Elderly Farmers No Longer Terrorizing Their Community By Growing Plants

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march072009/pot_shooting_dth_3-7-09.php

Salem-News.com (Mar-07-2009 16:55)
Man Killed by Deputies Serving Marijuana-Related Warrant Identified
Tim King Salem-News.com

A warrant for pot charges served at 10:30 p.m. on the rural Mulino home of two senior citizens led to the police shooting of one.

(CANBY, Ore.) - Three days have passed since a man was shot to death by deputies in Canby over marijuana related arrest warrants. He has been identified as 68-year old Hubert Henkel.

80-year old Marjorie Frances Crawford was arrested on a warrant for charges she and Mr. Henkel were both wanted for, relating to growing, possessing and providing cannabis to another person.


You could say those are layman's terms for charges that were layed out in a warrant for both people stating: "Manufacturing" of a controlled substance, Delivery of a controlled substance, and Possession of a controlled substance.

Two deputies served the warrant at the home of these elderly people at 10:30 p.m. Thursday night. They have been identified by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office as Deputy Brian Lister and Deputy Jesse Ashby.

As a result of a Clackamas County Interagency Task Force investigation and execution of a search warrant conducted in the fall of 2008, two separate warrants were issued in Clackamas County for the arrests of Marjorie Frances Crawford, age 80, and Hubert Henkel, age 68.

Both Ms. Crawford and Mr. Henkel resided at 13262 S. Macksburg Road, in the Mulino area of historic Canby, Oregon.

Detective Jim Strovink, Public Information Officer with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, says the newly issued arrest warrants in Clackamas County were first received at the Sheriff's Office on March 2nd. The next day, Strovink explains, they were entered into the law-enforcement data system.

Strovink said, "Aware of these existing arrest warrants -- On March 4th, at 10:30 p.m., two uniformed Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Patrol Deputies responded to this residence located at 13262 S. Macksburg Road, to arrest the two known occupants identified as Marjorie Crawford and Hubert Henkel."

"As a result of this arrest effort, the two Sheriff's deputies identified themselves and were confronted at the front door by Hubert Henkel; who was discovered to be armed with a firearm, non-compliant and pointing his firearm in a threatening fashion directly at each of the two Deputies."

Strovink says the deputies were presented with an "armed and threatening encounter". Mr. Henkel was fatally shot and died at the scene.

"On this same occasion, Marjorie Crawford was located inside this residence, later interviewed by Detectives and subsequently taken into custody for the existing warrant."

The 80-year old woman was lodged in the Clackamas County Jail for the related felony charges of Manufacturing of a controlled substance; Delivery of a controlled substance and Possession of a controlled substance.

Marjorie Crawford was arraigned on these charges in the Clackamas County Circuit Court, on March 5th, and on that occasion released by the court on her own recognizance; meaning that the crime was not severe enough to require the posting of bail. Ms. Crawford is set to appear in court on this continuing matter April 6th, at 9:00 a.m.

The two involved Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Deputies were not physically injured during this armed encounter, Strovink explains.

Deputy Brian Lister has prior law-enforcement experience with the Molalla Police Department dating back to December, 1998; and the Seaside Police Department between May, 2003 and January, 2007. Lister was hired as a Clackamas County Sheriff's Deputy in January, 2007.

Deputy Jesse Ashby has prior law-enforcement experience while serving with the West Linn Police Department as a reserve Officer between October, 2001 and July, 2003. He worked for West Linn Police full-time from July, 2003 until January, 2007. Ashby was hired as a Clackamas County Sheriff's Deputy in January, 2007.

Strovink says that according to Clackamas County Sheriff's Office policy, the two deputies have been placed on administrative leave since the time of this incident.

"At the conclusion of this investigation - conducted by the Clackamas County Major Crimes Team with interagency participation - this completed investigation will be submitted to the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office for consideration of an independent Grand Jury review," Strovink said.

He explained that the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office has successfully completed family notification by locating and notifying a sister of the deceased who resides in Canada.

Without knowing many details, it is hard to really understand how and why this would have happened. Perhaps the time of 10:30 p.m. was selected because that is the time the deputies began their shifts. It does seem that any agency anxious to avoid public conflict would not send officers to the rural home of an 80-year old woman and a 68-year old man to serve a warrant that surely could have been served during the day. Perhaps a lesson will and should be drawn from this.

The Clackamas Sheriff Craig Roberts said. "Our mission is to be open and transparent in these situations. We need to be considerate of and compassionate toward the deputies involved in these situations, their families, and also the family of the individual who died as a result of a deputy's actions."

We will bring you more on this as the facts become available. It is certainly an interesting time in history when it comes to the criminality of the cannabis or marijuana plant.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan with Oregon troops. Tim recently returned from Iraq where he covered the war there while embedded with an Oregon Guard aviation unit. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

Man Killed by Deputies Serving Marijuana-Related Warrant Identified

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