Deputy arrests 'very intoxicated' man armed with rifle in Aurora
AURORA, Ore. – An Aurora man who called 911 to report a suspicious vehicle outside his home ended up in jail after he allegedly pointed a rifle at a Marion County sheriff’s deputy who responded to investigate.
Kerry F. Zacher, 64, called 911 at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday complaining about a suspicious vehicle outside his house in the 12000 block of Donald Road, according to sheriff's office spokesman Don Thomson.
Zacher was drunk and refused to give the 911 call-taker necessary information, Thomson said. Zacher told the call-taker that he was going to get his rifle and “take care of that car.”
Deputy Matt Hagan arrived outside the home and found a Jeep that had run out of gas. Minutes later, the driver returned with a gas can, started the Jeep and drove away.
That’s when Zacher came out of his house with a Soviet SKS semi-automatic rifle and pointed it at Deputy Hagan, Thomson said.
Zacher was clearly drunk, according to Hagan.
He refused to lower the gun for several minutes, until Hagan convinced him to drop the rifle. No shots were fired.
Hagan arrested Zacher and took him to the Marion County Jail. He faces charges of unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and interfering with an officer.
Zacher’s rifle was taken for evidence, Thomson said.
"He refused to lower the gun for several minutes, until Hagan convinced him to drop the rifle."
Wow, that deputy would've been well within his use-of-force policy to put a few rounds into this fool. It would be interesting to hear why he chose not to shoot. It might actually have been the wrong decision, and the deputy just got lucky.. Either way, other LEOs could learn from his experience.
This would never of happened if we had heavily armed guards posted next to every bottle of alcohol. Guns,guns,guns, we need more guns!
 @dboon4 No shots were fired. What are you on?
Deputy Matt Hagan must have nerves of steel. The drunk was lucky last night.
It is lucky for all involved that this "intoxicated" individual did not shoot anyone. The deputy did a great job of handling the situation.
How many people have been shot due to being "suspicious"? Or walking on someones property.
Great job Deputy!
Mr. Zacher needs to decide if he wants to drink as much in the future
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@HarryJuku There is no "gun license", you need to educate yourself before you continue to ramble about something you know very little about. Let's hear your solution to gun violence....... How will you get guns away from people that are not suppose to have them anyway. ? Nothing ??????
Educate Harry?? That's like trying to stop the democrats when they're told to cut spending!!!
@russell.stephens He is a dimwit and probably thought that the shooter at Clackamas would not have shot up the place because there is a sign somewhere on the property that says you cannot carry a weapon on the property. Most gun laws do not stop criminals who dont obey laws anyways.....NUmber of gun owners in this country far outweigh the number of ciminals and crimes committed with guns, but liberals do not see that.... He wants all of the guns gone so we can be sheeple to a government that will become increasingly more controlling.
I have no idea how this deputy allowed this man to point a rifle at him for minutes. Someone had to be watching over this man.Â
Good job by the deputy. It could have ended a lot differently if he was trigger happy. It's clear that the deputy has good skill sets when it comes to situations. I hope that I can also assume that he did find hard cover while negotiating with the drunk.
@RalphCramden I would hardly have faulted or called him trigger happy when a man has a rifle pointed at you.Â
 @jpdx00 Â
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No doubt. It shows great restraint that he didn't shoot the guy.
Big 5 has advertised SKS long barrel weapons over the yeas.
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@HarryJuku What licence? An auto .22 can be just as deadly.
Man oh man is Harry showing his ignorance when it comes to owning rifles!!!!
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 @HarryJuku OMG really, oh nooooes!  A 1954 russian sks was my first rifle at the age of 12. I used it for deer hunting, it had a 5 round magazine.
With Harry it's "No Brains"
 @HarryJukuYeah, after passing hunter's safety courses my dad bought one for me for christmas. I first fired a 12 gauge at 6 years old, no big deal. What's your excuse, no daddy?