WEST LINN, Ore. (AP) - The West Linn police chief placed on administrative leave in April after the City Council hired a firm to investigate how the city handled a Portland resident’s wrongful arrest and discrimination allegations against the police has been fired.
The City of West Linn said in a news release that Terry Kruger was separated from his employment on Friday. Kruger will be offered three months of severance pay under the terms of his employment agreement, the city said.
Kruger has been on paid leave since April, and received $143,600 in salary and benefits since then, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The outside firm that investigated, the OIR Group, has completed its inquiry but its report hasn’t yet been made public.
“I believe that new leadership within the West Linn Police Department will help the community move forward,” said City Manager Jerry Gabrielatos.
Acting Chief Peter Mahuna will continue in his interim role and a search will begin for a permanent chief.
Kruger became entangled in the scandal involving Portland man Michael Fesser after the newspaper revealed in February that the city had paid Fesser $600,000 to settle his lawsuit.
West Linn police arrested Fesser in 2017 at the behest of the city’s then-Chief Terry Timeus. Timeus ordered the theft investigation as a favor to fishing buddy, Eric Benson, who was Fesser’s boss at A&B Towing and targeted Fesser because he complained about racist comments and harassment at work.
Documents obtained from a public records request showed Kruger also had a personal relationship with Benson, the newspaper reported. Transcripts of West Linn City Council executive sessions also revealed that Kruger had vigorously defended his department’s arrest of Fesser.
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