Campers tie up Peeping Tom
Campers tie up peeping Tom
By Mara Stine
Campers at an Estacada campground caught Richard `Dick' H. Berkey watching women at a latrine. They tied him to a tree until police arrived.
Michelle Brandow
As far as captors go, Jason Dugan is downright hospitable.
After catching a man allegedly watching his wife and other women in his group relieving themselves at a rustic campsite on Saturday, Aug. 18, Dugan took the suspect to the ground and used a rope to tie him to a tree until police arrived.
Dugan, 32, of Outer East Portland, made sure the man was comfortable, checked to see if he was on any medication and even offered him some water.
"I probably shouldn't," said the suspect, Richard "Dick" H. Berkey, 63, of Beaverton. After all, there was no telling how long he'd be . well, tied up . and whether he too would need to relieve himself.
This humane treatment is all the more remarkable considering that Berkey is the same man who Dugan and a group of friends, including a Gresham couple, reportedly confronted a year ago at the same campground for the same offense - spying on women answering nature's call.
In this most recent case, Dugan and his wife, Vickie, along with a group of friends, including four men and three women, were camping at the Big Fan Campground on U.S. Forest Service Road 63, near Bagby Hot Springs in Estacada.
It was about 7 p.m. Dugan's wife was cooking dinner while Dugan and a friend finished up a game of chess. Then Dugan heard a branch break back where they'd dug a latrine and saw a dark shadow move along the hillside.
Michelle Brandow, 29, of Gresham, knew Dugan had a friend staying in a nearby campsite and suggested he was playing a prank.
Figuring the friend might be trying to crash the campsite, Dugan thought, "I'll teach him a little lesson," and grabbed an airsoft pistol before trekking into the woods.
He fired some of the round pellets at the figure, expecting his friend to yell, laugh or at least jump. Nothing happened. Dugan moved farther into the woods and fired some more shots, but the figure just moved from tree to tree without a word.
Dugan fired one more shot and caught a glimpse of the man's profile.
"I just knew," Dugan said. "After last year, I just knew."
Fueled by adrenaline, Dugan yelled for help and chased the man uphill to a nearby logging road and somehow, Dugan doesn't quite remember, took him down.
"Do you &*$@ remember me?!" Dugan demanded as the man looked up at him.
By then Brandow's husband Ryan Brandow had arrived.
"Is this the same guy?" Ryan asked.
Rage and astonishment rushed over Dugan.
It was.
The four women, about 50 feet away by the campfire, heard this and froze. Dugan's wife nearly threw up.
"Our hearts just sunk because we knew exactly what that meant," Brandow said.
A year ago at the same campground, Dugan's wife noticed a man in the woods while using the latrine, but assumed he was another camper whose self-dug latrine was closer to theirs than they'd realized.
Then another woman they were camping with returned from the latrine to report that a man was watching her while she relieved herself.
Dugan and four friends chased the man through woods, surrounded him and "lit into him about what a sicko he was and this and that," Dugan recalled. "We put him in his truck and made him drive away from the area."
Police responded but there was no proof a crime had been committed.
"Last year we didn't talk to him," Dugan said. "I didn't care what he had to say last year. It was more `you need to get out of my sight and be very thankful I'm not taking matters into my own hands.' "
Last weekend, looking at the same man on the ground, Dugan was stunned.
"You got to be kidding me, right? The same guy, almost one year to the date from last time," he said. "I couldn't believe it."
One thing was for sure; he'd learned a thing or two from their last encounter.
"There's no way, you're not getting away this time, it's not happening," Dugan said, as he and his male friends brought the suspect back to the campsite.
Knowing they had to restrain him while keeping his hands apart and visible, the group got some rope and tied the man to a tree. Meanwhile, one of the men drove to a better cellular phone reception area and called police.
Brandow, who served on a jury for a criminal case in April, knew how important details are when prosecuting a suspect. Also as a self-proclaimed, "picture person" she just happens to take her camera everywhere.
She documented the apprehension with photographs and even checked the man's wallet, taking a photo of his driver's license.
Dugan and the guys adjusted the rope to make sure it wasn't cutting off the suspect's circulation.
Meanwhile, Dugan set about interviewing the perpetrator.
"I needed to be able to come to some kind of rational conclusion as to why," Dugan explained.
How long had Berkey been doing this?
Answer: Since he was 50, or 13 years.
Does he pleasure himself while watching women relieve themselves?
Answer: Yes.
