PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Why did a routine complaint about a small cooking fire become a fatal confrontation?
The family of a 75-year-old Dennis Sachet is still searching for that answer two years after he was pinned by a Benton County Sheriff’s deputy and later died. His estate is seeking $3.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the Benton County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 27.
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“When officers deal with medically fragile people, restraint and judgment matter,” said Austin Neff, an attorney representing Sachet’s family. “The body cam footage shows that did not happen here.”
The incident began when two Oregon Department of Forestry employees responded to Sachet’s home in Alsea on a report of a possible illegal burn. The ODF employees said Sachet was confrontational, so they contacted law enforcement…