Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer

Grant County paid a $12,000 settlement to a man who was arrested by a Grant County Sheriff’s Office deputy in 2015 for initiating a false report of hearing gunshots, despite a neighbor’s account that corroborated the report.

County Judge Scott Myers said the county’s insurance provider recommending settling the case out of court after a complaint from the arrestee, though the county denied any liability in the settlement agreement that was accepted Aug. 21, 2015.

The incident began when Jim Koitzsch, who lives on Terrance Lane in John Day, called 911 to report his neighbor was firing a gun and that he was almost hit by one of the bullets at 6:29 p.m. Jan. 26, 2015.

Records obtained by the Eagle from the John Day dispatch center show a dispatcher called Zach Mobley, who was a deputy at the time and has since been promoted to undersheriff. Mobley informed the dispatcher the family of his wife’s sister, Leann Coalwell, lived on Terrance Road.

The dispatcher asked if Mobley would like an officer from John Day Police Department to respond to the scene as well, but Mobley declined.

“I know everybody up there,” Mobley told the dispatcher. “I’ll advise if I need somebody.”

On his way to the scene, Mobley called his niece at the Coalwell residence, who said she was at home alone with her siblings and they had not heard any gunshots but had been listening to iPods, according to the incident report filed by Mobley.

Mobley said in the report he then interviewed Koitzsch at his residence, who said he was certain he heard gunshots coming from the Coalwell residence. Koitzsch also told Mobley to speak with his neighbor, Dorothy Thexton.

While traveling to the Thexton residence, Mobley said in the report he called Sheriff Glenn Palmer.

“I told him what Mr. Koitzsch was reporting and explained how the only ones home at the Coalwell’s was the kids and that Mr. Koitzsch was sure that the shooting was coming from the Coalwell’s,” Mobley said in the report. “I also told Sheriff Palmer that (Leann Coalwells’s husband) Terry Coalwell keeps his guns in a gun safe and the kids don’t have access to them.”

Mobley informed Palmer of the potential conflict of interest, but Palmer told him to arrest Koitzsch, according to the report.

The deputy said he then interviewed Thexton, who also said she was sure she heard shots coming from the Coalwell residence.

Mobley said in the report he then interviewed his niece at the Coalwell residence, but he did not record video of the interview as he had with Koitzsch and Thexton.

“I then went to the Coalwell residence and spoke with (my niece) and asked her if there were any guns out and she said no,” Mobley said in the report. “I asked her if they were all in the safe and she said yes. I asked (her) if anyone had been shooting at their house and she said no.”

Mobley then returned to Koitzsch’s residence, arrested him for initiating a false report and booked him in the Grant County Jail, according to the report.

District Attorney Jim Carpenter declined to charge Koitzsch, according to a Jan. 29, 2015, memo obtained from the district attorney’s office.

“It is clear that shots were fired in the area, which is what Koitzsch reported,” Carpenter said in the memo. “While your policies may differ, LE (law enforcement) investigations of relatives and close friends will be reviewed with a skeptical eye. Every precaution should be taken to avoid this situation.”

Carpenter also mentioned that the interview at the Coalwell residence had not been recorded.

Mobley declined to speak to the Eagle.

Palmer said in an email last week that Mobley was following orders to arrest Koitzsch.

“There was no one else to take the call and based on what I was told I directed Mobley to arrest him for initiating a false report. I did not know and I am not sure if Mobley knew it at the time that (there) were other witnesses,” Palmer said in the email. “From where we were told the shots were coming from and at the time, I didn’t believe that the suspect was being up front. There is a long history of finger pointing back and forth over a long period of time in the neighborhood.”

Records obtained from the sheriff’s office show multiple complaints against the Coalwells from Thexton as early as 2008 and Koitzsch as early as 2011. The Coalwells and neighbors Shane and Sherri Giffin had also filed multiple complaints against Koitzsch and Thexton. The disputes were over a variety of complaints, including dogs, burning, trespassing and easements.

Sherri Giffin said Thursday, June 23, after this article was initially published, she and her husband were not interviewed by Mobley about Koitzsch’s report, but they did not hear gunshots.

Palmer also pointed out a June 8, 2013, criminal trespassing complaint Koitzsch filed against Palmer. James Burgett, a former sheriff’s office deputy, investigated the incident.

Burgett said in his incident report that Koitzsch claimed Palmer and Terry and Leann Coalwell were trespassing behind Koitzsch’s house with body armor and guns. Palmer told Burgett he had responded to a complaint by the Coalwells the day before Koitzsch claimed Palmer had trespassed and that he had declined an invitation from Koitzsch to look at tomato plants behind his house.

Leann Coalwell told Burgett Palmer had responded the day before when she complained Koitzsch was yelling at her children. She said Palmer spoke to Koitzsch for about an hour before returning to her residence to inform her he could not charge Koitzsch with any crimes. Terry Coalwell told Burgett he was at work.

In a Feb. 13, 2015, email to the county’s insurance provider, which was investigating Koitzsch’s complaint, Palmer summarized the Jan. 26, 2015, incident and mentioned previous incidents involving Koitzsch.

“My main issue is the facts are the facts that someone heard shots fired. My issue is that these neighbors continually point the fingers at the Coalwells and did so again when they weren’t home,” Palmer said in the email. “(…) We have other reports on file where Koitzsch alleged that I was involved with the neighbors in giving them body armor and it gets bizarre…..I wasn’t even there.”

In a series of emails responding to questions from the Eagle, Palmer stated the district attorney had declined to charge Koitzsch before Mobley had finished writing his incident report.

In response to the Eagle’s records request from the district attorney’s office, Carpenter said in an email he had three segments of video of Mobley’s interviews — both interactions with Koitzsch and the interaction with Thexton — and even if Mobley had not been related to the Coalwells he would not have pursued charges against Koitzsch.

In an email Monday, Palmer said he still believes there was probable cause to arrest Koitzsch.

“It was not based solely on this one call per se but based on a history of false info,” Palmer said in the email. “This was not the first of call(s) from (Koitzsch) that would fit the initiating a false report statute. The arrest was for the shots fired call and for nothing else. Based on (Koitzsch) stating that they came from that house right there….pointing to Coalwell’s, and there was nothing to corroborate that shots were fired, I believe there was probable cause to believe that the info was false.”

Palmer said he only recently learned of the settlement with Koitzsch, and he was upset by it.

“I thought it was still pending up until a couple weeks ago, I had no idea that it was settled without us having input or giving direction or I having input with (the) insurance company,” he said in an email. “I am not happy with the results of this outcome myself.”

Palmer said this is the first time the sheriff’s office has been “litigated with a settlement or a judgment” in the 16 years he has been sheriff.

The Oregonian, which sued Palmer and the sheriff’s office to release records, first reported the settlement.