CANBY, Ore. (KOIN) — Is this the killer cougar of Canby?

New surveillance video taken by Canby resident Mark Gago appear to show a large cat, similar in size to a cougar, skulking around his backyard.

“I don’t know what it’s doing, but it’s taking its time playing around,” Gago told KOIN 6 News. “All of a sudden it gets close enough to the sensor when it sets it off.”

So far, more than a dozen animals — goats, sheep, llamas — have been killed.

The US Department of Agriculture has set 10 traps in the area to catch the cougar — but without success at this point.

KELSO, Wash. (KOIN) — Kelso teachers reached an agreement with the school district on Sunday afternoon, and classes will resume on Monday.

The agreement will need to be ratified by both parties. Teachers will vote at a meeting on Sunday night and the board will vote during a meeting on October 5.

School will have a 2-hour late start on Monday to allow teachers and staff to prepare before students arrive for the day.

Teachers and other educators had been working without a contract in Kelso since June 30.

After spending several days on the picket lines, teachers voted Wednesday to spend their time picking up trash and holding food drives during the strike.

On Friday, Judge David Koss fined the Kelso teacher’s union $2,000 a day if they continued striking, in contempt of court.

Now that an agreement has been reached, the teachers will reportedly not face those fines.

KOIN 6 News will have more information as it becomes available.

FOREST GROVE, Ore. (KOIN) — A 19-year-old man was arrested and charged with arson in relation to two recent house fires in Forest Grove, police said.

Henry Louis Gulacy was arrested on the 3200 block of Pacific Avenue at 6 p.m., Forest Grove Police Dept. said.

The first fire happened August 28 on the 2100 block of Hawthorne Street.

A family of five was inside when Gulacy allegedly sparked the blaze around 4:30 a.m. They were able to escape and no one was injured, police said.

The 100-year-old home reportedly sustained extensive damage in the fire.

A second fire was reported on September 17 in an unoccupied residence on the 2300 block of 9th Avenue.

Investigators were able to tie Gulacy to both scenes after conducting extensive surveillance.

The teen was charged with two counts of first-degree arson.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Julia Haner, the former Lake Oswego cheerleader who admitted to human trafficking, was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison on Monday.

Haner said Monday she takes full responsibility and promised U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman she will no longer be involved with prostitution.

Following her prison term, Haner will be on a supervised release for 5 years.

The 20-year-old Haner pleaded guilty in June to violating the federal Mann Act, which makes it a crime to transport someone between states for prostitution. She and the victim used to ride the school bus together to Lake Oswego High School.

The judge said Haner betrayed a friend, but was betrayed herself during a difficult childhood. For that reason, he agreed to give her less time in prison than she could have received.

Haner was indicted in 2014 for the sex trafficking of a minor. She was a cheerleader at LOHS during the 2011-12 school year, and was arrested along with a man named Konrod Mason.

In April 2014, she removed a GPS ankle monitor and fled, eventually being caught in San Francisco in July. Police in California had charged her with conspiracy of human sex trafficking and possession of a concealed weapon.

She was extradited to Oregon to face these charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

HILLSBORO, Ore. (KOIN) — Some Oregon National Guardsmen received — literally — a warm welcome as they returned from a deployment in Afghanistan.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation gathered at the Hillsboro Armory to meet the returning Guardsmen and bestow on them handmade patriotic quilts.

Nearly 70 soldiers were draped in the quilts, each the result of about 100 hours of work — all done to show an endless appreciation for their sacrifices.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The family of a teenager shot to death allegedly by his mother is struggling to deal with the events of last Thursday night.

Jacob Davidoff was shot once in the back in his home in the 2800 block of SE Rosefinch Drive in Gresham. Emergency responders tried to resusciate the 17-year-old but were not successful.

Hours later his mother Dianne Davidoff was arrested. The 42-year-old made her first court appearance Monday afternoon and entered a not guilty plea on charges of murder and unlawful use of a weapon. She wore a suicide prevention vest during the appearance, and her next court date is set for October 6.

About two dozen family members were in court.

For several years she and her husband, Ryan, have been separated. Ryan Davidoff told KOIN 6 News they were going through a divorce.

