Busted safe outside Dallas Best Western helps police arrest Salem-area suspects
Jonathan BachA busted safe abandoned in a dumpster outside a Dallas Best Western eventually helped police wrangle four suspects on drug charges and seize more than $6,500 in cash.
Three Salem residents and one Keizer resident have been arrested in the case.
On May 25, Best Western staff told Dallas police that a safe was inside a dumpster. The safe was apparently pried open, according to police, and was partly covered by a blanket, making it look suspicious. Dallas police took the safe out of the dumpster, seizing it as potential evidence.
Additional suspicious items were scattered around the hotel property. Near the hotel's northwest entrance were pieces of the broken safe, police said. Inside the northwestern door entrance were: empty packages for flashlight, binocular and walkie-talkies; surveillance headsets; a three-pack of walkie-talkies that were still present; and a knife sharpener. Police also took the items as evidence.
Officers came to believe a vehicle was associated with the broken safe. Witnesses said the vehicle's occupants were shaking out a floor mat onto the hotel parking lot, leaving fire retardant remains from the safe, according to police.
One motel occupant, Samuel Lindsey, 42,of Salem, was scheduled to stay for two days at the Dallas Best Western, according to the Dallas police. Police learned Lindsey was facing a felony warrant from Marion County for burglary, theft and identity theft and a misdemeanor warrant for theft.
Dallas police watched the area for a while, spotting the suspicious vehicle return and suddenly leave. Police stopped the vehicle because of multiple traffic violations — though they didn't say which in a press release, and a spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The driver was driving with a suspended license.
The vehicle's passenger, 38-year-old Blake Henderson of Salem, faced two felony warrants from Marion County heroin possession, burglary, theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He also had a Salem warrant from trespassing, police said.
Officials with the Dallas Police Department and Polk County Sheriff's Office made their way to Lindsey's Best Western room. As they attempted to make contact with Lindsey, someone tried to flee through a hotel window.
The would-be escapee, 33-year-old Ryan Ritter of Keizer, was detained. He had a Polk County warrant for theft. A woman, Salem resident Jenny Burchfield, 42, was in the room, too, and had a Marion County warrant for heroin possession, police said.
Police got warrants to search the room and property that was discovered when the vehicle was stopped earlier. All told, officers arrested the four and seized: meth and heroin; two guns; and more than $6,500 in cash. Dallas police didn't say in the press release whether the money was from the safe.
The four were lodged in the Polk County Jail.
Jonathan Bach has been a reporter with the Statesman Journal since 2016. Email him at jbach@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6714 or follow him on Twitter @jonathanmbach.