Arrest for alleged firearm threat
An Aumsville man has been charged after allegedly threatening to shoot a Stayton woman.
Daniel John Nelson, 32, was charged Feb. 26 in Marion County Circuit Court with unlawful use of a weapon for an alleged incident on Feb. 23.
According to court records, Nelson allegedly threatened to harm the victim with a firearm in an act of domestic violence.
If convicted, Nelson faces up to five years in prison. He was released from the Marion County Jail Feb. 26 in lieu of $10,000 bail with orders to have no contact with the victim and to possess no firearms.
Three years for weapon discharge
A Lyons man has been sentenced to three years of probation after discharging a weapon within the city limits.
George Henry Harden, 61, pleaded no contest March 15 in Linn County Circuit Court to a felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon.
He was sentenced to 36 months of probation, as well as five days in jail. While on probation he may possess no weapons or intoxicants, and must undergo evaluation for mental health and substance abuse treatment.
If his probation is successfully completed, the charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor.
Harden was arrested Dec. 23, 2023, after an incident that day when he allegedly discharged a weapon within the city limits of Lyons in a manner prosecutors said posed harm to others.
2025 trial set in Regis lawsuit
A 2025 trial has been set in a $750,000 lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against Regis St. Mary Catholic School.
On March 14 in Marion County Circuit Court, a five-day trial was scheduled to begin Feb. 3, 2025, in a suit filed last year by a former Regis student.
The plaintiff claims, while he was in the middle school program during 2022 and 2023, students bullied him for being African American. The suit further alleges teachers and administrators ignored or diminished this harassment.
The school and co-defendant Archdiocese of Portland have denied wrongdoing.
According to court records, parties are pursuing mediation. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 20 to check on the status of the case.
$2.5 million ODOT suit to proceed
A local man’s lawsuit accusing the Oregon Department of Transportation of mismanaging resources during the COVID-19 pandemic has been allowed to proceed after a challenge by the state.
On Feb. 23, a motion to partially dismiss a $2.5 million suit filed by Dave Sutkowski, of Stayton, was denied by Marion County Circuit Court Judge Channing Bennett.
A hearing has been set for April 15 to potentially set a trial date and other deadlines.
Sutkowski sued ODOT Oct. 12, 2023, claiming whistleblower retaliation after he was demoted and placed on administrative leave in July of 2022. Sutkowski claims this was because he called out his bosses for failing to heed his warnings of a supply chain slowdown in early 2022, allegedly resulting in $77,000 in overspending.
Five days after filing his lawsuit, Sutkowski was allegedly fired from his new job as a training unit supervisor for Oregon State Police. In an amended suit filed Dec. 18, 2023, he claimed the assistant attorney general representing Oregon in the suit exerted pressure on OSP to have him terminated.
Defendants took exception to this latter claim and on Jan. 19 filed a motion to dismiss the new allegation. They said Sutkowski’s accusations were “baseless” and an attempt to obtain privileged documents and testimony from the state attorney in question.
Bennett rejected these arguments Feb. 23 and on March 4 ordered the state attorney to be deposed regarding any alleged role in pressuring OSP to fire Sutkowski.
Arrest for weapon assault
A former Aumsville woman has been charged with assault after allegedly attacking another woman last month.
Imani Kay Williams, 49, currently of Salem, was arrested March 13 for an incident that day in Aumsville in which she allegedly attacked another woman with a wooden stick.
Williams was originally charged in Marion County Circuit Court with second-degree assault, which carries at least 70 months in prison. On March 21 she was indicted on lesser charges of fourth-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Williams is due back in court April 4 to enter a plea.
— Stephen Floyd
