A state investigation released this week revealed five key discrepancies in Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea's statements about shooting a friend on a camping trip. O'Dea resigned last year during the investigation.

Here they are:

1. O'DEA SUGGESTED HIS FRIEND HAD SHOT HIMSELF.

O'Dea's .22-caliber Winchester rifle discharged and a bullet hit his friend, Robert Dempsey, in the back on April 21, 2016, during the off-duty trip to Harney County. The group was shooting at ground squirrels from lawn chairs at the time. O'Dea told a deputy who responded that Dempsey might have shot himself by accident.

What O'Dea said to the deputy on the day of the shooting: "I was on this side of him (Dempsey) so I see his left hand was empty and he's right handed. I don't know if the gun was in his hand or not in his hand ... And then - then other folks start comin' and then uh peelin' down but what it was lookin' like was my - my guess it was that he was, he's re-holstering this and maybe shoots himself."

What Dempsey told O'Dea and fellow camper Mike Lieb right after he was wounded: "I didn't shoot myself. I didn't," according to Lieb, who said Dempsey made those remarks when they were checking his wound after the shooting.

Larry O'Dea in his mugshotHarney County sheriff

What other campers, including Steve Buchtel and Jeff Purvis, told the deputy on day of shooting: They initially thought Dempsey's wound was self-inflicted, but quickly discounted that when they saw his wound and realized that wasn't possible. Purvis told the deputy, "We were wondering if, you know, it happened when he was holstering his twenty-two, but the angle's wrong so it must have been either a ricochet or from another weapon."

What O'Dea told a state investigator on May 20: "What I remember is I'm, you know, I'm done shooting. I'm picking up my can to open it. I'm getting up and setting the rifle down and startin' this way and then hearin' Bob hurt, so yeah at the time, I'm believin' Bob shot himself and it's not 'til the follow - a couple days later on Sunday morning that we figure out that it was me.''

2. O'DEA SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE HIS RIFLE IN HIS HANDS WHEN HIS FRIEND WAS SHOT.

O'Dea told state investigators that he didn't know where his gun was when the shooting occurred ("I couldn't tell you exactly") or where it ended up after Dempsey was shot. He said his "intent" was to place the rifle against the table of his camping chair.

Mike Lieb, a retired Portland police sergeant who was on the trip, told state investigators that O'Dea was sitting in a lawn chair, with his gun across his lap and in his hands when Dempsey screamed.

What Lieb said: "I saw Larry's gun was pointed towards Bob's lap. ... I have no doubts about what I had saw."

(Part 1) Former Portland Police Chief investigated for off-duty shooting: ODJ interview

What O'Dea said: "So I had just got up and I left my gun on my chair. I'd walked a few steps over to where Jeff was and I opened a drink and then I heard Bob make this really like a 'uuuuuuhhhh,' you know ... then he made somethin' sound like you know clearly he was in pain."

O'Dea said he realized he had shot Dempsey in a conversation three days after the shooting with Lieb, his former patrol partner.

What O'Dea said: "Mike says, 'You know I am certain it was a shot that went off uh between Bob (Dempsey) and I, and we knew Bob didn't fire a shot. It was like 'oh crap that was me.' I did something in gettin' and settin' my gun down that uh-uh I shot Bob. ... After talking to Mike, it hit me like a ton of bricks.''

3. O'DEA SAID HE WASN'T DRINKING.

The Harney County deputy who initially investigated the shooting said the men who brought Dempsey for help to Fields, about 50 miles away from their campsite, said the men, including O'Dea, had the smell of alcohol on their breaths and recommended that they not drive.

What Harney County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Nisbet said: During the interview of O'Dea, according to Nisbet's report, "I noted that I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath, glassy, watery and bloodshot eyes. I also noted that Mr. O'Dea was visibly nervous and shaking during the interview. Prior to the interview, I noticed Mr. O'Dea consume a bottle of water and during the interview he also consumed another bottle of water."

