Media Board

Recent media releases from the Benton County Sheriff's Office are listed below. To read past media releases, go to the "Supporting Documents" section of this web page.

Results from extra traffic patrols from June 2020.
Upcoming extra traffic patrols in summer 2020.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office worked extra patrols throughout the month of June 2020. During regular patrols and extra patrols (funded by grants) in June 2020, the sheriff’s office had the following activity levels measured in citations and arrests. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office arrested 8 for DUII (Alcohol, drug, and/or inhalant), issued citations or arrested 35 for Driving While Suspended, issued 82 citations for speeding, and 36 other citations for various violations. Deputies responded to 17 traffic crashes with 5 involving injuries.

The sheriff’s office will be participating in extra patrols enforcing speed, safety belt, child seat, distracted driving, and DUII laws throughout the grant year which runs through September 30, 2020. Specifically there will be heightened patrols on and surrounding Fourth of July weekend. Deputies will be out day and night searching for intoxicated drivers, those who chose to speed, not wear safety belts, talk on cell phones while driving, and practice dangerous driving behaviors.

Contact: Lieutenant Toby Bottorff (Phone #: 541-766-6099)
E-mail: toby.bottorff@co.benton.or.us

South Corvallis Traffic Fatality

On July 6, 2020, at 2:13 pm, deputies from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single-vehicle rollover crash, south of Corvallis.

Ashley Kropf, 23, of Halsey, Oregon, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kropf was delivering mail for the US Postal Service on Llewellyn Rd, one mile west of Highway 99W, when for unknown reasons, left the road and rolled her 1990 Nissan passenger-vehicle.

There is no indication of alcohol or drugs as being a factor in the crash.

Llewellyn Road was closed for approximately five hours while the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Crash Team investigated.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is encouraged to contact Deputy Horn at 541-766-6858 or email brian.horn@co.benton.or.us.

* UPDATE - JUVENILE LOCATED * AT-RISK JUVENILE RUNAWAY

With assistance from Lane County agencies BCSO Detectives tracked down 12-year-old runaway, Nakhai Roberts, to a home on the 85000 block of Territorial Hwy in Eugene, near Hadleyville.

Lane County Sheriff’s Office Deputies located Nakhai at 3:45 am Friday morning and transported him to the Lane County Juvenile Justice Center in Eugene.

At this time, it is not known how Nahkai reached his destination in Lane County.

BCSO would like to thank Lane County residents, Juvenile Department, Sheriff’s Office, Department of Human Services and Eugene PD for their assistance with the recovery of Nakhai Roberts. He will continue to receive the resources he needs for his future.
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Today, June 16, 2020, The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is asking the community to assist in locating 12-year-old runaway, Nikhai Roberts.

Roberts was last seen wearing dark blue and purple camo pants with a matching short sleeve shirt. The shirt has a picture of a shark’s mouth. Roberts is 5’3”, 124 lbs, fair-skinned with black hair, has a small faded tattoo on his left hand, and a scar on his upper lip.

On Sunday, June 7, 2020, at about 12:20am, Benton County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to a report of a runaway juvenile from a children’s care facility on the 4500 block of NE Highway 20, Corvallis, Oregon.

Staff of the care facility reported Nakhai T. Roberts, 12, and a 16-year-old male, were combative with staff earlier in the day. They later climbed a fence and would not comply with returning to the facility. It was reported the two juveniles were seen headed eastbound, toward Albany, on Hwy 20. Deputies searched the area where the boys were last seen, but were unable to locate them.

On Saturday, June 13, Eugene Police located the 16-year-old and booked him on an Oregon Youth Authority warrant.

Roberts is originally from Eugene; he was traveling with the 16-year-old, so there is reason to believe he may be in Lane County at this time.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Benton County Sheriff’s Office at (541) 766-6858.

Highway 20 Multiple-Vehicle Crash

On June 9, 2020, at 12:09 pm, deputies from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a head-on, multiple-vehicle collision on Highway 20 at milepost 46, west of Philomath.

Two occupants were ejected from vehicles and eight patients were transported to local area hospitals. Persons involved have not been identified at this time.

There is no indication of alcohol or drugs as being a factor in the crash.

Both lanes of travel on Highway 20 will be closed for at least two hours while the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Crash Team investigates the incident.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is encouraged to contact BCSO Sgt. David Iverson at 541-766-6858 or email david.iverson@co.benton.or.us.

Results from extra traffic patrols from May 2020.

Upcoming extra traffic patrols in summer 2020.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office worked extra patrols throughout the month of May 2020. During regular patrols and extra patrols (funded by grants) in May 2020, the sheriff’s office had the following activity levels measured in citations and arrests. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office arrested 6 for DUII (Alcohol, drug, and/or inhalant), issued citations or arrested 28 for Driving While Suspended, issued 145 citations for speeding, and 56 other citations for various violations. Deputies responded to 12 traffic crashes with 6 involving injuries.

Contact: Lieutenant Toby Bottorff (Phone #: 541-766-6099)
E-mail: toby.bottorff@co.benton.or.us

Results from extra traffic patrols from April 2020.

Upcoming extra traffic patrols in spring/summer 2020.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office worked extra patrols throughout the month of April 2020. During regular patrols and extra patrols (funded by grants) in April 2020, the sheriff’s office had the following activity levels measured in citations and arrests. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office arrested 7 for DUII (Alcohol, drug, and/or inhalant), issued citations or arrested 16 for Driving While Suspended, issued 46 citations for speeding, and about 52 other citations for various violations. Deputies responded to 10 traffic crashes with 3 involving injuries.

Contact: Lieutenant Toby Bottorff (Phone #: 541-766-6099)
E-mail: toby.bottorff@co.benton.or.us

MAN ARRESTED FOR ONLINE SEXUAL CORRUPTION OF A CHILD CHARGES

On April 22, 2020, The Benton County Sheriff’s Office arrested Rolan Harvey Meyers, 35 of Albany, after knowingly soliciting a 15-year-old female child online, where he took substantial steps to engage in sexual contact with the girl.

Predators target children for sexual purposes on social media, gaming, and messaging platforms. As more children are home on digital devices and completing online school due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, children will potentially have an increased exposure to more predators flocking to sites that are popular with kids according to a recent FBI press release.

With this information, Benton County Sheriff Detectives, posing as a minor child, posted to a local online service on April 15, 2020. During the course of the conversation that followed, Meyers sent multiple text messages to the undercover account and was told she was only 15 years old several times.

This morning Meyers suggested meeting up with the girl after asking if both the girl’s parents were gone. Meyers was on his way to meet her when Benton County Deputies stopped him in Corvallis. They took him into custody and transported him to the Benton County Jail where he was booked and lodged on charges of Luring a Minor, Online Sexual Corruption of a Child I, Online Sexual Corruption of a Child II and attempted Using Child in Display of Sexually Explicit Conduct.

After Meyers’ arrest today, Captain Don Rogers stated, “At this time when our children are spending more time online, it is even more important we identify and hold accountable those individuals who choose to prey on our children. We encourage parents to have open and ongoing conversations about safe and appropriate online behavior, not just during our pandemic, but also when the Stay Home, Save Lives order is lifted.”

Other advice from the FBI, including privacy settings for electronic devices, is located at https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/protecting-your-kids.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office encourages the public to report any suspected online enticement of children for sexual acts to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) at http://CyberTipline.org or 1-800-843-5678. NCMEC continuously reviews CyberTipline reports to ensure that reports of children who may be in imminent danger get first priority. After NCMEC’s review is completed, all information in a CyberTipline report is made available to law enforcement.