Set and Setting? - Kid lunged toward officer and said, "Dude! I'm high on mushrooms!"

[Beeker]

Deputy: Man jumps into patrol car

They grapple in street before police dog bites suspect

August 23, 2008

A man allegedly high on mushrooms jumped headfirst into a Marion County sheriff's patrol car and fought with the deputy until a police dog intervened, officials said.


About 3 a.m. Friday, Senior Deputy Jerry Wollenschlaeger came upon a black Jeep Cherokee parked near Hawthorne Avenue SE and State Street.

A man identified as Evan David Thomas Adams, 19, of West Salem was walking away from the Jeep. Thinking the man was having car trouble, Wollenschlaeger pulled up alongside him and rolled down the patrol car's passenger window to ask him what was wrong.

"He seemed like a nice guy, and the next thing you know, he's jumping into the patrol car," Wollenschlaeger said.

The man lunged across toward Wollenschlaeger, who unfastened his seat belt, opened his driver's side door and pinned the man down.

Wollenschlaeger said the two shared a short conversation that went something like this:

"What's the matter with you?"

"I'm high on mushrooms, dude."

The man continued to struggle, and the fight spilled out of the vehicle and into the southbound lanes of Hawthorne Avenue. Meanwhile, Wollenschlaeger's police dog, Yo, remained enclosed in the backseat.

While still holding on to the man, Wollenschlaeger reached for his radio-operated door opener to let out Yo and gave orders to bite the man.

Salem police Cpl. Don Parise arrived to help, and the man was placed in handcuffs.

Adams was arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer, interfering with a police animal, second-degree criminal mischief, driving under the influence of intoxicants and unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, said Undersheriff Jason Myers, a sheriff's spokesman.

The vehicle belonged to Adams' father; the unlawful entry into a motor vehicle charge was for the deputy's patrol car, Myers said.

Adams told deputies that he was under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms, Myers said.

"He said he just didn't want to drive anymore and got out and decided to go for a walk," Wollenschlaeger said. "He knew he had to talk to somebody."

Adams suffered dog bites to his legs and minor scrapes to his face and was taken to Santiam Memorial Hospital in Stayton, Myers said. Adams then was booked into the Marion County jail.

Wollenschlaeger, a 10-year veteran, suffered minor bruises and sprains from the incident. Worse for the wear was his AR-15 patrol rifle in his patrol car, which he found later was jammed from the scuffle.

"It's a little bit of like, wow, I was just trying to help someone and check if they were OK, and 'boom,'" he said.