Two police officers have been charged with vandalizing the home of a family in Oregon. Officer Steven Teets was charged with second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree disorderly conduct. Meanwhile, officer Bradley Schuetz was charged with one count of first-degree official misconduct.
On October 31, Teets allegedly walked up to the home of Mirella Castaneda, began pounding on the door and demanded to fight whoever was inside. From there, he is accused of attacking Castaneda's car and the Black Lives Matter flag hanging from her garage door. Unaware that Schuetz was an off-duty police officer, Castaneda opted to call in the police for help. Another officer quickly responded to the scene and identified the assailant. Moments later, Schuetz arrived and did not arrest Teets, but rather picked him up and drove him home.
In November, members Beaverton Police Department asked that their be an investigation into the matter. As a result, Teets was placed on administrative desk duty and Schuetz was given administrative leave. Also, Castaneda filed a lawsuit alleging that Teets targeted her home “because of her personal and political beliefs."
“Hopefully justice is served in this case, but more than anything, I hope this is a chance for the police to be more transparent in the future,” Castaneda told KOIN in Oregon.
“Transparency and accountability is really what people want from their police department.”
Both officers have been arrested and subsequently released as they await further legal proceedings. At this time, there is no publicly available regarding the incident because responding officers did not activate their body cameras in spite of department police requiring they do so.
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