Former Sandy officer charged with ID theft, misconduct

From the Oregonian, November 13 2008

A former Sandy police officer turned himself in to authorities today after he was charged with identity theft, first-degree official misconduct and misuse of a license.

William Jacob Bergin, 27, surrendered at the Clackamas County Jail after he was indicted by a grand jury. The indictment did not provide details of the accusations against Bergin.

He was released on his own recognizance, pending his Dec. 11 arraignment in Clackamas County Circuit Court.

In a written statement, the Sandy Police Department said, "Whenever someone in the law enforcement community, past or present, is accused of wrongdoing, law enforcement officers are hurt by it. We are saddened and embarrassed by this."

Sandy police declined further comment.

Bergin remains a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed in federal court after Bergin and sheriff's Deputy David Willard shot and killed a naked unarmed Portland man on a rural highway in 2005. The family of Fouad Kaady, 27, has hired high-profile, flamboyant defense attorney Gerry Spence of Wyoming to argue the lawsuit.

The suit names the city of Sandy, Clackamas County and the two officers and seeks monetary damages to be determined at trial for alleged civil rights violations, excessive force, unconstitutional arrest and wrongful death.

Bergin joined the Sandy Police Department in May 2005.

Officer goes on leave; target of investigation

A Sandy police officer is on paid leave while investigators review allegations that surfaced from a separate inquiry into a Clackamas County deputy, Sandy Police Chief Harold Skelton said Wednesday.

William Jacob Bergin, 27, who has been with the Sandy department since May 2005, has been on leave since July 25. Skelton would not comment on the allegations.

Deputy Brandon S. Claggett, 37, who was assigned to the Mount Hood area, has been on leave since July 9.

Bergin was arrested last year in Sherwood on suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants and entered a diversion program. He was on workers' compensation leave stemming from his involvement in the fatal police shooting of Fouad Kaady in 2005.

Six lawsuits allege police misconduct

from the Oregonian

Salem attorney Bruce Mowery, who represents the city in some of the cases through City/County Insurance Services, said the claims --which target city officials, Sandy police officers and Clackamas County sheriff's deputies --have no merit.

All of the lawsuits accuse Sandy and Clackamas County officers of excessive force, harassment and violating defendants' constitutional rights. The suits are all separate claims, though three of the defendants share the same lawyer.

The latest case, filed March 12 in U.S. District Court in Oregon by Sandy resident Samuel Contreras, claims Contreras was set up by police and wrongfully arrested for possession of a controlled substance, having a concealed weapon and tampering with a witness. Contreras had previously been convicted for possession of firearms and charged on multiple occasions with drug possession, Sandy police said.

The other cases are:

* Estacada resident Britt Woodring alleges officers used excessive force in his arrest outside a Sandy restaurant last year.

* Juan Rubio, the father of a man whose remains were found in the woods in 2005, claims that Sandy officers were verbally abusive to him and that city officials neglected his complaints during the search for his son.

* Another Rubio lawsuit against a Sandy officer alleges Rubio was threatened during several incidents between 2004 and 2006.

* A federal lawsuit against Sandy and county officers claims the county, city and police officers violated the civil rights of Fouad Kaady, a Portland man killed after a string of hit-and-run collisions, a car fire and a possible assault. The family filed the suit. A Clackamas County grand jury last year cleared the officers of wrongdoing.

* A lawsuit filed by Sandy resident Jerry Eureal Woodford alleges Sandy police officers unrightfully tackled him and stunned him with a Taser while he was staying at a hotel.

The second Rubio suit is filed in circuit court; the others are filed in federal court.

Attorney Edward Merrill of Bend --who represents Rubio, Woodring and Contreras --said his clients filed the lawsuits not for monetary gain but to protest police department actions. Mowery, who represents Sandy on these cases, said the claims are orchestrated by the Bend attorney.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Inquest wouldn't help

from the Oregonian

The Oregonian has called for a public inquest into the death of Fouad Kaady (editorial, Nov. 1). A grand jury has already listened carefully to the sworn testimony of 40 witnesses and visited the scene of the shooting. In addition, Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts released the police reports after the grand jury's decision.

I do not believe a public inquest would further the important discussion that is ongoing about officer-involved shootings. Under Oregon statutes, a public inquest may be ordered to determine the "cause and manner of death." In this case, those are well known. Furthermore, a public inquest is a flawed legal process. The statutes do not clearly state whether the rules of evidence apply or who may participate. An inquest can turn into a forum to air grievances or personal opinions.

In the last legislative session, Senate Bill 301 would have required that grand jury proceedings in officer-involved shooting deaths be transcribed and made public. Unfortunately, it didn't pass. It would have provided a better way to inform the public. I encourage our legislators to approve it in the next session.

JOHN S. FOOTE
District Attorney
Clackamas County

Defusing crises dispelling myths

from the Oregonian

Two years ago deputies responding to a call of a resident disturbing the peace shot and killed the woman after she charged them with a knife. The residents, a Clackamas County mental health worker has advised the deputies, are still a little on edge.

The visit is part of the sheriff's office's third semiannual training devoted to teaching officers how to better handle encounters involving people who are mentally ill, who often don't respond well to traditional police commands and techniques and who might act unpredictably at times of crisis.

The sessions begins.

A woman with ice-blue eyes and bangs pinned back with a sparkly clip asks the deputies why they have to carry guns. Guns, she says, petrify her. She's seen what police do with them on TV.

The police officers assure her they use their guns only in true emergencies --not like the actors on TV.

Another resident wants to know whether police stereotype mentally ill people.

"Do you automatically put us in a box?" she asks.

"Do you think mentally ill people have hotter tempers than other people?" asks another.

And another resident chimes in: "Don't you have a code --1151 or something --to refer to us?"

"It's 1234," answers one of the deputies, adding that the categorization is only used so police can better help the person in mental crisis. "The police officer will hear that and start asking questions: 'How are you doing?' 'What do you need?' "

By the end of the exchange, the room appears to have warmed some. The residents appear a little more relaxed, and the police officers, too.

The training --known as Crisis Intervention Training --was held late last month. It is the third since Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts took office in January 2005 and said his office must better equip deputies to deal with the increasing number of calls about people in mental crisis.

Roberts said he recognized the need a few years ago as a detective when he responded to the call near Oregon 212 in the Boring area. Roberts showed up to find a suicidal man who'd doused himself with two cans of gasoline and was holding a cigarette lighter.

"I thought 'This is absurd,' " said Roberts, realizing he didn't have training to draw upon. Roberts was able to talk the man into surrendering but felt he was grasping for what to say or do.

Jail data show that as many as 28 percent of Clackamas County Jail inmates have a diagnosed mental illness. But officials say the true percentage of inmates who have mental illnesses --diagnosed or not --is probably much higher.

Sgt. Nick Watt, who helped developed the crisis intervention course, estimates that 50 percent of the calls he responds to involve someone with mental health issues a suicidal person, a car thief on mind-altering methamphetamine, or a combative person yelling at anyone who passes by.

The dangers of police encounters with mentally ill people have been highlighted recently by high-profile incidents in the Portland area, including the September death in police custody of James P. Chasse Jr., a man police thought was on drugs or drunk but who actually suffered from schizophrenia.

