Pamplin Media Group - West Linn cop whose false info spurred Fesser arrest resigns pamplinmedia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pamplinmedia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Federal prosecutor, FBI agent explain decision not to prosecute officers involved in Michael Fesser case
Updated 6:29 PM;
Today 6:15 PM
Michael Fesser speaking at an anti-racism rally in West Linn last year. Fesser was wrongfully arrested by West Linn police in 2017, and obtained a $600,000 settlement against the city stemming from the arrest.
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A federal prosecutor and an FBI agent met Tuesday with a West Linn community group to explain why the U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t pursue charges against any officers involved in the bogus 2017 arrest of Portland resident Michael Fesser.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said the office found it couldn’t prove a number of potential crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. Those included, he said, conspiracy to commit a civil rights violation, public corruption, making false statements in the course of a sworn civil deposition and obstruction of justice.
April 21 2021
Feds discuss decision not to pursue charges against West Linn officers involved in 2017 false arrest.
Two months after federal prosecutors decided not to pursue charges against the West Linn police officers involved in the 2017 false arrest of Michael Fesser, some in the West Linn community and others in the Portland area are still disappointed and angry at the decision.
But they also have a bit of hope.
An FBI investigator and the U.S. Attorney s Office for the District of Oregon met with community members to hear their concerns and explain their decision at a virtual meeting April 20.
West Linn police falsely arrested Fesser, a Black Portlander, in 2017 as a favor to Fesser s boss, a friend of then-WLPD Chief Terry Timeus. The boss, Eric Benson, feared Fesser was going to file a lawsuit against him and his southeast Portland towing company for the racial discrimination he said he faced at work.
West Linn police captain who did shoddy internal investigation into Michael Fesser case will face no discipline oregonlive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from oregonlive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
West Linn protests cop on leave from Oregon training agency March 10 2021
Mike Stradley has been on leave from his supervisor role at the state agency for over a year.
Mike Stradley, a former West Linn Police Department lieutenant, has been on leave for more than a year while his current employer the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training investigates his role in the 2017 false arrest of Michael Fesser. In that time, DPSST has paid him $131,844.91 in salary and benefits, according to the agency s human resources department.
In 2017, West Linn police concocted a plan to arrest Fesser, a Black Portland man, on theft charges as a favor to a friend of then-police Chief Terry Timeus. Timeus friend, Eric Benson, was Fesser s boss and feared he would sue him and his towing company over the racial harassment he faced at work.