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| Silverton officer who killed Irishman quits
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JACQUES VON LUNEN --The Oregonian Staff
SILVERTON -- The officer who fatally shot an Irishman and soon after was accused of sexually abusing a girl has resigned, the Silverton Police Department announced Tuesday.
Officer Tony Gonzalez was scheduled to go on unpaid leave as of last Friday but instead resigned voluntarily, Police Chief Rick Lewis said.
Lewis declined to comment on the resignation.
Rich Budry, president of the Silverton Police Officers' Association, declined to comment on Gonzalez's resignation.
Also Tuesday, the Irishman's family announced plans for further legal steps in the controversial shooting.
Gonzalez, 35, had been put on paid administrative leave after the June 30 shooting of Andrew Hanlon, a 20-year-old Irish national with a history of mental health problems. Such leave is routine during an investigation of an on-duty shooting.
On July 12, Gonzalez was arrested after a woman and her daughter walked into the Keizer Police Department and accused him of sexually abusing the girl on multiple occasions.
He was held in the Polk County Jail on counts of first-degree and third-degree sexual abuse, and a Marion County judge denied his request for bail. He remained on paid leave pending an investigation of those accusations.
On July 24, a Marion County grand jury cleared Gonzalez of wrongdoing in the Hanlon shooting.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Kemmy, who oversaw the fatal shooting investigation and is handling the sexual abuse case, said there were no new developments in the abuse case that might have moved Gonzalez to resign.
Gonzalez's court date to enter a plea has been moved to this Friday, Kemmy said.
Danny Hannon, Hanlon's uncle, said the family met Monday with lawyers at the O'Donnell Clark & Crew firm in Portland.
The family will take further legal steps, he said, but would give no details. "We're not letting go of the case," Hannon said.
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He recounted Sunday's memorial for his nephew in Silverton, attended by about 100 people. Stepping into the city's streets felt like walking in Hanlon's footsteps, he said.
"There was a lot of pain associated with it," Hannon said. "But I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else in the world."
Although the sexual abuse case is unrelated to the fatal shooting, Hannon said he thinks about Gonzalez spending time in custody for that case.
"Every day that I wake up and go to work I think somebody I don't like is looking through a set of bars," Hannon said. "I don't want to call it satisfaction, but there's a certain feeling about it."
Jacques Von Lunen: 503-294-4105; jacquesvonlunen@ news.oregonian.com
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Posted by therawnerve on 2008-08-06 03:18:46 | Rating: | Views: 23
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