He described his son as a sweet boy who was quiet, polite and respectful. He loved hunting and fishing, and had been home schooled because he had some health issues that made it difficult for him to attend, Ryan said.

Dianne, he said, was a broken person who was not in her right mind.

Jake, he said, was special to his mother. “She loved him more than anything in the world,” Ryan told KOIN 6 News.

The night of the shooting, Ryan said he got some strange texts from Dianne. So he called Jake.

His last words, Ryan said, were, “Dad. Come.”

There was screaming in the background, he said, and he tried to get there – but it was too late.

“I wish it was me,” Ryan told KOIN 6 News. “I’d take his place in a minute.”

—–

The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help defray funeral expenses. 

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A former restaurant executive accused of embezzling $1 million from a now-closed Thai food chain was sentenced to 15 months in prison and ordered to re-pay $125,000 in restitution to the former owner.

Richard Lee Anderson appeared in court Monday and learned his sentence. Anderson plead no contest – which means he doesn’t admit guilt – to two counts of aggravated 1st-degree theft and one count of 1st-degree theft.

The aggravated theft charges stemmed from an investigation into Anderson that began in December 2010. Anderson was accused of embezzling funds from the restaurant chain, “Typhoon!”

When “Typhoon!” shuttered, some 300 employees lost their jobs.

“The harm caused to the company could not have been worse,” according to Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Demer. “It ruined it, and the dreams of the owners.”

“Typhoon!” closed for good in February 2012.

“(Anderson’s) criminality caused (“Typhoon”) to fail, close locations and lay off employees,” Demer wrote in court documents.

The first-degree theft charges stemmed from a separate investigation into allegations that Anderson stole from a food distribution company. In that case, Anderson was accused of stealing about $20,000. Anderson’s case, according to records, forced the company to implement new inventory procedures at over 100 locations nationwide.

Records obtained by KOIN 6 News show that Anderson has since filed for bankruptcy. He and his wife divorced and he lost his home. While working as the chief operating officer at “Typhoon!” Anderson was making about $100,000 a year, court records show, and was making a similar amount at the food distribution company.

In both cases, investigators said Anderson took advantage of somewhat unregulated accounting practices. Anderson was cashing checks payable to him that should not have been written in the first place, Demer wrote in court documents.

Investigators learned that Anderson, and his now-former wife, lived a lavish lifestyle funded in part by embezzling the funds. The former couple shared a large amount of debt, including $11,000 at Nordstrom, $8,000 at Neiman Marcus and approximately $4,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue.

On Monday, Anderson was ordered to repay $125,000. Of that, $100,000 will go to Bo Kline. The other $25,000 will go to an insurance company that already paid Kline. As part of the plea agreement, the DA’s Office decided it will not pursue criminal charges against Anderson’s former wife and his daughter.

In a statement from Kline and her family, provided to the DA’s Office and read by Demer in court, Kline said “there are no words that could undo (what he did to the Kline family) and no justice that could return to us what we lost. … (Anderson) wove a convoluted web of deceit and greed so twisted that I cannot fathom how he ever managed to keep the truth straight in his own head.”

He will serve 15 months in prison and will have 2 years of probation. If he violates the terms of his probation, he could get an additional 18 months in prison.

“This was a complex case with a tangle of financial records that could have been interpreted in alternative ways,” Demer said when addressing questions as to why the DA’s Office agreed to the plea deal.

The case was investigated by the Portland Police Bureau’s White Collar Crimes Unit.

Tips for businesses

Demer offered the following tips for other businesses to help prevent embezzlement:

–    Have a professional audit done of both the finances and the business practices and processes.
–    For owners to communicate directly with the CPA or controller and not allow another person to filter the information.
–    Separate the financial duties between different people, so that the person who enter invoices and bills is a different person than who writes the checks, and who is also different from the person who makes the deposits.
–    Keep back-up copies of every expense report.
–    Accurately code on the memo line of every check what the business purpose was for, and have it match to a verifiable invoice that is clearly for a business purpose.
–    Have bank and credit card statements regularly verified with the bank (if they are not directly sent to an owner’s home), and look carefully at deposits and checks to confirm that they match what the owner expects.

