Theft – NW Commerce St – In the early morning hours deputies were dispatched to a theft that had just occurred. The victim called to report that someone had just stolen a nearly full can of gas from the front porch. A WCSO Sergeant happened to be in town and was able to locate the suspect. Deputy Pope also happened to flex his hours a bit and was also responding. Deputy Pope arrived and later arrested the suspect for theft.
Criminal Mischief – NW Oak Wy – During the heated efforts to recall members from the Banks Fire District, an unknown person(s) had damaged or stolen several of the “vote no” of the recall campaign signs through out the fire district.
Traffic Crash – NW Main St – An elderly male suffered a medical issue and drove over and thru the grass of the Banks Fire Department. The male’s car came to rest against the building but did not cause any damage to the building. Banks Fire personnel treated the male on scene to the medical event but otherwise did not suffer any injuries.
Theft – NW Maplecrest Wy- An unknown person stole a generator that was attached to back of the victim’s camper. The victim had left the generator strapped down and locked to a small platform built to hold the generator.
Theft – NW Banks Rd – The victim had parked their car at the Banks Vernonia Trailhead and went for a family walk. After being gone for a few hours, the family returned and found that a window to their car had been smashed. The victim said the only thing missing was a bag of misc old clothing type items.
Theft – NW Trellis Wy – A Banks Elementary School employee’s catalytic converter was stolen while parked in the school’s lot. On the same day, a suspicious vehicle was seen slowly driving thru the parking lot of the high school. Later that night, the same vehicle tried to elude deputies working in the City of North Plains. The driver was later taken into custody for several crimes. In the car, deputies found several items believed to be stolen. Deputy Pope was later able to determine that a catalytic converter had been recovered from the suspect car. Deputy Pope retrieved the catalytic converter from evidence and was able to match it to the car from the elementary school. Deputy Pope has referred the case to the Washington County DA’s office for grand jury consideration as the suspect had already been released from custody.
Criminal Mischief – NW Jarvis Ct – The victim had parked their car in the parking lot of the Quail Hollow Apartments and went inside for the evening. When the victim came out the next morning to leave for work, they had found the upper driver’s side part of the windshield had been smashed. It looked as though the suspect(s) had used a hammer to hit the window as the cracking had spider webbed outward from the impact area that was about the size of the head of a hammer.
Theft – NW Main St – The City of Banks played host to the annual Vernonia to Banks full and half marathon with the race ending at Banks High School. One of the volunteers for the event had brought a generator and set it up near the bleachers of the football field. The victim packed up and cleaned up after the event. However the victim did not realize they had left the generator at the school where it was set up. The victim went back to the school the following day but the generator was no where to be found. Unfortunately, there are no cameras in the area of where the generator was taken.
Towed Vehicle – NW Depot St – An early model Dodge full size van had been tagged for as being abandoned. The van sat, unmoved, for nearly two weeks after being tagged. The van was later towed as being abandoned.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
