A Tumalo man has accused the Sunriver Police Department of falsely arresting him after his wallet was stolen by a man who used his identification to try to cash stolen checks.

Joseph Elliott, 45, has notified the Sunriver Owners Association that he plans to sue the group over his September arrest and imprisonment.

The incident comes at a time when Sunriver property owners are considering whether to raise their taxes to create their own police district. Residents will vote on the matter May 21.

Elliott reported to Bend police on Sept. 3 that his wallet, eight compact discs and pocket organizer were stolen from his home on Sept. 2 or 3, according to a police report written by Bend Officer Mike Hartman.

On Sept. 4, Sunriver police Officer Christina Collier investigated the theft of purses and checks from two cars that were broken into at The Woodlands golf course in Sunriver, according to a Sunriver police report.

Later the same day, a man went into the south branch of the Bank of the Cascades in Bend claiming to be Elliott and tried to cash a forged and stolen check taken from one of the vehicles at the golf course, according to Collier’s police report.

The forger, however, left the $1,200 check and fled the bank after the teller became suspicious of the check’s signature, according to Collier’s report. The teller told Bend police officer Brian Kindel a photograph of Elliott matched the man who tried to cash the check.

On Sept. 5, Collier phoned Elliott in Tumalo. Elliott refused to go to Sunriver to discuss the forgeries, Redmond police Officer Dexter Dickson wrote in a police report.

Elliott said recently, ”I did tell the Sunriver police Officer Collier that my wallet was stolen on the telephone in my first conversation with her. I told her I was going down to get my driver’s license replaced at the DMV.” Elliott declined to comment further on the case because of the potential litigation.

At Collier’s request, Dickson, the Redmond officer, located Elliott on Sept. 5 at the Department of Driver and Motor Vehicle Services in Redmond. Elliott was handcuffed and taken to the Redmond Police Department.

While there, Dickson said he talked with Elliott and overheard him tell someone on the phone that someone must have used his stolen identification in an illegal transaction.

Collier later interviewed Elliott at the police station and then eventually booked Elliott, who is a sculptor, into the Deschutes County Jail on Sept. 5. He was charged with two counts of first-degree theft and one count of aggravated theft, according to Deschutes County Jail records.

Elliott was released from the jail the same day after posting $2,000 security on his $20,000 bail.

Elliott’s criminal attorney at the time, Duane McCabe, sent a tort claim notifying the Sunriver Owners Association of Elliott’s intent to sue, saying he was falsely arrested, accused and imprisoned.

In the notice, it says that Elliott’s reputation was further damaged on Sept. 12. The Sunriver Owners Association and or Sunriver police contacted Elliott’s business associates five days after a private investigator, the late David Haynes, told the police department the arrest of Elliott was unfounded, the notice said.

”Mr. Elliott will be seeking compensation for these injuries,” McCabe wrote.

The notice was served to Sunriver Owners Association Manager Gary Fiebeck at his home on Abbott Drive at 2:06 p.m. on Sept. 12, Haynes wrote on the document.

But Fiebeck said recently the Sunriver Owners Association never received the notice.

”There was no tort action filed,” Fiebeck said. ”There is no legal action coming out of that.” He then refused to comment.

Sunriver Police Chief Mike Kennedy also refused to comment on the case and denied access to additional records under Oregon’s public records law because, he said, the theft and forgery case is still under investigation.

The Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Elliott on Sept. 28 and dropped the charges.

Elliott has not filed a civil suit in Deschutes County Circuit Court, but he has two years from the time of the incident to do so, said his civil attorney, Craig Emerson.

Currently, Sunriver police officers are funded by the owners association, but are deputized by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Les Stiles has raised concerns about the county’s liability for the deputized officers’ actions. Since running for office in 2000, Stiles has publicly supported Sunriver’s creating its own tax district and maintaining control of its police department.

”This is exactly the problem,” Stiles said. ”All county taxpayers could be on the hook for Sunriver police, which has little or no control by the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.”

The sheriff’s office, however, has not received notification of Elliott’s intent to sue the office.

Stiles said he could not comment on the Elliott case specifically, noting he might expose the county to civil liability.

He did say, however, that he gave Kennedy, the Sunriver chief, some additional arrest guidelines in September.

”I expected them to be followed from that day forward,” he said, noting the office continues to monitor Sunriver on a daily basis.

Tom Peterson can be reached at 541-383-0304 or tpeterson@bendbulletin.com.