MARION CO., Ore. (KOIN) — A former Willamette University football player pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge on Monday in the death of a 66-year-old man late last year.

Beau Smith, 22, was arrested in November after he was allegedly involved in a violent fight that led to the death of Michael Hampshire.

According to one source, Smith, who was covered in blood, flagged down a patrolman a few blocks from where Hampshire’s body was found. With his hands raised, he said, “I need help, I was in a fight.”

The medical examiner determined Hampshire died as a result of homicidal violence.

Smith was originally charged with murder. Months later, a grand jury decided to indict the chemistry major on a second-degree manslaughter charge.

He plead guilty to that charge on Monday and was sentenced to 75 months in an Oregon correctional facility.

Smith was also charged with possession of a controlled substance after he told officers he had consumed psilocybin mushrooms before the fight.

He will serve 6 months for that charge.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A 25-year-old man is in jail facing allegations that he caused “serious physical” injury to a 2-year-old child, according to court documents.

Paul Anthony Mendez appeared in court on Monday to face charges of first-degree assault and first-degree criminal mistreatment.

According to court documents, the child was hurt on September 18. Mendez, who lives in Southeast Portland, was arrested on September 25 and booked into Multnomah County Detention Center by detectives assigned to the Multnomah County Child Abuse Team.

Mendez, who does landscaping in St. Helens, told court staff the victim in the case is his girlfriend’s son.

Details of the alleged assault and the nature of the child’s injuries have not been released.

On Monday, a court appointed attorney entered not guilty pleas on Mendez’s behalf to the two charges. He is scheduled to be back in court on Oct. 6.

Mendez’s bail has been set at $255,000.

SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — There are few things more aggravating than a clogged toilet.

But one local man says a frustrating situation turned dangerous when a Salem plumbing company allegedly tried to take advantage of him while working on a blocked sewage line at his home.

“They came out, were just supposed to run a snake down it and unplug it,” Joel Kinney told KOIN 6 News. “They told us they kept breaking blades, that there was some separation in the pipe, there was all sorts of problems.”

Kinney, who works as a contractor himself, called Rooter Rite Plumbing & Drain Cleaning Services to unblock the pipe.

But things got fishy when a worker claimed Kinney was being scammed.

“I’m eating lunch and he knocks on my door and says, ‘hey bro, can I talk to you?’ and he brings me out and he says, ‘I think they’re scamming you,'” Kinney recalled. “I’m like, what are you talking about? [He said,] ‘he told me to break your pipe.'”

David Hidalgo was hired to work for Rooter Rite through Craigslist. He says he was left alone at the Kinney’s home when the owner of the plumbing company, Mike Lima, told him to dig down to the sewer line.

“When I get down to the green pipe I give him a call and say… ‘what do I do from there?'” Hidalgo said. “And he says, ‘grab the jackhammer and break it.'”

Then Hidalgo said he received this text message from Lima:

Chloe Lima, who owns Rooter Rite Plumbing with her husband, explained the contents of the text message to KOIN 6 News.

“In our experience, it’s alarming and unsafe to have the homeowner around when the pipe is broken,” Chloe said. “The pipe needed to be broken in order to access the pipe, make the repair and to make further determinations on the sewer line… there could be flying debris and we’re dealing with raw sewage.”

However, when Kinney looked closer, he realized the pipe Hidalgo was asked to break wasn’t a sewer line after all.

“He’d been trying to break our gas pipe,” Kinney revealed. “If that would have hit, with all the sparks from this river rock, he would have been vaporized.”

Hidalgo agreed, saying he probably would have been “blown up” had he followed Lima’s orders.

But Chloe said Hidalgo was never instructed to work on a gas line.

When asked about hiring qualifications, she revealed Hidalgo wasn’t required to go through any form of training before going out on the job.

“When he applied for the position, there are questions that are asked,” she explained. “He informed us he was knowledgeable to do the work.”

Kinney said he’s grateful Hidalgo came forward.

“I can’t thank him enough for stepping up, he’s the hero in this thing,” Kinney said. “We would have never known.”

