Tased and confused

Mark Gift, 71, walks with a limp as the result of a recent stroke. He has also felt the sting of a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Taser following a run-in with the law that has led to an indictment against him for attempted murder

By Stover E. Harger Iii

The South County Spotlight, Nov 18, 2009, Updated Nov 22, 2009 (31 Reader comments)

WHIRLWIND – What started out as a heated scrap between Mark Gift and his son-in-law escalated into a story of bad blood involving the Oregon State Police, the use of a Taser in an attempt to bring Gift down and, finally, a grand jury indictment for attempted murder.

Stover E. Harger III / The South County Spotlight

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How 71-year-old Mark Homer Gift went from having an argument with his son-in-law to being charged with attempted murder isn’t exactly clear.

And it appears that until his case goes to trial, the story won’t be any easier to understand.

To try and make sense of it all you have to start at the beginning at noon on Oct. 18. When Gift, a recent stroke victim, ended up tasered and taken to the ground by Columbia County Sheriff’s officers on a gravel road near his Scappoose home. A grand jury said he tried to kill his son-in-law with his truck.

He has a different story.

Two weeks back, Gift, the terse president of Rock Fork Timber, reluctantly explained his story.

His arms showed bruising and deep scrapes that had just begun to scab over.

Earlier that day he had gotten into a heated argument with his son-in-law, Randy McGuire. After McGuire left in his Volkswagen, Gift said he decided to follow him up to Dahlgren Road near Gift Place to try and smooth things over.

It was up the road that Gift said he saw his neighbor, Oregon State Police trooper Jay Vogel, driving his off-duty vehicle.

Gift has known Vogel since he was a kid and said he got mad that the trooper was in his way. So Gift said he revved his engine and yelled at him to move. He said he squeezed between his neighbor’s car and McGuire’s, before turning his truck back around and parking.

The next thing he knew, a group of Oregon State Police troopers and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputies were telling Gift to get out of his car and put his hands in the air. He was being accused of deliberately hitting McGuire’s car and threatening to run over his son-in-law, who was standing outside of his own vehicle at the time.

Differing tales

Gift’s version of what happened next and the Sheriff’s office report differs greatly:

• Gift said he didn’t hit anyone’s car.

The report says he did.

• Gift said he complied with officers demands to put his hands over his head, but was only able to lift them up halfway because of his limited flexibility.

The report says he was coming at the deputies strongly, ready to fight.

• Gift said he was slammed into the ground by multiple officers (he admits his recollection of the specifics is not entirely clear), Tasered multiple times, kicked in the back over and over again and, despite his lack of flexibility, having his arms forced behind his back.

The report says a deputy used a Taser on Gift directly on the left side of his chest and then took him to the ground quickly in an effort to handcuff him.

Gift was booked and released the same day on charges of hit and run, reckless driving, resisting arrest and recklessly endangering another person.

What happened was a clear abuse of power, Gift said.

“That’s pretty nice to do to a senior citizen,” he said, his hands shaking as he lifted his coffee cup to his lips.

What took place that afternoon was the correct response to a situation that required quick action on the part of law enforcement, Columbia County Sheriff Jeff Dickerson counters.

“If there was any indication other than what he told the newspaper... we would do an investigation,” Dickerson said about Gift’s recollection.

Like with all uses of force in his office, Dickerson said, the Oct. 18 incident was reviewed and it was found that the deputies involved acted accordingly.

Until last Thursday, Gift was complacent in his response to the events.

“They didn’t have to do what they did, but they did,” he said at the time, accepting what had happened.

Gift wasn’t planning on doing much to fight the charges. Then that all changed.

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