Hollywood Video on Blankenship Road. Lysaght attempted to talk to him, but the man pushed past, and a fight broke out.

Hennelly said Lysaght used his Taser gun to immobilize the man, who wasn’t identified, and took him into custody without additional complications.

Then, on Saturday, Officer Jason Dolan found himself in a similar scuffle.

He had noticed a man stumbling along Willamette Drive near Hollowell Street and stopped at a corner gas station to try to make contact and check on his welfare, according to police.

At that point, the man reversed direction and took off running into some nearby woods. Dolan called for backup, but before anyone arrived, the man emerged from the wooded area.

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