In Clackamas County, there have been several incidents in which police shot and killed people acting irrationally or exhibiting mental problems --including Clint Carey, a 24-year-old Carver man who in 2005 duct-taped a knife to his hand and then charged at deputies; Fouad Kaady, a 27-year-old Gresham man who was reportedly growling, naked and non-compliant to police commands in 2005; and Joyce Staudenmaier, the Chez Ami resident shot in 2004, who had battled schizophrenia for nearly three decades.

Clackamas County's 40-hour class teaches participants about the gamut of mental illnesses and the drugs used to treat them. Participants hear mental health experts' advice on how police should approach and speak to people with mental disorders. They also act out scenarios they might encounter in the field.

Portland, and in more recent years, Washington and Marion counties, also have crisis intervention training. Portland Mayor Tom Potter recently said he wants every patrol officer on the Portland Police force to go through the city's 40-hour course, which during the past 12 years has been voluntary.

And starting in January, the state's police academy will increase classroom instruction on how to interact with mentally ill people from three hours to 12. Students seeking a basic police officer certification also will undergo eight to 10 hours of scenario-based training.

In Clackamas County, 75 members of law enforcement --including about three dozen sheriff's deputies and three dozen officers from police departments including Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Canby and Sandy --have been through the sheriff's training. Roberts said his goal is to train all 91 of his patrol deputies in the next few years. So far, he's about a third of the way there.

Sharing experiences

After a few days of intensive classroom training, the Clackamas County class breaks into small groups to tour apartments and group homes of people with mental illnesses; Portland Adventist's psychiatric ward, where police often bring people who are threatening to harm themselves or others; and the Hooper detox center in Portland, where police drop off people intoxicated by drugs or alcohol.

The visits give officers opportunities to interact with people with mental illnesses and those who treat them.

A Milwaukie group home manager tells visiting officers that it's a good idea to turn off overhead lights and sirens when responding to incidents at her group home. Lights and sirens can stir bad memories.

A woman who suffers from depression tells officers that she doesn't like handcuffs because they make her feel like a criminal. And a man tells officers that a little bit of leeway goes a long way with him --he still remembers the officer who let him keep his chewing tobacco in his mouth as he was driving to jail.

At the Chez Ami Apartments, resident Susan Funk tells the deputies that she's happy to talk to them about her police encounters because she wants them to see what she's like 80 percent of the year.

"You only know me when I'm freaking out, and that's why I come to these (trainings)," says Funk, 40, who was diagnosed 17 years ago with bipolar disorder.

Funk is clear-headed, witty and pointed in her conversation with deputies. She says if they happen to encounter her on a bad day, they should try to treat her with respect. She doesn't respond well to harsh commands or force.

"Try to be nice to me if you can," she said. "Try not to corner me. Because that would make me feel like I want to fight and struggle."

Funk also shares her take on the small number of police encounters that go bad.

"It's not only a failure of police," Funk says. "It's also a failure of family, the community and the mental health staff who have not been able to intervene."

Not just a police issue

Funk's statements about mental health officials, family and friends stepping in before a person with mental illness reaches a state of crisis ring true with Watt, who helped develop the class. Watt, the Clackamas sergeant who helped develop the program, says that clearly many people who need help aren't getting or seeking the help --and police are the ones called at the last minute when mentally ill people act out in troubling ways.

Officers can't force a mentally ill person to seek treatment unless that person is presenting a safety threat. In those cases, police try to find a hospital placement, but Watt says too often beds at Portland-area hospitals are full. Once, Watt says, the only bed he could find for an emotionally disturbed person was in Roseburg, 175 miles south.

What's more, admittance to a hospital for psychiatric help might only be a short-term fix, because psychiatric staff release the person once the immediate threat has passed. Too often, mental health experts say, people refuse additional treatment.

Police and mental health officials attribute the rise in mental health-related calls to a fundamental change in philosophy about how to treat people. People with severe mental illnesses used to be institutionalized, said Jessica Leitner, program manager for the county's behavioral health division.

But closing Dammasch State Hospital in the mid-1990s signaled a change in that philosophy in Oregon: Mental health experts came to believe that people with mental health issues were best placed in smaller community treatment facilities, group homes or their own homes.

Having more people with mental health issues living in the community, however, makes contacts with local police more likely.

Eric Cederholm, who has been diagnosed with chronic depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, was eager to talk to crisis-intervention class participants during their visit to his Milwaukie group home. He wants to offer them support.

While training is good, he said, he wants them to know that they won't always be able to talk a mentally ill person through a crisis.

Cederholm said he was determined to die in June 2005 when he pointed a gun at a Milwaukie Police officer, and the officer shot him in the arm, narrowly missing his chest. He still has the scar.

"I was hell-bent," Cederholm tells the class participants. "Some poor (guy) had to shoot me. I'm sure it ruined his day."

Local police fire back on shooting rules

from the Oregonian

Last week I wrote about a former policeman who questioned whether police these days are trained to worry too much about their own welfare.

Several local policemen responded that officers are not paid to get hurt or die. Wrote one: "Bottom line, when people arm themselves with knives or other weapons, and refuse to follow commands given to them by officers, they are likely to be shot before they can take action to harm or kill an officer. That is how it should be."

Jeff Leighty, a 20-year veteran and president of the Oregon State Police Officers' Association, e-mailed that in response to my column he'd canceled his subscription to The Oregonian.

By that logic, we should all vote against police levies simply because we disagree with something cops have done.

The truth is, both sides of the debate about shootings involving officers seem frozen in their own beliefs.

When I wrote, last year, that I understood the difficult spot cops found themselves in during the odd string of events that led to the tragic fatal police shooting of 27-year-old Fouad Kaady in Sandy, I got many angry responses about my blind allegiance to police.

One of the people who disagreed with me about that shooting was Ray O'Driscoll, the former San Francisco Bay Area policeman I wrote about last week.

Many current and former police officers were upset I allowed O'Driscoll, whose 12 years of police work came 30 years ago, to question current police training.

Of course, it makes no difference whether O'Driscoll was ever a cop. His questions are reasonable questions long debated by deadly force experts.

One of the nation's most prominent researchers in police training and accountability, James Fyfe, was serving as deputy commissioner for training of the New York Police Department when he died last year. Earlier in his career, Fyfe put in 16 years of patrol work that earned him seven NYPD citations.

In between his two stints at the NYPD, Fyfe was a professor of criminal justice at three colleges and wrote seven books about police work.

Fyfe was a perpetual critic of police training, saying it over-emphasizes the dangers of police work, which he found to be far safer than everything from bartending to construction. And he found that police guidelines are rarely specific enough about when to use deadly force or what the repercussions will be for misusing it. As a result, Fyfe said police often perceive danger where there is none and fire away.

Fyfe's studies concluded that there is little relationship between the number of people police shoot and how safe the police, or the public, are.

Fyfe believed the way to create more useful police standards is for communities to be outspoken about what they want and what they will not tolerate.

If communities don't force cops to include citizens in the discussion, nothing is likely to change, Fyfe said.

Of the dozens of responses I got from cops last week, only retired Portland policeman Jim Powell seemed interested in discussing the issue.