Harney County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Nisbet interviews Larry O'Dea

What O'Dea said: "Uh throughout the trip we were, this day actually I had not had anything to drink, right before this happened. I'd gone to my truck, ate a little bit and brought a beer back uh, but I hadn't - I was opening it during you know what happened but uh that day I hadn't actually had any alcohol yet except I had a little bit of Irish Creme in my coffee at 6:30 in the mornin'.''

O'Dea said others were drinking throughout the day: "People were, were drinking throughout the day but I wouldn't say that anyone was drinking heavy at all.''

4. O'DEA NEVER REPORTED HIS INVOLVEMENT TO ANYONE FROM THE HARNEY COUNTY SHERIFF's OFFICE.

O'Dea never reported what actually happened to the Harney County Sheriff's Office even though he told the victim, Robert Dempsey, that he had.

O'Dea said he asked Dempsey to let the Harney County deputy who was investigating the case know that O'Dea wanted to talk to him. O'Dea told state investigators that he didn't call Deputy Chris Nisbet himself because he was "waiting for him to come back from vacation.''

Dempsey said O'Dea never asked him to have the deputy contact O'Dea.

What Dempsey said: "Larry called me and told me he had called the Harney County sheriff that ... the same week of the incident. He told me had talked and spoke to them.''

5. O'DEA SAID AN INTERNAL AFFAIRS REVIEW WAS UNDERWAY WHEN IT WASN'T.

What Mayor Charlie Hales said O'Dea told him four days after shooting: "He told me an investigation was being launched by Harney County sheriff's, and that he, Larry, had also informed Capt. Rodrigues, head of our internal affairs, so the Police Bureau could conduct the customary investigation for our internal affairs as well, and I would be informed of the results of that investigation. Those were the facts that he communicated to me then.''

Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea, center, when was sworn in January 8, 2015, in a ceremony at the Portland Building. Beth Nakamura/Staff 

Portland police Internal Affairs Capt. Derek Rodrigues, according to an interview with Oregon State Police Det. Mitch Meyer, said O'Dea never asked him to initiate an internal investigation, and he was unaware that another law enforcement agency was investigating the shooting.

What Meyer wrote: "Captain Rodrigues told me that Chief O'Dea told him that a day or two after the incident one of Chief O'Dea's friends figured out the shot came from the chief. I asked Captain Rodrigues if he provided any advice for the chief, specifically calling the Harney County Sheriff's Office and notifying them about the realization that the shot came from Chief O'Dea's rifle. Captain Rodrigues said he did not offer that advice and explained he didn't recall knowing the incident was under investigation at the time and had no knowledge of Chief O'Dea's interview with Deputy Nisbet. Captain Rodrigues explained that he thought Chief O'Dea was talking with him about a personal matter and didn't understand the extent of the incident."

Document: Harney County sheriff's deputy interview of O'Dea in Fields

Document: Oregon State Polcie Det. Mitch Meyer's incident report

Document: DOJ investigator's report on interview with Mayor Charlie Hales

Document: Forensic report on testing of O'Dea's rifle

***

CHARGE DISMISSED

A grand jury indicted O'Dea on a negligent wounding charge, but Harney County Circuit Judge William D. Cramer in January agreed to dismiss the charge in a civil compromise over the state's objection. Shooting victim Robert Dempsey wrote a statement to the court saying he didn't want O'Dea to face prosecution. But the judge required O'Dea to first travel back to Harney County to be booked and released. O'Dea's mugshot was taken Jan. 17. Court records show the judge granted the motion and the case is closed.

Source: Oregon Department of Justice investigative reports (including reviews of audio recordings and body camera videotapes of Harney County sheriff's Deputy Chris Nisbet, the deputy's notes and report, photos of firearms and follow-up interviews with O'Dea and all the other campers, Mayor Charlie Hales, the Police Bureau's internal affairs captain and an assistant chief).

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian

 

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