A man accused of breaking into a car in Northeast Portland earlier this month was out on pretrial release for charges in two burglaries and another car theft, a KATU News investigation revealed.
The victim of the May 10 car break-in said he couldn't believe the person police arrested was even out of jail in the first place.
Court records show Ronald Bethune’s history of skipping court-ordered supervision, skipping court dates, and violating the probation sentence he’s been on since early 2022 after pleading guilty to stealing a car in 2021.
The victim of the May 10 break-in, Chris Baker, questioned why judges continued to approve his release.
“Why was he out? That don’t make any sense,” Chris Baker said. “Yeah, enough chances. I mean they shouldn’t keep giving him chances.”
Baker’s surveillance captured the whole thing. A man walked up to his locked car and seconds later managed to get inside.
Roughly 15 minutes later, Baker ran outside and confronted the man in the car. Baker said the suspect, alleged to be Bethune, had a needle behind his ear and a screwdriver in his hand.
“He said, ‘he didn’t want to go to jail; he didn’t want to go back to jail. Please let me go.’ ‘I ain’t letting you go,’ I said,” Baker told KATU.
Baker didn’t let the man go. Police showed up less than 10 minutes later. The man slid out of the passenger door, trampled on top of Baker’s car, and even put his hands up to police. Baker said the man told police he didn’t have a weapon. Then, he jumped the fence and ran off.
Police arrested Bethune behind a neighbor’s home.
“When he tried transferring from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat to get out the door, and jump over a 6-foot fence, he ruined my shift gear. Then he also dug out the [ignition]. That’s completely wasted, and then the door, the driver’s door key is also ruined,” Baker said, telling KATU his car is totaled.
The arrest marked Bethune’s 8th time in the Multnomah County jail since the start of 2021. In fact, Bethune was out of jail waiting to go to trial in 3 other criminal cases.
Judges have broad discretion to approve releases from jail, and in this case, appear to have followed the law in every instance. A public information officer said judges typically do not comment on judicial determinations in a specific case. However, here’s what happened just this year in Multnomah County, based on court and jail records.
Police arrested first Bethune for possession of a stolen vehicle on January 26. Court records show Judge Melvin Oden-Orr approved his release and ordered him to report to pretrial monitoring within 24 hours of his release on January 27.
Police re-arrested him the next week, on February 3, for burglarizing a construction site. He spent nearly all February in jail, getting out on February 27 shortly after pleading guilty to stealing a car in January 2021. Judge Kathleen Dailey sentenced him to 18 months of probation.
Police arrested him a third time less than a month later on March 22 and charged him with burglarizing a home in North Portland. Court records show Judge John Wittmayer approved his release the very next day with an order to report to his probation officer within 24 hours.
Bethune was back in jail on March 28 facing an indictment for that February arrest. However, the very next day, court records show Judge Benjamin Souede approved his release with an order to report to pretrial monitoring at the sheriff’s office Close Street Supervision no later than 10 a.m. on March 30. An affidavit filed April 11 said Bethune “did not report to [Close Street Supervision] when he was released. Numerous attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful.” Judge Jerry Hodson approved a warrant for his arrest the same day.
KATU spoke with chief criminal judge Cheryl Albrecht about the cases on April 13. Albrecht, who is not overseeing any of Bethune’s cases, could not provide insight into the judges’ reasonings for releasing Bethune but, she spoke about what was in the record.
“It seems the perception is that here's a gentleman who keeps getting arrested, keeps getting arrested, and instead of even having to post 5 or 10 dollars, he keeps getting a recognizance [bond]’,” KATU asked.
“Well, that's not accurate,” Abrecht said. "Every step of the way, he received the process that is put in place for that particular step, so there was no place where things were missed or where things didn't happen. The process worked, and it would've been helpful to be able to predict human behavior, but we are unable to. We have to go with the tools and information that we have, which is that this is a person who is coming in, was convicted with a Class C felony which is the lowest level felony, had no [other] criminal history."
Albrecht said, instead, Bethune got conditional releases, though he did not have to post any cash bail. The condition was that he report to pretrial supervision. However, we highlighted how he ignored that order at least after his arrest on March 28. Once again, Bethune had a warrant for not reporting when KATU spoke with Albrecht.
“He’s in warrant status, and I expect that when he gets picked up, the judge will take those concerning circumstances into consideration,” Albrecht said on April 13.
However, that did not appear to happen. The warrant was served on April 21, Bethune’s fifth arrest this year. Court records show Judge Benjamin Johnston approved another conditional release the very next day. Johnston ordered him to report to his probation officer at the Department of Community Justice upon release.
An agency spokesperson told KATU Bethune left a voicemail with that officer, but the two never connected. In fact, the spokesperson said Bethune has never reported to his probation officer as directed since being placed on probation in early 2022. Further, the DCJ spokesperson said Bethune did not even report to probation intake after being placed on probation. That was completed after his arrest on March 23, the spokesperson said.
Two and a half weeks after getting out the fifth time, police charged him with the break-in in Chris Baker’s driveway, his sixth arrest this year.
“I think he should go to prison,” Baker said “He needs to pay me back and also maybe he needs to go to prison and clean up.”
KATU has spoken with other victims in the crimes Bethune is charged with, but many are worried about speaking on the record given how quickly Bethune’s been getting out of jail. They, too, are outraged that he keeps getting out seemingly no matter what.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office or DCJ could ask a judge to revoke his probation. A county spokesperson said Thursday that his probation officer did just that, recommending revocation of his probation to a judge, the only person who can revoke Bethune’s probation and send him to prison, county jail, or a treatment center.
He had a probation violation hearing set for May 19, but the hearing was postponed to June 29, coinciding with his next court date in the case involving Baker’s car.
Bethune is currently being held on a $1,000 cash bail in Baker’s case and a $25,000 county hold for a charge in Clackamas County. He will remain in custody in Multnomah County unless he posts 10% of each bail. A spokesperson with the court system said if Bethune posted bail in both cases, he would be taken to Clackamas County to face charges there.
A judge does have the authority to change Bethune’s bail amount or approve another conditional release.
The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office said:
We believe the court will hold him, and in the event the court orders his release, we will vehemently object.
His next court date is June 3 in his cases related to his February 3 and March 23 arrests.