A 26-year veteran, he was a firearms and defensive tactics instructor and served as one of eight regional training coordinators in Oregon.

He didn't like my column. But after his anger cooled, he wanted to talk.

Powell, like Fyfe, believes police training can always improve. But he believes local police are carefully trained to consider all their other options before they pull the trigger.

He's never favored any type of citizen review committee to look at shootings involving officers. Still, he agrees that police policies must mirror what the community wants.

But public input, he says, "needs to occur on the front end," not during the public outcry after police shoot and kill.

I don't agree with everything Powell said. He doesn't agree with everything I said. But we've agreed to continue the conversation.

It may not lead anywhere at all.

But it beats dropping a subscription or refusing to pay for police.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - Police shooting: Nonlethal tactics needed

from the Oregonian

We were aghast to learn of the killing this weekend of Tigard-area teen Lukus Glenn by Washington County sheriff's deputies ("Police kill 18-year-old near Tigard," Sept. 17, and "Mom: 9-1-1 call was to help son," Sept. 18).

Something went terribly wrong here. Having raised three children, we know that there are occasions when teens may be out of control and defiant, especially if alcohol is involved. Glenn's parents did exactly the right thing when their son appeared to be out of control and self-destructive: They asked for help.

They expected that their son might have to be arrested for the night, sober up and face the consequences of extreme behavior. The last thing they expected, we're sure, was that law enforcement officers would escalate the situation even further.

If Glenn had been a wild animal cornered in the neighborhood, chances are he would have been tranquilized and transported unconscious back to a friendly habitat. Why couldn't that have happened for Glenn?

We weren't there, and we don't know the exact circumstances as events played out, but we suggest a different type of training for the officers is needed. Defiance is not sufficient reason to take a life.

Bring out the Tasers, stall, negotiate, do something else --anything rather than escalate to final justice so quickly.

Our sympathies go out to the parents who raised a promising young man who just needed a little help and some extra discipline getting through the adolescent growing pains. He deserved a better outcome, and so did they.

DENNIS and CHARLENE DOYLE, Redland

The Oregonian reports another police killing of an apparently disturbed person, this time a teenager armed only with a knife. The families of Fouad Kaady and now Lukus Glenn are reeling from a shoot-first, protect-later policy.

When will our police be trained to disarm first without firing multiple rounds to ensure a kill? Why not train police to shoot at the legs of aggressive and disturbed persons who are not armed with guns?

As reported, Lukus Glenn may have been seeking "suicide by cop," but we should train our police to protect our citizens first. Police should use guns only as a last resort, and even then, first to disable suspects --not to slaughter them in a hail of bullets.

PETER KLAEBE, Lake Oswego

As a resident of Washington County, I am shocked by the insensitivity and utter lack of competence these so-called "peace officers" failed to demonstrate. This cry for help from a depressed, confused teenager was answered with a ruthless barrage of gunfire, resulting in a senseless loss of life.

I may not be a crisis tactician, but I believe this tragedy could have easily been avoided with just the slightest bit of common sense and empathy on the part of the police.

ROBERT O'HEARN, Northwest Portland

Extreme police reactions such as in [the fatal shootings of] Lukus Glenn and Fouad Kaady in Sandy will result in the public's loss of trust and confidence in law enforcement. The people will learn to avoid the police for help and resolve the situation on their own. Results, where people take matters into their own hands, also are troublesome.

Sadly, this is life in the bitter and paranoid America.

BRYAN J. DORR

Police named in wrongful-death suit

from the Oregonian

The family of Fouad Kaady, a 27-year-old Portland man shot and killed by police a year ago today on a rural Clackamas County highway, has hired high-profile, flamboyant attorney Gerry Spence of Wyoming to argue a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court.

Kaady was naked, burned and bleeding when he was shocked with a stun gun then shot by Officer William Bergin of the Sandy Police Department and Deputy David Willard of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

The 31-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, names the city of Sandy, Clackamas County and the two officers and seeks monetary damages in an amount to be determined at trial for civil rights violations, excessive force, unconstitutional arrest and wrongful death.

Willard and Bergin shot the unarmed man seven times. A Clackamas County grand jury heard testimony from at least 40 witnesses and decided against bringing charges against the two. Additionally, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Shooting Review Board and a review by the Sandy Police Department found that Willard and Bergin acted appropriately. Both have returned to duty.

Kaady's family and friends bitterly criticized the grand jury's decision and insist he had no history of mental illness and did not take hard drugs. They think his behavior was caused by the shock of being badly burned in a car wreck about a half-hour before the shooting.

"There is no doubt in my mind that this was not a justifiable shooting," said Portland attorney Michelle Burrows, who also will argue the case with Spence's son, Kent Spence.

Burrows said main arguments in court will be handled by Gerry Spence, who has represented high-profile clients such as white separatist Randy Weaver and Brandon Mayfield, a Portland attorney who was jailed for two weeks in 2004 after his fingerprint was mistakenly linked to terror bombings in Madrid, Spain.

Spence --who often sports a black felt hat and leather-fringed, buckskin jacket --made national headlines in 1984 after winning a $10.5 million settlement for the estate of Karen Silkwood, an Oklahoma plutonium worker.

Lawyers for the Clackamas County counsel's office are ready to take on the case.

"We feel sorry for the family, but we believe this is a very defensible case, and we will fight it," said Ed McGlone, an attorney with the office.

Scott Lazenby, Sandy's city manager, said city officials have been instructed not to discuss pending litigation.

In the official police report, a detective speculated that Kaady's bizarre behavior before the shooting may have been caused by "excited delirium," a rare but often deadly medical condition associated with illegal drug use, mental illness or injury, experts say.

People with the condition commonly display incredible strength, are impervious to pain, growl like an animal, are aggressive and take off their clothing because they become superheated.

Clackamas County prosecutors confirmed that Kaady had traces of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system.

Shortly before he died, Kaady smashed his car into three other cars on Southeast Bluff Road. Callers told 9-1-1 dispatchers he was combative and had assaulted a man who went to help him.

The lawsuit claims that both the sheriff's department and Sandy police have cultures that encourage officers "to taser and/or 'shoot first,' a pattern of repeated serious violations of the constitutional rights of citizens."

The suit claims Kaady was not presenting any "objective danger." It seeks damages for burial and memorial services; general damages for depriving his civil rights; monetary losses to his estate, including the loss of earnings; pain and suffering; punitive damages; and attorney fees.

"Every holiday, every birthday is hard," said Kaady's sister, Andrea Kaady. "His death was a huge earthquake, and the aftershocks will go on forever."

A memorial service marking the one-year anniversary of Kaady's death will be at 11 a.m. Sunday at the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, 2101 N.E. 162nd Ave.

Shootings by officers need open review

from the Oregonian

A week that saw two longtime county deputies indicted for felony crimes was capped off Saturday afternoon by a protest calling for a citizen review of why police fatally shot Fouad Kaady last September.

The protest started a new wave of e-mails into my in-box from people questioning why no one was held accountable when police shot and killed the unarmed, naked man.

When you study the police report on the shooting, you probably see whatever you want to see in it. It's not likely to change many minds on either side of the issue about whether police should have shot Kaady.