How long had he been at their campsite?
Answer: One hour to an hour and a half.
Dugan, knowing that all the women in his group had used the latrine in that time - and possibly a female visitor with a little girl - had another question.
"Have you pleasured yourself while watching our women today?"
"Yes," Berkey replied.
Brandow, who was listening to the conversation, couldn't believe her ears. "I was like, holy crap, he really admitted it," she said.
Worried that he'd spied on the little girl who'd visited their campsite, Brandow and Dugan asked, "What about kids?"
The man remained silent.
With that, Brandow walked away.
"The fact that we chased him off last year, and it didn't even prevent him from anything . how many other people have chased him off?" she asked. "He still doesn't get it and that's what's scary. . This could be nothing compared to something he's done that we don't even know about."
Back at the campsite, Dugan resumed the interview.
Berkey denied watching child pornography, and said he didn't have a computer, Internet, cable or satellite television. He prefers to read and garden.
"Do you limit yourself to bathrooms?" Dugan asked.
Nope, Berkey replied. He'd seen inside a few tents.
"So what happened to you, that all of the sudden at age 50 you decided this is what you were going to do?" Dugan asked. Did a woman scorn him, a relative abuse him, his mom not love him enough?
Berkey said he wasn't married and admitted to having just one significant relationship in life.
"How do you rationalize driving three hours from your house in Beaverton to the middle of a national forest to spy on women going to the bathroom?" Dugan asked. At a distance of 30 feet, he couldn't possibly see much.
Berkey explained it was more about the fantasy and the act than what he can see.
"So was it worth it, to drive out here to the woods," Dugan asked. "Look at you now, you're tied to a flippin` tree in the middle of the forest. Was it really worth it? Do you think maybe you should stick to the strip club?"
Eventually, Dugan left for about 15 minutes. When he returned, he asked Berkey if he was on any medications, if he was hungry or thirsty, did he have any blood sugar issues?
"Yeah, I caught him, but at the same time, I don't need the guy dying of natural causes of which I had nothing to do with," Dugan said.
Dugan also asked Berkey if someone other than him had caught the man.
Yes. He'd been cited in 1995, but the charges were dropped. According to a Multnomah County Sheriff's Office report, deputies cited Berkey for public indecency at Wahkeen Falls in the Columbia River Gorge that January.
A 24-year-old East County woman reported that as she, her 30-year-old cousin from Gresham and their three daughters, ages 10, 8, and 4, were on a day hike they stopped to urinate behind a wooden structure.
While doing so, the woman's boyfriend shouted that a man was watching her. The woman walked over to a chain-link fence where the man was and saw that he was masturbating.
Now, Berkey faces a charge of private indecency for last weekend's incident. Police cited and released him, but Berkey must appear in Clackamas County Circuit Court at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18. Berkey did not return a call seeking comment.
Detective Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, said deputies found Berkey in possession of maps of Washington's Gifford-Pinchot National Forest, plus Deschutes, Tillamook and Willamette national forests in Oregon.
"So how many victims do we have out there?" Strovink asked.
Deputies also are investigating a similar incident that recently took place at the same campground.
Berkey drives a white 1999 Ford F-150 pickup with Oregon license plate number XBT 246. Anyone with information about the suspect or his alleged conduct is encouraged to call the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office tip line at 503-723-4949.
Brandow just wants Berkey to serve some jail time and get intensive counseling.
"I don't get what he gets out of it," she said. "It wasn't like I was changing in the woods. I know that he didn't see a lot, but at the same time, we were all violated because he saw something, and he was somewhere he should not have been."
Strovink said Berkey is lucky to have been caught by such an enlightened, conscientious group.
"Some would have taken matters into their own hands," Strovink said.
Dugan admitted that thoughts of violence crossed his mind, but he has three children to set an example for.
"When it comes down to it, you do what's right," he said.
By Mara Stine
Campers at an Estacada campground caught Richard `Dick' H. Berkey watching women at a latrine. They tied him to a tree until police arrived.
Michelle Brandow
As far as captors go, Jason Dugan is downright hospitable.
After catching a man allegedly watching his wife and other women in his group relieving themselves at a rustic campsite on Saturday, Aug. 18, Dugan took the suspect to the ground and used a rope to tie him to a tree until police arrived.
Dugan, 32, of Outer East Portland, made sure the man was comfortable, checked to see if he was on any medication and even offered him some water.