KOIN 6 News learned in 2007, Lima plead guilty to insurance fraud in California.

The Oregon Construction Contractors Board has since launched an investigation into the case.

To avoid problems like this, you can check a contractor’s history in Oregon and Washington. Also, in Oregon the you can check for complaints against companies with the State Attorney General.

TROUTDALE, Ore. (KOIN) — A man working on a plane at the Troutdale Airport was struck by a propeller when the plane jumped a wheel chock, seriously injuring his arm.

The 25-year-old was rushed by ambulance to an area hospital for emergency treatment, officials with the Gresham Fire Department told KOIN 6 News.

KOIN 6 News will have more information as it develops.

Emergency crews also responded to an aircraft emergency at the Troutdale Airport Tuesday morning. The pilot reported having a rough running engine. The two incidents are unrelated.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – City officials are discussing how they can turn a homeless camp in north Portland into an organized operation.

Mayor Charlie Hales’ spokeswoman said Monday the mayor’s office has been talking to the Oregon Department of Transportation, which owns much of the land where the campers reside, about delaying plans to evict the homeless residents.

The state agency issued eviction notices to campers at the site next to the Greeley Forest Garden, giving them until Oct. 3 to leave, but that has been delayed.

Transportation spokesman Don Hamilton confirmed the agency was working with the mayor to determine what will happen next. To move plans forward, the city must first determine who owns what property on the site. That way, they can determine where they have the right to evict campers.

People living in the camp told KOIN 6 News it’s time to try something different. They want to put up a fence and bring in portable toilets.

“We feel like we can keep up with five or so people and it is sustainable for five or six people here. It’s not sustainable for 35,” said Billy, who lives at the camp. He doesn’t think an eviction is the right thing to do.

“If they kick us all out a month from now this place will be all lined up with people again.”

But if Hales does take action and let the campers stay, will this open the door for more camps like the controversial R2DToo?

“I think there could be temporary improvement in the conditions of some of these campgrounds without going the whole distance to creating multiple RDToos,” Hales told KOIN 6 News. “We’re not ready to have that discussion now, if ever, but it’s certainly possible we might be able to provide more basic sanitation and safety for people that are sleeping outside and try to have that happen in places that have the least noxious side effects on everyone else.”

More talks between state and city officials are scheduled for this week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

OREGON CITY, Ore. (KOIN) — With an active cougar still on the loose and a plentiful food supply just about everywhere you look many people who live in the Oregon City area wonder what they can do now to protect their livestock.

Like many of his Oregon City neighbors Dick Davies has livestock. And like many of his neighbors he’s nervous about the threat posed by a cougar that’s killed several dozen farm animals near him in recent weeks.

“Well, the status is that as of last night he was seen up on top of the hill in the vineyard,” Davies told KOIN 6 News Tuesday.

Last Friday night Mark Gego caught a cougar on surveillance walking through his yard.  Another young man found animals at his home — killed but not eaten.

Davies said he thinks the neighbors should be allowed to deal with the cougar themselves.

“I think the neighbors, anybody who gets this cougar, is probably going to have a party thrown for them,” he said. “And they’ll chip in any expenses that’ll arise because everybody is tired of it.”

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has laid 10 traps to catch the cougar, so far without success. Department officials told KOIN 6 News it is legal to kill a cougar if it is on your property and in the presence of livestock.

TROUTDALE, Ore. (KOIN 6) — Emergency crews responded to the Troutdale regional airport on Tuesday morning after getting reports of an aircraft emergency.

Port of Portland spokesperson Steve Johnson said the preliminary investigation shows the aircraft’s pilot reported having a “rough running engine.”

The aircraft landed safely but there was a small fire in the engine area, according to Johnson. Crews from Gresham Fire & Rescue responded.

The fire was put out and there were no reports of any injuries.

Johnson said there was a report of only one person on board.

Also on Tuesday, a man was struck by a propeller at the Troutdale airport. The two incidents are unrelated.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A student at Wilson High School has been diagnosed with pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

The Multnomah County Health Department sent a letter home to parents Monday, alerting them to the situation.