But in the report, you'll also see the portrait of a hardworking, highly trained Clackamas County deputy who was faced with an incredibly tough decision.

David Willard worked his normal day shift on Sept. 7. Then, when asked to work a few more hours, he agreed to four hours overtime.

He got home a little before 10 p.m., chatted for a bit with family members and had a small bowl of Raisin Bran before hitting the sack.

As always, he was up at 5 the next morning. After showering, he had some oatmeal and orange juice, took his vitamins then read from his Bible for about 20 minutes.

In a few hours, he would be staring across his handgun at Kaady, an enraged, bloody man who was threatening to kill him.

Kaady refused to lie down and charged Willard. After he jumped on top of a police car, Willard and a Sandy police officer feared he might tackle one of them and gain control of one of their weapons. When it appeared Kaady was jumping off the police car, they opened fire.

In October, a grand jury cleared the officers of wrongdoing. Last month, a sheriff's shooting review board found that Willard acted appropriately when he pulled the trigger.

It's easy to lump all last week's news into a pile and question the professionalism of the cops sworn to protect us.

And you'd have to be someone who simply doesn't care if you aren't asking questions about a sheriff's office whose deputies were involved in the shooting deaths of three people last year.

The answers don't come easy. Even when talking with current and former Clackamas County deputies, I got mixed opinions about the Kaady shooting. Some weren't sure it was necessary. But everyone admitted you can't be sure until you're the one standing there deciding whether to pull the trigger.

Sheriff Craig Roberts says he doesn't want to draw up a policy that's too restrictive because every potentially deadly situation is different.

His focus, he says, will be to continue to try to make sure deputies get the best possible training.

That makes sense. And yet, the concern of people questioning the shootings also makes sense. When you're trying to understand why some people feel like cops can get away with murder in the United States, you have to understand the big picture.

Just two months ago a jury in San Jose found a California narcotics agent not guilty of voluntary manslaughter after he fatally shot a man --in the back --who was running away.

It turns out the agent had mistaken the man for a wanted parolee.

In my opinion, the circumstances of that shooting have almost nothing in common with the Kaady shooting.

And as horrible as the verdict might sound in the California case, it has one important thing going for it: the fact that there was a very public process.

I'm not suggesting anyone should have been put on trial for the Kaady shooting. But the sheriff's office only hurts itself when the only investigations of the matter --a grand jury hearing and police review board hearing --are private.

When high-profile matters such as this are handled largely behind closed doors, the sheriff's office only encourages people to believe it has something to hide.

Kaady investigation given time extension

from the Oregonian

A Clackamas County sheriff's review board will get an additional 60 days to conduct an internal investigation into the shooting death of 27-year-old Fouad Kaady by a deputy and a Sandy Police officer during a September confrontation on a rural highway.

Sheriff Craig Roberts granted the extension Tuesday, he said in a news release, "in order to allow the board the time necessary to thoroughly review this complex incident and to complete a clear and comprehensive report and recommendations."

During a week of deliberations that ended Oct. 24, a Clackamas County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Deputy David Willard and Sandy Police Officer William Bergin.

Kaady, a Gresham man suspected in at least three hit-and-run crashes in the hours before he died Sept. 8, was bloody, naked and combative, sheriff's officials said.

He was unfazed by 50,000 volts from a Taser stun gun and refused to respond to commands. Both officers testified that Kaady jumped from the ground to the top of a police car in an instant as he screamed at the officers, "I'm gonna kill you!" They fired eight times, hitting Kaady with seven rounds. Kaady was unarmed.

Kaady's family said his bizarre behavior was not the result of drugs or mental illness but of burns from a gasoline can that exploded into flames inside his car and of a head injury suffered during one of the three crashes.

A sheriff's spokeswoman, Detective Wendi Babst, said the head of the review board, Sheriff's Capt. Don Howard, asked for the extension because of the large volume of reports and the complexity of the case.

The board will continue to meet weekly for the next two months, Babst said, before presenting its report to Roberts in late January.

Our debt to the deputies and Kaady's kin

from the Oregonian

The story will sound familiar.

An unarmed man high on drugs is seen walking naked down the street. The man, who appears to be psychotic, ignores police instructions and despite non-lethal attempts to subdue him, he keeps coming.

Then he lunges at a deputy.

But this is not the story of Fouad Kaady, the 27-year-old Gresham man who was fatally shot by a Clackamas County deputy and a Sandy policeman two months ago.

In this 2002 case, a man high on crack cocaine ran naked into traffic in a Seattle suburb and began pounding on cars.

A King County sheriff's deputy sprayed the man with pepper spray. But it didn't stop him. After a short wrestling match, the man gained control of the deputy's gun and shot him four times in the head, killing him.

In the Kaady shooting outside Sandy on Sept 8, police also attempted to use nonlethal means, shooting Kaady with a stun gun after he refused to obey their orders.

Then, according to police reports, Kaady ran toward police, leaped on top of a squad car and screamed that he wanted to kill them. Among other things, the two policemen were worried that Kaady would grab a loaded shotgun one of them had left sitting on the hood of the squad car.

As Kaady appeared to be lunging toward the deputy, both cops opened fire, hitting Kaady seven times.

The two cases spotlight the difficulty of police work. And the difficulty of sorting out who's responsible when things go badly.

In the King County case, a jury convicted the man of murder. Last month, a Clackamas County grand jury voted not to indict the two police officers.

Last week, in response to an editorial in The Oregonian calling for a public inquest into Kaady's death, Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote wrote a letter to the editor saying an inquest is a "flawed legal process" that can "turn into a forum to air grievances."

The bigger flaw is that in too many cases there's virtually no meaningful public review after cops shoot people.

According to newspaper investigations and experts, police agencies across the country offer a wide range of guidelines about the use of lethal force, and many don't aggressively investigate officer-involved shootings.

Two years ago, a police consultant's study of 32 police shootings in Portland over three years turned up no documented command review of one-third of the cases.

Experts say there is very little national information compiled on police shootings and how they're handled, so police leaders feel very little outside pressure to police their own.

But officer-involved shootings are dramatically reduced, experts say, when police chiefs clarify deadly force policies and make it clear that every shooting will be closely scrutinized.

Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts has said he will not comment on the Kaady shooting until after a shooting review board has completed its review of the incident.

Critics, including many people who call for public inquests, insist police reviews rarely shed light on shootings or lead to significant changes in policy.

At this point, it's impossible to know what standard of critical review Roberts will insist on or where he'll decide to lead us in this area.

He will, no doubt, call for more training money for officers. And that's fine. But training is only the very tip of this iceberg. The Clackamas County deputy involved in the shooting was well-trained, both in crisis intervention and in dealing with suspects suffering from mental illness or addiction.

Regardless of what the shooting review board decides about Kaady's death, Roberts should take this opportunity to lay out an aggressive set of guidelines for use of deadly force, and make it clear he intends to enforce them --no exceptions.

And other police departments in the county should follow his lead.

We owe that to the Kaady family. And to the two deputies who felt they had no choice but to pull the trigger.