"I probably shouldn't," said the suspect, Richard "Dick" H. Berkey, 63, of Beaverton. After all, there was no telling how long he'd be . well, tied up . and whether he too would need to relieve himself.
This humane treatment is all the more remarkable considering that Berkey is the same man who Dugan and a group of friends, including a Gresham couple, reportedly confronted a year ago at the same campground for the same offense - spying on women answering nature's call.
In this most recent case, Dugan and his wife, Vickie, along with a group of friends, including four men and three women, were camping at the Big Fan Campground on U.S. Forest Service Road 63, near Bagby Hot Springs in Estacada.
It was about 7 p.m. Dugan's wife was cooking dinner while Dugan and a friend finished up a game of chess. Then Dugan heard a branch break back where they'd dug a latrine and saw a dark shadow move along the hillside.
Michelle Brandow, 29, of Gresham, knew Dugan had a friend staying in a nearby campsite and suggested he was playing a prank.
Figuring the friend might be trying to crash the campsite, Dugan thought, "I'll teach him a little lesson," and grabbed an airsoft pistol before trekking into the woods.
He fired some of the round pellets at the figure, expecting his friend to yell, laugh or at least jump. Nothing happened. Dugan moved farther into the woods and fired some more shots, but the figure just moved from tree to tree without a word.
Dugan fired one more shot and caught a glimpse of the man's profile.
"I just knew," Dugan said. "After last year, I just knew."
Fueled by adrenaline, Dugan yelled for help and chased the man uphill to a nearby logging road and somehow, Dugan doesn't quite remember, took him down.
"Do you &*$@ remember me?!" Dugan demanded as the man looked up at him.
By then Brandow's husband Ryan Brandow had arrived.
"Is this the same guy?" Ryan asked.
Rage and astonishment rushed over Dugan.
It was.
The four women, about 50 feet away by the campfire, heard this and froze. Dugan's wife nearly threw up.
"Our hearts just sunk because we knew exactly what that meant," Brandow said.
A year ago at the same campground, Dugan's wife noticed a man in the woods while using the latrine, but assumed he was another camper whose self-dug latrine was closer to theirs than they'd realized.
Then another woman they were camping with returned from the latrine to report that a man was watching her while she relieved herself.
Dugan and four friends chased the man through woods, surrounded him and "lit into him about what a sicko he was and this and that," Dugan recalled. "We put him in his truck and made him drive away from the area."
Police responded but there was no proof a crime had been committed.
"Last year we didn't talk to him," Dugan said. "I didn't care what he had to say last year. It was more `you need to get out of my sight and be very thankful I'm not taking matters into my own hands.' "
Last weekend, looking at the same man on the ground, Dugan was stunned.
"You got to be kidding me, right? The same guy, almost one year to the date from last time," he said. "I couldn't believe it."
One thing was for sure; he'd learned a thing or two from their last encounter.
"There's no way, you're not getting away this time, it's not happening," Dugan said, as he and his male friends brought the suspect back to the campsite.
Knowing they had to restrain him while keeping his hands apart and visible, the group got some rope and tied the man to a tree. Meanwhile, one of the men drove to a better cellular phone reception area and called police.
Brandow, who served on a jury for a criminal case in April, knew how important details are when prosecuting a suspect. Also as a self-proclaimed, "picture person" she just happens to take her camera everywhere.
She documented the apprehension with photographs and even checked the man's wallet, taking a photo of his driver's license.
Dugan and the guys adjusted the rope to make sure it wasn't cutting off the suspect's circulation.
Meanwhile, Dugan set about interviewing the perpetrator.
"I needed to be able to come to some kind of rational conclusion as to why," Dugan explained.
How long had Berkey been doing this?
Answer: Since he was 50, or 13 years.
Does he pleasure himself while watching women relieve themselves?
Answer: Yes.
How long had he been at their campsite?
Answer: One hour to an hour and a half.
Dugan, knowing that all the women in his group had used the latrine in that time - and possibly a female visitor with a little girl - had another question.
"Have you pleasured yourself while watching our women today?"
"Yes," Berkey replied.
Brandow, who was listening to the conversation, couldn't believe her ears. "I was like, holy crap, he really admitted it," she said.
Worried that he'd spied on the little girl who'd visited their campsite, Brandow and Dugan asked, "What about kids?"
The man remained silent.
With that, Brandow walked away.
"The fact that we chased him off last year, and it didn't even prevent him from anything . how many other people have chased him off?" she asked. "He still doesn't get it and that's what's scary. . This could be nothing compared to something he's done that we don't even know about."
