Wasco County DA calls shopping cart prosecution for houseless 'cruel'
Jailing houseless people with shopping carts t is “just being cruel”
Wasco County District Attorney Matthew Ellis
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., Oct. 27, 2023 - Wasco County District Attorney Matthew Ellis said he was disheartened to hear that The Dalles City Councilor Tim McGlothlin was entertaining the idea of jailing houseless people who stole shopping carts.
“It is so disheartening that some believe that a solution to shopping carts around town is charging people criminally - people that are so desperate that they have to have a shopping cart to contain all of their worldly belongings,” Ellis said this morning, Oct. 27.
McGlothlin made his comments during the Monday, Oct. 24, council meeting prior to a vote to create ordinances around abandoned shopping carts.
“In a perfect world I’d like to see anyone pushing a cart, anyone, It could be the mayor, myself, anyone. Pushing a cart in the right of way - they would be stopped and confronted - the officer or code enforcement officer could read the following statement:
Councilor Tim McGlothlin
“You are in possession of stolen property. It is against the law to remove a shopping cart from the owner’s property and then state the Oregon law. If you return the cart immediately, no further action will be required. If you fail to return property you may face legal action, including legal charges against you.”
Mayor Rich Mays inquired whether McGlothlin was suggesting that people stealing shopping carts be arrested.
“I don’t think on a single act I like to say, I think on the accumulation of past - I think that should be taken into account depending on any type of jail time - accumulation of past taken into account since no fines can be imposed the only thing you can do is detain a person and give time in jail. There might be other remedies to look into and all of them take supervision,” he said while discussing the issue on Monday, Oct. 24. “I am willing to look at some type of, of not a punishment - I don’t want to use that term - but you have to have consequences to change behavior. I did this for 43 years in the school system, and I know how human nature is, and I know that things run when everything is very tightly and consistently applied and everyone understands…
“I am hearing from citizens that our city is out of control, and I think that there are some things we can do - this is one small part of a larger problem - when we address the shop cart issues - it will have an impact on the next thing and the next thing.”
City Attorney Jonathan Kara told the Council that the Wasco County District Attorney had no intention of prosecuting homeless people who have taken shopping carts to move their possessions about town.
“The Wasco County District Attorney has informed me that he will not be prosecuting anyone who is experiencing unsheltered homelessness for theft with respect to that theft for being involved with a shopping cart where they possess all of their worldly belongings.”
Reached by phone on Friday, Oct. 27, Ellis explained further that he has yet to receive a complaint from a store wanting to prosecute a person for shopping cart theft.
Ellis said he did not attend the Council meeting to provide another voice on the topic as he had a long day prepping for a trial involving the first-degree assault and robbery of Donald Lewis in The Dalles on Jan. 22, 2021.
Mayor Rich Mays
Mayor Rich Mays noted at the Council meeting that people using shopping carts are “not in their right mind or they would be in a shelter… The ones left on the street have mental illnesses and drug addiction. They do not necessarily understand what is right or wrong.”
Ellis further defined the situation, noting that he was willing to prosecute if a store requested it, but he said the misdemeanor crime, based on the depreciated cost of the cart, might only rise to a C-level misdemeanor.
Class C is the least serious level of misdemeanor in Oregon. These crimes are punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a maximum fine of $1250, or both. Probation is another option. Petty theft of property less than $100 would be considered a Class C misdemeanor.
In a hypothetical situation of arresting and prosecuting the crime, the cost is high and time-consuming. An officer would have to confront a houseless person, site them, and seize the cart for evidence, Ellis said.
The houseless person would then have to remove all of their belongings to the location they were at - possibly a street or sidewalk. They would then be responsible, if they have the mental capacity, for showing up on a court date where police may be called to testify. Victims, owners of the carts, would also have to be willing to prosecute and take the time to work through the court system.
Ellis said no store has yet to request a prosecution for shopping cart theft since he was elected. The only case he could find regarding a shopping cart theft was related to a shopping cart and a full load of beer being stolen from a store in a shop and dash during the last DA’s term.
The cost to house a prisoner at NORCOR for a month is $2,585, according to figures on the NORCOR website.
A fundraiser to purchase wagons and blankets that could be given to the houseless would be a much wiser use of time and energy, Ellis said, noting if somebody organized it he would contribute and speak on behalf of such a project.
“It’s so disheartening to think that people want to be so cruel to the most vulnerable people in the community,” Ellis said. “These are members of our community.”
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