Kaady death should spur a public inquest

from the Oregonian

Finally, a plausible explanation has emerged for the bizarre --and terrifying --behavior Fouad Kaady displayed Sept. 8, before he was shot and killed by a Sandy police officer and a Clackamas County sheriff's deputy. On Sunday, The Oregonian's Eric Mortenson and Stuart Tomlinson reported on their hypothesis, backed up by their own research, that Kaady may have been suffering from something called "excited delirium."

Although no one knows for sure, and it's not clear what might have triggered the condition, the explanation seems to fit what the 27-year-old Gresham High School graduate did that day. In tearing off his clothes, growling like an animal and pressing forward, unfazed, after absorbing high-voltage shocks from stun guns, Kaady mirrored textbook symptoms of this mental breakdown.

It's not a well-known phenomenon, but some law enforcement agencies (notably in Canada) are starting to wise up about it, train for it and treat it as a medical emergency, not a criminal problem. Police are seeing it more because it can be triggered by methamphetamine use, although there's no indication that this drug played a part in Kaady's case. In the hours before he died, though, Kaady's strange behavior gave rise to at least a dozen 9-1-1 calls.

Some people who saw him that day were worried; others terrified. No one who reported on his behavior could have envied the Sandy police officer and Clackamas County sheriff's deputy who actually had to confront Kaady. A Clackamas County grand jury exonerated the officers last week of any criminal misconduct, but that won't eliminate questions about this shooting. Neither will the reviews planned by the two law enforcement agencies involved.

No, those efforts won't be enough. Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote should hold a public inquest, similar to the one Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk held into a Portland police shooting. Pinning down what was wrong with Kaady is important, but the larger question is whether officers could have handled this case differently. A public inquest offers the best hope of illuminating what happened.

In the Kaady case, it's not only Kaady's family and friends who deserve a public inquest. The two officers involved deserve to tell their side of the story to the public, too.

Man killed by police possibly ill

from the Oregonian

A Gresham man whose bizarre, violent behavior resulted in his being killed by police exhibited textbook signs of "excited delirium," a rare but often deadly medical condition associated with illegal drug use, mental illness or injury, experts say.

Fouad Kaady was naked, bleeding and standing atop a police car when officers shot him Sept. 8. Last week, a grand jury found no wrongdoing on the part of the officers when they killed the unarmed man, but some public criticism remains.

As a review of the case continues, experts say excited delirium --a condition many Oregon police agencies don't train for, including one involved in the shooting --could explain Kaady's actions.

Excited delirium is of growing concern to law enforcement internationally, particularly in connection with the rise in methamphetamine abuse. That drug, however, does not appear to have been involved in this case.

Canadian police have taken the lead in addressing this condition, developing a national training package on excited delirium and seeking funding for an epidemiological study of suspects who show such symptoms. Under new policies, the Victoria, B.C., police department now treats excited delirium cases as medical emergencies, rather than criminal episodes.

U.S. agencies are beginning to follow suit. The Oakland, Calif., police department recently adopted Victoria's training standards. And Canadian experts presented their findings at a police conference in Las Vegas this year.

In Portland, police training was revamped after the shooting of Jose Santos Victor Mejia Poot when he became uncontrollable at a mental health center in April 2001. The Portland Police Bureau reassessed how to deal with mentally ill subjects and provided officers with more crisis intervention training.

But the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, one of the departments involved in the Kaady shooting, offers no training about the condition.

"To be honest, I've never heard of this," said Sgt. Nick Watt, crisis intervention trainer for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. "It's not part of the training at Clackamas County. It sounds like something we ought to teach."

The Sandy Police Department, which also had an officer involved, did not respond to questions about training.

Officers not charged

Kaady, 27, was naked, growling and had shaken off high-voltage shocks from stun guns when he threatened to kill the officers, multiple witnesses said.

Deputy David E. Willard and Officer William J. Bergin shot the unarmed man seven times. A Clackamas County grand jury heard testimony from at least 40 witnesses and decided last week not to bring charges against Willard and Bergin. Both have returned to duty.

Kaady's family and friends bitterly criticized the decision and have retained Portland attorney Shannon Connall to represent them.

Kaady's family insists he had no history of mental illness and did not take hard drugs. They think his behavior was caused by the shock of being badly burned in a car wreck about a half-hour before the shooting.

Dr. Chris Young, deputy state medical examiner, told investigators he thought Kaady's behavior was caused by drug intoxication, and that there was a possibility of it being caused by shock. Asked by an investigator about excited delirium, Young said he was not aware of it, according to a Sept. 20 report.

Police have not determined a root cause of the incident, but "it sounds like the classic excited delirium, it really does," said Acting Inspector Darren Laur of the Victoria, B.C., police department. Laur has published research on the subject and is involved in a Canadian effort to improve training and to fund an epidemiological study of suspects who fight with police and show signs of excited delirium.

Suspects in the throes of excited delirium commonly display incredible strength, are impervious to pain, growl like an animal, are aggressive and take off their clothing because they become superheated.

"They are very, very warm," Laur said. "We had a guy in Victoria with a core temperature of 112 degrees. That's why these people will shed their clothing --they're so hot they're trying to cool themselves."

Researchers think excited delirium is associated with drug use, particularly cocaine and methamphetamine, or mental illness. Marijuana use combined with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia also has been linked to the condition.

Officials have confirmed that Kaady had traces of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system. Samira Kaady, his mother, said the family is awaiting additional toxicology reports.

Drug abuse and mental illness can result in large amounts of dopamine being released in the brain. Dopamine controls the body temperature and is one of the main neurotransmitters for the "fight or flight" response, according to Laur and medical researchers.

When officers try to take the person into custody, it typically takes numerous officers to overcome the suspect's strength and endurance, said Canadian police researcher Chris Lawrence.

Lawrence, defensive tactics supervisor at Ontario Police College, and others have called for changes in police training to address excited delirium. Among other ideas, they say paramedics should be called in immediately so it can be treated as a medical emergency.

If it's possible to back off and wait for additional officers and medics, police should do so, Lawrence said.

Dangerous situation

Victoria police are doing just that.

"The quicker we can control them and hand them over to medical personnel, the better," said inspector Laur. "Now if there's an arrest, we go through a checklist: Irrational, animal sounds, partly clothed --they don't come to a cell, they go to a hospital."

But treatment can't occur until the suspect is controlled, and that's difficult, Laur said.

"It puts police in a Catch-22 situation," he said. "It's extremely dangerous; they feel no pain. A lot of traditional control tactics won't work."

Reports make clear that Willard and Bergin, the officers who shot Kaady, were startled by his behavior and felt threatened.

"I just knew that if we were to get hands on with him in a physical fight, I mean, there would have been no stopping him," Bergin told an investigator. "I mean, he would have not, not felt anything."

Willard told an investigator he recalled thinking, "Oh my God, I'm Tasing this guy (with a stun gun) and he's getting up."

Based on a synopsis of the Kaady shooting, Laur said, it appeared Willard and Bergin "did everything they could to control that situation."

Laur declined to comment on the officers' use of lethal force but said withdrawing "may not have been an option."

He and Lawrence, of the Ontario Police College, said training must be "tweaked" to treat the cases as medical emergencies.

Such training in Oregon varies by department.

