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Sunriver Police Chief Faces Criminal Harassment Charge

<p>The Deschutes County Courthouse in Bend, Oregon, Friday, March 17, 2017.</p>

Bradley W. Parks

The Deschutes County Courthouse in Bend, Oregon, Friday, March 17, 2017.

Sunriver Police Chief Marc Mills has been charged with the misdemeanor crime of harassment by Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel.

The charge comes after Hummel reviewed an investigation led by Oregon's Department of Justice. 

According to a release from Hummel's office, Mills allegedly struck Sunriver Police Sgt. Joseph Patnode. Both Mills and Patnode were working at the police station at the time. Patnode maintains his employment with the Sunriver Police Department.

The altercation was reportedly witnessed by an administrative staff worker who reported the incident to the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. 

Mills has been Sunriver’s police chief since 2012 and served nearly three decades with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office before that.

Mills will make his first court appearance on Jan. 25. 

Copyright 2018 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Amanda Peacher is an Arthur F. Burns fellow reporting and producing in Berlin in 2013. Amanda is from Portland, Oregon, where she works as the public insight journalist for Oregon Public Broadcasting. She produces radio and online stories, data visualizations, multimedia projects, and facilitates community engagement opportunities for OPB's newsroom.