Former Forest Grove officer surrenders police certification

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A former Forest Grove police officer has agreed to relinquish his police certification after allegedly damaging a household’s property whereas intoxicated.

Steven Teets is agreeing to the phrases as a part of a civil lawsuit settlement between him and the house owner, stemming from an incident that occurred on Halloween of 2020. Teets nonetheless faces felony prices after allegedly pounding on the door of the household that was flying a Black Lives Matter flag that day.

It was simply earlier than 1 a.m. on Halloween morning when Mirella Castaneda heard her automobile alarms going off. When she regarded outdoors, she says she noticed a person hit her Black Lives Matter signal.

“He sees me, he begins coming to me, in direction of my door,” mentioned Castaneda. “I slam the door and lock it.”

She mentioned the person continued to pound and hit her door, making an attempt to get in.

“When he actually couldn’t get in, he begins breaking all our decorations that we had there. There have been censored clowns, he kicked flower pots,” mentioned Castaneda.

She referred to as 911 and a Forest Grove police officer confirmed up minutes later.

“I informed her I’ve by no means seen anybody behave that violently in direction of me—or anybody. She mentioned, ‘if we discover any info, we’ll let you understand,’ and I mentioned, ‘please do.’”

The Washington County Sheriff’s Workplace quickly took over the case.

Teets was cited for felony mischief within the second diploma. He was not arrested due to COVID-19 restrictions and protocols. Castaneda mentioned after this incident, it’s shaken her and her household’s sense of safety.

“In the event that they don’t know easy methods to behave they usually don’t know easy methods to management them, they don’t have any enterprise being a police officer,” mentioned Castaneda.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned the officer gave the impression to be intoxicated after the incident. KOIN 6 Information additionally realized the Forest Grove officer was reassigned to administrative duties afterward.