NEW: “Tough-on-crime Oregon congressional candidate Mike Erickson handcuffed for DUI, drug charges”

A report out today in the Oregon Capital Chronicle reveals that OR-06 GOP candidate Mike Erickson – who claims to be tough on crime – was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants – and that, during the booking process, deputies found Erickson to be in possession of oxycodone that wasn’t prescribed to him.

The story is based on court records and the DUI report which shows that Erickson:

• Stumbled out of a bar and into the driver’s seat of his vehicle;

• Swerved in and out of a street parking area, rolled through a stop sign, swerved into the opposite travel lane and made a left turn without signaling;

• Was pulled over and denied being intoxicated, despite having “slurred” speech and “watery” and “bloodshot” eyes;

• And failed field sobriety tests, leading to his subsequent arrest and the discovery of the oxycodone which he did not have a prescription for.

DCCC Spokesperson Teddy Lake:
“Mike Erickson has once again been exposed for the craven liar and hypocrite he truly is. Oregonians can’t trust him to keep them safe – and they will reject him for the third time in just 42 days.”

Read more below:

Oregon Capital Chronicle: Tough-on-crime Oregon congressional candidate Mike Erickson handcuffed for DUI, drug charges
By Julia Shumway | September 27, 2022

• In ads and political mailers, Republican congressional hopeful Mike Erickson boasts of his support for police and pledges to vote against any bills that are “soft on crime.”

• Left unmentioned: Erickson’s 2016 arrest and guilty plea for driving under the influence, and a felony charge for possessing oxycodone that wasn’t prescribed to him. The drug charges were dropped as a condition of his pleading guilty to the DUI, and he had the DUI dismissed by going through a one-year diversion program.

• This is Erickson’s third run for Congress, after losing to incumbent Democrat Darlene Hooley in 2006 and U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oregon, in 2008. His 2008 campaign imploded following reports about Erickson, who campaigned on family values, driving a girlfriend to an abortion clinic and giving her $300 to pay for the procedure.

• Around 1:40 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2016, Oregon State Police trooper Jacob Ferrer was patrolling in Hood River when he saw a man stumble out of the Trillium Cafe and climb into the driver’s seat of a Ford truck across the street, according to court records and the DUI report.

• Ferrer watched as the driver, later identified as Erickson, swerved in and out of a street parking area, causing the car behind him to brake, then turn left, roll through a stop sign, swerve into the opposite travel lane and make another left turn without signaling.

• Erickson’s speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and watery, but he denied being intoxicated or having a reason to have driven erratically, the report said. When Ferrer asked him to retrieve his driver’s license, Erickson’s wife climbed out of the truck and told him to “just get in the house,” according to the report.

• Erickson struggled through field sobriety tests, not responding to directions about where to stand and how to walk.

• He also failed a balancing test in which he was supposed to stand on one foot with the other about 6 inches off the ground and his arms at his sides for 30 seconds. According to the report, Erickson immediately lifted both arms and held them out and began counting.

• Ferrer handcuffed Erickson and informed him he was under arrest. At the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office, Ferrer returned Erickson’s cell phone so he could call his attorney. He couldn’t find the number, asked to go outside to get better phone coverage and told Ferrer to “Google” his attorney, though Erickson didn’t think any of the results were his attorney.

• Erickson agreed to a breath test but didn’t follow instructions, blowing around the mouthpiece of the test.

• “Erickson was either so intoxicated he could not understand the simple instructions, or he was purposely trying to avoid providing a sample,” the report said. “He made multiple attempts before the machine registered a deficient sample. I warned Erickson that if the machine registered a deficient sample again, I would count it as a refusal.”

• While Erickson was being booked into Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities after his blood draw, deputies found an oxycodone blister pack with one 5 mg pill and another empty package in his wallet.

• In December 2016, a Hood River deputy district attorney agreed to drop felony charges for possessing a controlled substance in exchange for Erickson’s guilty plea for driving under the influence, according to his plea agreement.

• The DUI charges were dismissed after Erickson completed a one-year diversion program. He had to attend a two-hour panel hearing from victims of intoxicated drivers and was barred from visiting bars or consuming alcohol, marijuana or other controlled substances. He also had an ignition interlock device, which confirms a driver has no alcohol on their breath before starting a vehicle, installed on his car for one year.

• Erickson did not attend the victim impact panel until January 2018, after receiving a warning from the judge that he was violating the terms of the diversion.

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