Cameron Campbell, director of training for the Department of Public Safety, Standards and Training in Monmouth, said new recruits receive three hours of mental health crisis intervention training during their 10 weeks of basic training at the academy.

Portland police officers receive an additional 20 hours of supplementary crisis training, said the bureau's crisis intervention coordinator, Officer Paul Ware.

Ware said the training includes how to recognize what the bureau calls "hyperstimulation and agitated delirium."

Gresham police training closely mirrors what Portland officers receive, including how to recognize and respond to excited delirium, Gresham spokesman Officer Grant McCormick said.

"We're telling our people to ask for more cover" when they confront people in such a state, Ware said. "Don't do the cowboy thing and go at it alone unless the fight comes to you."

Shooting timeline

from the Oregonian

Clackamas County investigators have reconstructed the events of Sept. 8, the day 27-year-old Fouad Kaady was killed during a confrontation with police. Some of this timeline also comes from independent sources and 9-1-1 and police radio recordings:
6:50 a.m.: Kaady, wearing only a sport coat and pants, drives his green Toyota pickup into a parking lot at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. Construction workers tell investigators he looks high and is blowing marijuana smoke out the windows. Kaady gets out, sticks eight cigarettes in his mouth and lights them.

7 a.m.: Kaady drives away when security guards arrive, his truck jumping several earthen berms.

7:30-8 a.m.: Kaady, wearing a suit, arrives at the home of his father, Rachid Kaady. His behavior seems fine.

9:47 a.m.: Kaady buys two packs of cigarettes at a convenience store at Southeast Stark Street and 214th Avenue. He tells the store owner, Rudd McGarrity, that he's "not okay."

12:30 p.m.: Kaady parks his pickup at a Rick's Custom Fencing, Southeast 202nd Avenue and Stark Street. Workers there report a man, wearing only boxer shorts, running toward 202nd and Stark. Kaady soon drives toward Sandy in his parents' Buick.

1:27 p.m.: A northbound car smashes into the back of 19-year-old Tiffany Stanko's car on Southeast Bluff Road. Stanko complains of neck and back pain. "He totally rear-ended me. . . . It's an old Buick . . . blue."

1:27 p.m.: Carol Vinnacomb, who lives on Southeast Bluff Road, reports seeing a blue Buick pass her after running into the back of another car. The driver looks at her with "wild look in eyes." Smoke is pouring from the car's engine compartment.

1:29 p.m.: Greg Elwell of Boring calls 9-1-1 after a Buick rear-ends his pickup several times. "They've got to get somebody after this guy."

1:30 p.m.: A car rear-ends the pickup of Frayne McAtee of Boring, then veers off Bluff Road and catches fire in the ditch.

1:31 p.m.: Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David Willard reports that he's en route to the call.

1:32 p.m.: Sandy police Officer William Bergin is en route to the call.

1:37 p.m.: Tamara Sedgewick calls 9-1-1 to report that the driver of a burning Buick is in the woods nearby, naked and "extremely combative." She says a man who went to help the driver was assaulted. She tells dispatchers she thinks the driver has a gun and is "high on drugs."

1:56 p.m.: A caller to 9-1-1 reports seeing a naked man walking north of 362nd Avenue, "all cut up."

1:56 p.m.: Deputy Willard jumps into thepatrol car with Officer Bergin because his patrol car is surrounded by firetrucks. The two drive north on Bluff Road and left onto 362nd Avenue.

1:58 p.m.: Elaine Thornlimb calls 9-1-1 to report that a naked man just jumped onto her car on 362nd. "I'm not sure what he's gonna do . . . he's not in the right mind right now. He's walking towards Cottrell School. I see the police now. I'm afraid he might try and attack them."

1:59 p.m.: Willard and Bergin stop on 362nd, just south of the Bluff Road intersection. A man sits cross-legged about a foot off the shoulder of the road. Willard sees the man is seriously injured and calls for Code 3 medics and backup. Dispatch asks to confirm the location, but Willard does not respond. Both officers try to subdue Kaady with Tasers. Kaady laughs and pulls Taser barbs out of his skin. Kaady leaps onto the police car, moving from the hood to the roof. He shouts at the officers "I'm going to kill you."

2 p.m.: Willard calls again for Code 3 medics and says shots have been fired. "Suspect is down," Willard tells dispatchers. Paramedics are waved to where Kaady lies.

2:04 p.m.: "He's gone," a paramedic tells Willard.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Kaady shooting: 'Are any of us safe?'

from the Oregonian

I just cannot believe that the Clackamas County grand jury decided to clear the police officer and sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a naked, injured, burned and confused young man in Sandy on Sept. 8 ("Jury clears two officers in fatal shooting," Oct. 25).

Are any of us safe? What kind of training are "peace" officers given in this state? Are we all in danger of being shot down if we behave in unusual ways?

CLAUDIA O'DRISCOLL, Colton

How would you feel if a member of your family was gunned down for being uncontrollable, doing no harm to anyone but [being] oh-so-naked?

Would it be too much to ask that patience be offered to calm things down and the man brought under control? Was this man so big that he scared presumably well-trained law enforcement officers to the point that they felt threatened by his size or maybe his nakedness?

Animals are tranquilized if they are uncontrollable. Why not human beings? Is life so cheap that we do not have the time to consider the options before taking such severe action?

I truly believe in the institution of [public] safety and that the majority of officers uphold the law and do their best to protect us. However, when they themselves approve of this kind of action by their own against a naked, unarmed man, I question my continued belief in them.

PETTER MOE, Southwest Portland

In response to the several news items about the death of Fouad Kaady, there is no doubt that Kaady's actions were irrational and confrontational, and that he instilled fear in those around him in his last moments.

[However,] he was unarmed --which should have been obvious once he started moving around with no clothes on.

Since the officers came upon him in a catatonic or disassociative state, it seems that they would have been aware there could be some noncompliance. If they felt in danger, why did they not back up 10 paces and call for some backup?

One snarling yet unarmed person atop a vehicle could not be a large enough threat to warrant deadly force.

There is a large portion of the population that is irrational for one reason or another and that law enforcement often must contend with.

We both work in the medical and mental health field. Over the years we have had many threats hurled at us. Someone does not deserve to die just because he is irrational and cannot follow orders.

Our hope is that the police department inquiries will come up with protocols and training programs [to deal with irrational people]. This could ensure that this [type of] incident is not repeated.

DENNIS and SHEREE HOBSON, Southeast Portland

The shooting death of Fouad Kaady is a travesty. Another "shoot now and ask questions later" action that was taken by the ones who are sworn to "serve and protect the public."

The Sandy police officer and Clackamas County sheriff's deputy said that they feared for their lives [because] of a nude man who had been sitting in the street. They stated that he may have had a gun and was acting crazy. I suppose it was good police work that made them suspect he had a weapon hidden in one of the cavities of his body.

There seem to have been more police shootings in the last 10 years than ever before. Part of [my] growing concern is the fact that in most cases, it's only the police who saw what happened.

JERRY SCHNEIDER, Hillsboro

Files detail fatal police shooting

from the Oregonian

OREGON CITY -- During the final moments of Fouad Kaady's life, he growled like a wild animal, bared his teeth and told two officers he was going to kill them.

