Story credit: Sanne Godfrey.
March 23, 2024 6:00 a.m.
A Winchester man is jailed on 41 charges for his alleged role in a months-long crime spree that included property and vehicle theft and other crimes.
An indictment obtained by The News Review said 38-year-old Keegan James Spencer Cooper stole tools, equipment, a trailer and other property from the Oregon Caves National Monument in Cave Junction. Cooper allegedly also took several vehicles and then removed, defaced, altered, or destroyed the identification numbers.
The alleged crimes occurred between October 2023 and March 7th.
On March 5th, a special agent with the Bureau of Land Management, deputized by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Cooper’s property in connection to “a large-scale burglary at the Oregon Caves National Monument in excess of $100,000”, according to court records.
During the search, a trailer attached to Cooper’s company truck had a spare tire with “Oregon Caves” written on it and a National Parks Services sticker was partially removed, according to court records. In addition, 36 other items were found that had been stolen from the national monument. The approximate value of stolen items found at the property was $15,702.
A short-barreled shotgun was also found during the search. Court documents stated, “It was immediately apparent the shotgun had been modified. The barrel of the shotgun had been cut down to the forend grip where there was evidence of tooling marks. The butt of the shotgun had also been modified into a pistol grip”. The firearm was allegedly found on top of documents with the name KB Cooper, the company owned by Cooper.
Cooper allegedly took off to Diamond Lake an hour before the search warrant was executed. Cooper was located by a sheriff’s deputy, allegedly in possession of a stolen utility terrain vehicle valued at $49,000.
Cooper is charged with contempt of court, telephonic harassment, menacing, first- degree theft – possession of stolen property, nine counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, two counts of possession of a prohibited firearm, five counts of second-degree criminal mischief, four counts of first-degree aggravated theft, four counts of first-degree theft, six counts of trafficking in vehicles with destroyed or altered ID numbers, two counts of first-degree criminal mischief, possession of a stolen vehicle and other charges. Cooper is detained on $115,000 bail.