Parents are asked to watch their children for symptoms, which include cold-like symptoms and an irritating cough. The cough eventually becomes more severe and people can make a ‘whoop’ sound when breathing.

It is not clear what grade the student is in or when exactly he or she was diagnosed.

According to the Multnomah County Health Department, there have been 172 cases of pertussis so far this year in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.

Last year, there were 120. The high was in 2012 with 634 cases.

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (KOIN) — A West Linn High School teacher was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of sexual abuse against his students, Lake Oswego Police Department said.

Jonathan Michael Peachey, 34, was taken into custody at his home in Lake Oswego on 2 counts of third-degree sex abuse, 2 counts of first-degree official misconduct and 1 count of furnishing alcohol to a minor.

According to an investigation by local police, Peachey is accused of inappropriately touching male students at a home in Lake Oswego.

Police say they have identified 2 victims, but there could be more.

Peachey teaches Spanish and English Language Development at West Linn High School and is an advisor to the school’s Ski Club and Link Crew.

“The West Linn-Wilsonville School District is cooperating with the investigation. Mr. Peachey has been placed on administrative leave,” the school district said in a statement. “We are very concerned about these charges and will do all we can to support students and staff.”

Peachey was previously arrested for DUII in 2010 after he reportedly smashed into a student’s parked car.

Anyone with information about the case or additional victims should call 503.635.0238.

CANBY, Ore. (KOIN) — Linda Guttormsen Tate remembers the Christmas when she was about 10. That was the year her dad upgraded her mom’s engagement ring.

“He had my mother stand up and he made a big production of it and he said, ‘With this ring I thee wed,’ and surprised her with a new set” of rings, she told KOIN 6 News. “He had tears in his eyes and  I remember all 3 of us girls thinking, ‘Wow. Dad really loves mom.'”

Her mother, Dolores Guttormsen, died Monday at the age of 90. She had been in hospice care at Marquis at Hope Village in Canby for about 3 months. Her husband Bill — now 91 — was at her side.

But what was missing was Dolores’ ring.

Last Wednesday, Linda Tate went to see her mother and noticed her engagement ring was missing.

At first she thought her mom was losing weight and her rings were falling off. “I gave a pull on the (wedding) band,” she said, “but there was no getting the wedding band off, so I knew someone took it off. I assumed it was my father.”

But Bill told his daughter he didn’t take the ring off and he didn’t have it.

Tate said her mom was unable to move, bedridden and couldn’t speak, so she really doesn’t think her mom took her ring off.

“I don’t like to accuse people, I really don’t, but it sure appears as though someone may have taken the ring,” Tate told KOIN 6 News. “I feel a deep sense of sorrow for that person. I’ve never felt that kind of desperation in my life.”

Patty Kleckner, the administrator at Marquis at Hope Village, said they’ve given all the information they have to Canby police for their investigation.

“People have misplaced items before and we’ve been able to recover them,” Kleckner told KOIN 6 News, and said she believes this ring was also misplaced.

“I believe so. I think there are situations where it could have been misplaced.”

Marquis at Hope Village does criminal background checks on all of their employees, she said. All her employees were interviewed about the incident and Kleckner said she gave that information to the police.

She told KOIN 6 News their doors after hours secured after hours and there is staffing during normal business days.

The facility also encourages families to put heirlooms in a safe spot, either at home or in the lock boxes at the facility.

“I believe in my staff,” Kleckner said. “I have a really good quality staff that I don’t believe are thieves.”

The ring means a lot to the Guttormsen family, Linda Tate said.

“My mother had hoped that if she passed before my daughter got married that Lisa (her daughter) would marry in her ring.”

Lisa Sellars, 27, said she is heartbroken “not only because I lost my grandma, but because the one thing that I was supposed to have from her is not here.”

Linda Tate posted a note on Facebook and said people she doesn’t even know are helping them to spread the word.

“People have come together looking for this ring and it feels so supportive and wonderful,” Tate said. “It would be like getting a piece of Mom back.”

Her dad, she said, is devastated.

“He has her wedding ring inside his wallet against his heart and he refuses to remove it.”

Bill and Dolores Guttormsen were married for 64 years. “He said his sunshine is gone.”