By all accounts, Kaady had behaved bizarrely Sept. 8, the day he died after the officers fired seven shots into the burned, bleeding body of the naked 27-year-old man.

Based on transcripts of interviews officers gave investigators, documents released Monday by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office described the events leading up to the 2 p.m. shooting.

Sandy police Officer William J. Bergin and Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David E. Willard first encountered Kaady naked and sitting cross-legged on the edge of 362nd Avenue north of Sandy. Kaady, whose head was down, was "kind of just sitting there rocking," Bergin said. Willard described him as "catatonic."

Officers couldn't tell whether he had a gun but could see he was burned and bloody. They were unsure of Kaady's mental condition or whether he had used drugs. Willard said he tried to assure Kaady they were there to assist him.

"I said, 'Sir, we're gonna get you some help,' " Willard said. "I'm sort of assessing him physically. . . . I decide I'm not gonna let this man leave here again 'cause we'd heard about some pretty bizarre behavior. But secondly . . . I need to get this man medical help."

The officers told Kaady to move to a grassy area beside the road and lie on his stomach, or he would be shot with a stun gun. When Kaady did not do so, both officers fired their Tasers. The shocks didn't stop Kaady.

"I started to get scared about the kind of strength I was seeing," Willard said.

As Willard tried to reload his Taser, he said, Kaady started running toward him screaming, "I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna kill you."

Added Bergin: "(Kaady) was growling like a wild animal."

Kaady jumped on top of Bergin's squad car. Both officers aimed their handguns at Kaady, and Willard ordered him off.

Kaady, growling and making clawlike moves with his hands, turned toward Willard.

"When it appeared he was going to jump off the car at me, I fired," said Willard, who pulled the trigger three times.

Bergin said he did not know where Willard had put a shotgun. He feared Kaady might be going for the weapon. He fired five times. Kaady, less than 10 feet away, was hit seven times.

Moments later, a paramedic arrived. Kaady growled as she checked him, Willard said.

"Looking right at me and growling," Willard said.

The report also said:

* The state medical examiner's office said Kaady's erratic behavior could be the result of shock, but an injury to his head was minor and not likely the cause. Because of federal privacy laws, officials would not release the results of drug tests on Kaady's blood. However, his family said he had THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system at the time of his death. Friends and other witnesses called before the grand jury said Kaady smoked marijuana, including on the morning of the day he died.

* Rudd McGarity, a store owner in Fairview, said Kaady was a regular customer, often stopping at his shop to buy cigarettes. The day Kaady died, McGarity told investigators, Kaady came into the store just before 10 a.m. looking "a little frazzled. . . . He had the look of somebody that just lost his family." Another friend, Sara Maness, 24, of Northwest Portland, told investigators that Kaady was acting as though he "lost it" the two to three weeks before the shooting. "It was just like he totally tripped out."

* Security guards and construction workers at Mount Hood Community College told investigators that just before 7 a.m. the day of the shooting, Kaady was doing 360-degree burnouts, accelerating at high speeds, and drove his pickup off a three-foot embankment. One witness said Kaady stuck eight cigarettes in his mouth and lit them all.

Jury clears officers in fatal shooting

from the Oregonian

A Clackamas County grand jury Monday voted not to indict a sheriff's deputy and a Sandy police officer who fatally shot a 27-year-old Gresham man last month.

Fouad Kaady died Sept. 8 of gunshot wounds on a rural highway north of Sandy after a bizarre chain of events.

Clackamas County District Attorney John Foote said the six-person jury heard testimony from at least 40 witnesses and visited the scene of the shooting last week.

"It was a challenging case, and the grand jury wanted to hear all the evidence," Foote said. "The grand jury members did not find that they were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that there was evidence that a crime had been committed by these police officers. Their decision today deserves our respect and consideration."

Foote said at least five of the grand jurors, whose vote tally remains private, would have needed to vote "yes" to indict the two officers: Sandy police Officer William J. Bergin, 24, and Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David E. Willard, 46.

Kaady's family and friends condemned the grand jury's decision.

"It's a sad day for justice in Oregon when law-abiding citizens can be murdered in the streets when they are not a threat," said Albert Kaady, a cousin. "It's a mark of shame for Oregon."

A friend of Kaady's, Tereq Amhaz, 26, of Portland, said, "Everybody is really disappointed. It sure seems like police have a license to kill."

Fouad Kaady, who was suspected in at least three hit-and-run crashes in the hours before he died, was bloody, naked and combative, sheriff's officials said. He was unfazed by 50,000 volts from a stun gun and refused to respond to commands.

Both officers testified that Kaady jumped from the ground to the top of a police car in an instant as he screamed at the officers, "I'm gonna kill you!" They fired eight times, hitting Kaady with seven rounds. Kaady was unarmed.

"This is a case in which there are no winners," said Sandy Police Chief Harold Skelton. "A decision made in an instant can have results that will affect the individuals and the community for a lifetime."

Skelton said it was the first time a Sandy police officer has used lethal force.

Kaady's family said his bizarre behavior was not the result of drugs or mental illness, but of burns from a gasoline can that exploded into flames inside his car, and of a head injury suffered during one of the three car crashes.

One witness, Elaine Thornlimb of Boring, told the grand jury that Kaady had burned skin hanging from his arms. Paul White, who lived near the scene of the fatal shooting, said Kaady was grunting and howling as he walked along Southeast 362nd Avenue north of Sandy.

Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said his office will convene a shooting review board to examine the incident during the next 30 days. Skelton said the Sandy Police Department also will conduct an internal review of the shooting.

Roberts and Skelton offered their condolences to Kaady's family.

"We acknowledge the tragic loss to the Kaady family as we keep them in our thoughts and prayers," Skelton said in a statement.

Bergin was hired as a Sandy police officer in May, having previously worked as a Lincoln City police officer for about 1-1/2 years. Willard has been a Clackamas County deputy since 1994. He previously worked for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, Willamina police and Portland Public Schools police.

Both men have been on paid administrative leave since the shooting and will remain on leave until their respective agencies complete reviews of the shooting.