Back at the campsite, Dugan resumed the interview.
Berkey denied watching child pornography, and said he didn't have a computer, Internet, cable or satellite television. He prefers to read and garden.
"Do you limit yourself to bathrooms?" Dugan asked.
Nope, Berkey replied. He'd seen inside a few tents.
"So what happened to you, that all of the sudden at age 50 you decided this is what you were going to do?" Dugan asked. Did a woman scorn him, a relative abuse him, his mom not love him enough?
Berkey said he wasn't married and admitted to having just one significant relationship in life.
"How do you rationalize driving three hours from your house in Beaverton to the middle of a national forest to spy on women going to the bathroom?" Dugan asked. At a distance of 30 feet, he couldn't possibly see much.
Berkey explained it was more about the fantasy and the act than what he can see.
"So was it worth it, to drive out here to the woods," Dugan asked. "Look at you now, you're tied to a flippin` tree in the middle of the forest. Was it really worth it? Do you think maybe you should stick to the strip club?"
Eventually, Dugan left for about 15 minutes. When he returned, he asked Berkey if he was on any medications, if he was hungry or thirsty, did he have any blood sugar issues?
"Yeah, I caught him, but at the same time, I don't need the guy dying of natural causes of which I had nothing to do with," Dugan said.
Dugan also asked Berkey if someone other than him had caught the man.
Yes. He'd been cited in 1995, but the charges were dropped. According to a Multnomah County Sheriff's Office report, deputies cited Berkey for public indecency at Wahkeen Falls in the Columbia River Gorge that January.
A 24-year-old East County woman reported that as she, her 30-year-old cousin from Gresham and their three daughters, ages 10, 8, and 4, were on a day hike they stopped to urinate behind a wooden structure.
While doing so, the woman's boyfriend shouted that a man was watching her. The woman walked over to a chain-link fence where the man was and saw that he was masturbating.
Now, Berkey faces a charge of private indecency for last weekend's incident. Police cited and released him, but Berkey must appear in Clackamas County Circuit Court at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18. Berkey did not return a call seeking comment.
Detective Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, said deputies found Berkey in possession of maps of Washington's Gifford-Pinchot National Forest, plus Deschutes, Tillamook and Willamette national forests in Oregon.
"So how many victims do we have out there?" Strovink asked.
Deputies also are investigating a similar incident that recently took place at the same campground.
Berkey drives a white 1999 Ford F-150 pickup with Oregon license plate number XBT 246. Anyone with information about the suspect or his alleged conduct is encouraged to call the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office tip line at 503-723-4949.
Brandow just wants Berkey to serve some jail time and get intensive counseling.
"I don't get what he gets out of it," she said. "It wasn't like I was changing in the woods. I know that he didn't see a lot, but at the same time, we were all violated because he saw something, and he was somewhere he should not have been."
Strovink said Berkey is lucky to have been caught by such an enlightened, conscientious group.
"Some would have taken matters into their own hands," Strovink said.
Dugan admitted that thoughts of violence crossed his mind, but he has three children to set an example for.
"When it comes down to it, you do what's right," he said.
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Can you say "Rapist in Training?" 0 -
quote:Originally posted by HandgunHTR52
Can you say "Rapist in Training?"
no, i dont think you can. 63 years old and this is as far as hes gotten. personally i dont see this as a huge crime. a crime yes but not a very serious one.
i have spent years hiking and camping and when you dig a crap hole you actually have no right to privacy. however, if the man was goobing his weiner while watching them then yes, he should be arrested.0 -
while he is a creep, I think he was illegaly detained, there is no law restricting looking at people in public, if anything the women should be cited for littering and indecent exposure. 0 -
All this talk is making me hot![}:)] 0 -
I'm getting this thread and the fire ant thread together in my mind.
"Sorry, Mr. Park Ranger, we didn't notice the ants when we tied the guy up..."0 -
I think he was just researching an age old question. Do women campers actually pee in the woods?
[:D]0 -
quote:Originally posted by p3skyking
I think he was just researching an age old question. Do women campers actually pee in the woods?
[:D]
HAHA0 -
The article didn't say, but I wonder if they tied him to a chestnut tree, a hickory nut tree, a walnut tree, or just a your a nut tree? Just a thought. 0 -
Am I the only one who noticed the suspect's name is "Dick" and he lives in "Beaverton"? 0 -
It was Wallie, I got proof. 
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