CORNELIUS, Ore. (KOIN) — Washington County Sheriff’s Deputies are searching for 25-year-old Matthew Pugh.

Deputies said his case is considered suspicious.

On Saturday, Sept. 26, deputies were called to a house on SW Plum Tree Court around 3 p.m. to respond to a 1994 Ford Taurus that was found running, unoccupied and blocking a driveway. The car belongs to Pugh. His belongings, and those of another person, were found inside. The ignition had been ‘punched’ with a screwdriver so it could be stopped and started.

People living with Pugh told deputies he had previously damaged the Taurus himself, and that they hadn’t seen him since early that morning.

He has not shown up for work or contacted his family or anyone close to him. His family and friends said that is unusual.

Washington County Violent Crimes Detectives are working on the case.

Pugh is described as 5-feet-8 and 180 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. It’s unclear what he was wearing when he was last seen.

If you have any information, you’re asked to call 503.846.2700.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man who agreed to pay a prostitute for a sex act ended up becoming the victim of an armed robbery, according to court documents.

Rodney Marcus Arreguin Jr. and Yamell Amber Regalado appeared in court on Tuesday after being arrested on Monday in Southeast Portland.

Both are charged with one count each of first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Arreguin is also separately charged with felony attempting to elude a police officer. Regalado is charged separately with one count of prostitution.

The investigation started on September 20 at 11:49 p.m. when officers responded to reports of a robbery in the 9000 block of Northeast Hassalo Street. Police arrived and spoke with a man who told them he picked up a prostitute, later identified as Regalado, on 82^nd Avenue. The man who agreed to pay Regalado told police that while in the vehicle, she was “constantly texting,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

The man told police when he and Regalado parked, a black male approached his van from behind and opened the driver’s door and put a gun to his head and demanded money, according to court documents.

The man with the gun was not identified in court documents. It remains unclear if police have identified him.

Regalado got out of the vehicle and left. Police learned another man, identified as Arreguin, approached from behind and opened the passenger door behind the driver’s seat. The man told police that Arreguin told the guy with the gun to shoot the man who had picked up Regalado.

The unidentified suspect, who was armed with the gun, told the man he was taking the car and pulled the man who picked up Regalado out of the car. Arreguin then ran to a black car and got in and left, court documents state.

The other suspect drove off in the van, police said.

The van was located by police at the intersection of Southeast Holgate Blvd. and Southeast 82^nd. The vehicle began to elude police. Speeds during the chase reached 90 mile per hour, according to court documents. Police were not able to capture the driver but located the vehicle abandoned near Southeast 145^th and Foster Road.

Regalado told police she was texting her boyfriend, Arreguin, while she was in the van with the man who picked her up, court documents state. Regalado claimed that after performing the sex act, Arreguin and another man approached the vehicle so she got out of the vehicle and got into the vehicle Arreguin arrived in.

Arreguin told police that he was involved in the robbery but he was not the person with the gun, court documents state. He also admitted to eluding the police after the robbery.

Both Regalado and Arreguin appeared in court on Tuesday where no guilty pleas were entered on their behalf.

CORVALLIS, Ore. (KOIN) — Police are working to identify a man accused of exposing himself to at least 2 women in the Corvallis area this week.

The first incident happened on Monday afternoon when a young woman said a man, who was completely naked except for his shoes, approached her in a parking lot at 700 NW 5th Street, police said.

The woman reportedly ran from the scene. Officers tried locating the suspect but were unsuccessful.

On Tuesday afternoon, a different woman claimed someone followed her home from the OSU campus and was seen standing across from her residence completely naked and apparently masturbating while looking in her direction, police said.

The victim called her friends who quickly came to her house and took pictures of the suspect. The man was last seen leaving the area on a longboard.

The suspect is described as Hispanic, black or of Pacific Islander descent, police said. Victims described him as age 17-20, 6-feet tall with a thin, athletic build and dark curly or wavy hair.

He may have a Spanish accent, according to the victims who said he stumbled over his words and that English was apparently not his first language.

Anyone with information on the case should call 541.766.6924 during business hours or 541.766.6911 after hours.