Witnesses describe police shooting

from the Oregonian

Paul White was watering his wife's plants in his front yard when a naked, bloody man -- grunting, hooting, and "howling like a wolf," he said -- walked by his house. White, a 49-year-old recycler for Waste Connections, was taken aback. It was about 2 p.m. Sept. 8 -- a sunny day that would see the temperature hit 85 degrees. White, who lives in the 10400 block of Southeast 362nd Avenue, north of Sandy, said the man -- later identified as 27-year-old Fouad Kaady of Gresham -- was bleeding from a head wound and appeared "burnt." "The blood was running down his thighs," White said. "He was looking straight through me . . . like everybody else wasn't there." White told his story this week to a Clackamas County grand jury looking into Kaady's death at the hands of a Sandy police officer and a Clackamas County sheriff's deputy. He talked about the incident to the news media Wednesday. He said he didn't know what to think. Was the man on drugs or mentally ill? Kaady's family has theorized that he was crazed with pain from burns when a gasoline can in his car exploded, or that his bizarre behavior could be tied to a head injury. White also didn't know that Kaady's car had plowed into three cars and then burst into flames on nearby Bluff Road, or that Kaady had walked west through the woods before arriving at the road in front of White's house. White grabbed a board he had propped up near the corner of his house. "It scared the hell out of me," he said of the encounter. "I didn't know what I was up against." As White watched, Kaady continued walking north on 362nd. White noticed a woman driving a sport utility vehicle slowly follow as Kaady walked up the road. Kaady looked at White and then ran and jumped onto the roof of Elaine Thornlimb's Ford Explorer, hopping from the hood to the sunroof. Kaady, he said, jumped over the SUV "like it wasn't even there . . . like he had superstrength. His behavior was really off the wall. It was like he was imitating animals . . . flying like a bird." Thornlimb, a 46-year-old school librarian who lives nearby, said she followed Kaady for about a half-mile north on 362nd. At one point, he waved and smiled at her. She told the grand jury that Kaady's hair was matted and bloody and that skin was hanging from his arms. White walked into his neighbor's yard, keeping an eye on Kaady, who was heading north on 362nd toward Cottrell Elementary School where White's wife, Debra, worked. When Kaady was about one-tenth of a mile away -- across a dip in the road from where White stood -- a police car carrying Sandy police Officer William J. Bergin and Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David E. Willard pulled up. Kaady by this time was sitting cross-legged in the road. After the officers shouted at him to get down, Kaady rolled onto his back, White said. The officers continued to shout at Kaady, telling him to lie on his stomach, but White thinks Kaady didn't comply because of the burns that ran down his right side. A few seconds later, White could see that the officers had fired a Taser at Kaady, who didn't appear to be affected by the 50,000-volt jolt. Kaady then jumped up onto the roof of the patrol car and stood there, hands at his side, White said. At no time, he said, was Kaady threatening or combative. He was unarmed. "That's when they shot him," White said. "I heard five shots." Kaady's body fell off the patrol car. "I don't think this will ever leave my mind," White said. Thornlimb told the grand jury that when Kaady sat down in the road, she told 9-1-1 dispatchers that he appeared to have given up. "I felt all along that the officers were there to help him," she said. "When they shot him, I drove home and sobbed for hours." Were the officers justified in shooting him, as police said, because they feared for their safety, and that Kaady was a threat to others? A grand jury is expected to come back with a decision today or Friday, said Greg Horner, Clackamas County assistant district attorney. Clackamas County officials routinely decline to comment on grand jury testimony.

NEWS UPDATE: Grand jury examines shooting

from the Oregonian

Background: Fouad Kaady, 27, of Gresham was shot and killed during a confrontation with Sandy police Officer William J. Bergin and Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David E. Willard after a bizarre series of events on a Clackamas County highway Sept. 8.

Update: A grand jury began hearing testimony Monday and will continue today and perhaps into Wednesday to decide whether the officers' actions were justified. Kaady's family said the 1996 Gresham High School graduate's behavior was the result of injuries received in a fire that engulfed the inside of his car and a subsequent crash. Police officials said Kaady began exhibiting bizarre behavior earlier in the day, was naked and combative during his confrontation with the two officers, and that he did not respond to commands or shocks from a stun gun.

What's next: Clackamas County Assistant District Attorney Greg Horner said the seven-member jury can reach one of two decisions: The officers could be indicted on criminal charges or the shooting was justified.

Family disputes police account of shooting

from the Oregonian

GRESHAM -- The family of a 27-year-old Gresham man shot and killed by police last week in Sandy said his bizarre behavior was the result of injuries received in a fire that engulfed the inside of his car and a subsequent crash.

Fouad Kaady died Thursday afternoon of multiple gunshot wounds on a highway north of Sandy. The officers involved in the shooting were identified as Sandy police Officer William J. Bergin and Clackamas County sheriff's Deputy David E. Willard.

Both officers fired shortly after Kaady climbed on top of a patrol car, said Detective Jim Strovink, a spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. It's unclear which officer's bullet struck Kaady, he said.

Kaady, who was a suspected in at least three hit-and-run crashes, was bloody, naked and combative, Strovink said. One witness said Kaady had burns to his body and blood running down his torso from an apparent head wound.

A man who talked with Kaady shortly before police arrived said Kaady kicked him in the chest when he asked if he was all right. Another witness told police Kaady was sitting quietly in the middle of the road before police arrived.

Official explains actions

In an attempt to subdue him, Strovink said, the officers shot Kaady several times with a Taser -- a stun gun that delivers 50,000 volts of electricity through barbs fired into the skin -- with little effect.

"The officers felt threatened and perceived him to be a threat to others, as well," Strovink said, explaining why police used lethal force.

But Kaady's sister, Andrea Kaady, called his death "a travesty, a tragedy . . . it was an unlawful death."

She said her brother, a 1996 graduate of Gresham High School, had no history of mental illness and did not take hard drugs. "Why did they shoot him?" she asked. "Maybe if someone had tried to help him, this wouldn't have happened."

Kaady said her brother, a smoker, was driving with a gasoline can from the duplex owned by his parents in Sandy to his Toyota pickup, which ran out of gas earlier in the day in Gresham.

"He lit a cigarette and the gas caught fire," Andrea Kaady said. "He was trying to put himself out when he rear-ended another car. He was in shock."

Alice Lasher, spokeswoman for the Sandy Fire Department, said firefighters were first dispatched to Southeast Bluff Road on a hit-and-run accident with injuries. En route, firefighters were also dispatched to several brush fires, and at least two additional hit-and-run accidents.

"The brush fires were on the side of the road he traveled down and where a car went into the woods," Lasher said.

Witnesses told police Kaady was running naked through the woods and appeared to be painted red. Lasher confirmed Monday that Kaady suffered from burns, probably from the fire that engulfed the car he drove.

If Kaady hit his head in the crash, Lasher said, the injuries could have made him combative. "Head injuries can cause bizarre behavior," she said.

But Strovink said Kaady was exhibiting bizarre behavior before the shooting. He was reportedly seen driving erratically near Mt. Hood Community College.

He also was seen leaving his pickup in the parking lot of Rick's Custom Fencing, 20132 S.E. Stark St. in Gresham about 12:30 p.m. Thursday. James Blankenship, a worker there, said a man parked a truck in the store's parking lot, and after rummaging around inside, jumped from the cab.

"The door flew open and he jumped out and starting running across the field," Blankenship said. "All he had on were boxer shorts."

According to DMV records, Kaady's parents live a short distance away, on Southeast 207th Avenue.

It was about an hour later that the events preceding Kaady's death occurred.

Investigation continues

Strovink said that the case remains under investigation and that anyone with information can call the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office tips line at 503-723-4949. When the investigation is complete, the results go to a grand jury to determine if the shooting was justified.

Bergin, 24, was hired as a Sandy police officer in May, having previously worked as a Lincoln City police officer for about 11/2 years. Willard, 44, has been a Clackamas County deputy since 1994. He previously worked for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, Willamina police and Portland Public Schools police. Both men are on paid administrative leave.

Albert Kaady, a cousin, said Fouad didn't do anything to deserve "this fate."

"If he was naked, how much of a threat is he to two or three or four police officers? He didn't deserve to die like this," he said.

A memorial service for Fouad Kaady will be at 11 a.m. today at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, 2101 N.E. 162nd Ave., Portland.