Brett Winders was not charged with a crime after being pulled over at just after 11:30 p.m. on April 11, 2023. Following a more than 40-minute traffic stop, the Newberg-Dundee Police Department had an ambulance take him to a hospital for a medical checkup.
Two of the responding officers gave him fist bumps before he left. One parked Winders’s Jeep Cherokee at a nearby AM/PM convenience store.
At around 3:30 a.m. Sgt. Joe Eubanks said he brought Winders’s belongings including a backpack carrying a gun to his home “as I did not want to make him have to operate a vehicle to come get it.”
“He made a statement that the hospital found he had ‘Osteo’ something, but he wasn’t sure of the full terminology for the medical finding,” Eubanks wrote in computer-aided dispatch (CAD) notes. “He indicated it was similar to low blood pressure, like when you stand up too quickly causing him to be dizzy. He added that performing a physical workout earlier in the day was also probably a factor to his appearance during the traffic stop.”
Newberg-Dundee Police Capt. Ryan Simmons would not say whether officers independently confirmed Winders’s statements about his medical condition. Winders did not immediately respond to a voicemail and multiple messages I sent regarding the incident.
At the time, the off-duty deputy was employed by the nearby Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
“You do pursuits, you get shot at, you can shoot at people,” Winders told Officer Ariel Siqueiros during the stop. “But this is like … the scariest thing I’ve had to deal with. Just doing this, being under a DUI investigation.”
Siqueiros was the first officer to respond to the incident. He pulled Winders over on Highway 99W after he said he saw his vehicle drift over the fog line and straddle it twice for about 100 feet near Northeast Zard Lane.
Siqueiros’s body-worn camera footage, which is redacted with faces and identifying documents blurred, lasts about 40 minutes. Some audio is bleeped to cover up private data like Winders’s home address and date of birth. But there are also a dozen lengthier periods without audio, and the reason for that is not mentioned in the call notes or in any of the redaction logs I received through a public records request.
This is how one of them looks on an editing timeline:
It appears Siqueiros turned off his microphone during these segments. The first period of silence from 00-29 happens while he sits in his vehicle just before approaching Winders. After that, the remaining 11 periods amount to around 5 minutes of silenced footage. The longest period with no sound is 68 seconds. The average length of a silenced period is 27 seconds.
The Newberg-Dundee Police Department manual says:
In the instance where the body-worn camera malfunctioned or the member deactivated the recording before the event concludes, the officer shall document this information within a police report, or the CAD incident notes if a police report is not generated.
From the Newberg-Dundee Police Department manual.
Only CAD notes were generated for the incident.
Oregon law says a department’s policies and procedures must include:
A requirement that a camera worn upon a law enforcement officer’s person be set to record continuously, beginning when the officer develops reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that a crime or violation has occurred, is occurring or will occur and the law enforcement officer begins to make contact with the person suspected of committing the offense. The policies and procedures must also require that the camera may subsequently cease recording no sooner than the termination of the officer’s participation in the contact.
From ORS 133.741.
Captain Simmons did not immediately respond to multiple emails asking how the department could explain the periods of silence in Siqueiros’s footage and whether they constituted policy or legal violations.
Simmons also declined to say why Winders was not given a blood alcohol content (BAC) test in light of the fact that he admitted to drinking alcohol, smelled of alcohol, according to Officer Siqueiros, vomited, fell, and blacked out during the stop. A breath test, blood test, or urine test can measure BAC.
The Newberg-Dundee Police Department manual says, “If the violator appears to have been driving while under the influence, field sobriety tests, including Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) device tests and chemical tests should be offered and obtained whenever possible …”
After multiple moments of silence and activity, including Winders’s fall and vomiting, Siqueiros conducted standardized field sobriety tests before determining he no longer had probable cause to arrest Winders for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII).
A former law enforcement officer who asked not to be named tipped me off to the traffic stop in Newberg before I filed multiple public records requests and obtained the body-worn camera video and CAD notes.
Regarding the footage, they told me:
There are three components to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests: HGN (Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, which is the involuntary jerking of the eyes caused by alcohol), Walk & Turn and One Leg Stand.
For an officer to develop strong probable cause to make a DUI arrest, they need 1. Observe driving (vehicle in motion) behavior. 2. Observe driver (bloodshot eyes, odor of alcohol, slurring speech etc) and 3. Observe ‘clues’ during SFST’s (standard field sobriety tests).
All three components were observed in Winders’ traffic stop.
The officers mention ‘2’ when they told Winders something like ‘I only observed 2 clues in HGN, so at this point my probable cause is gone,’ which is said towards the end of the video (at around 36:10).
That was enough to make an arrest.
Statement from former law enforcement officer who asked not to be named.
The former law enforcement officer also noted that Winders changed his story in the video regarding where and when he drank the two beers he admitted to consuming. The CAD notes do not indicate that officers investigated his claims by calling the locations, for example.
Captain Simmons did not immediately respond to the former officer’s comments.
But after viewing the redacted video and call documentation, Liani Reyna, a retired Portland Police Bureau sergeant, told me she agrees with Siqueiros’s assessment and believes Winders did fine on his SFSTs.
“It looks worse on paper than it does on video,” she said. “My concern is he’s got a medical event. He should get a ride home because he’s too nervous. I’ve seen awful drunks and this was not one.”
‘Very, very embarrassing’
Officer Siqueiros’s notes from the stop, which started at 11:34 p.m., say a strong odor of beer emanated from Winders’s vehicle and that the off-duty deputy had “watery eyes.”
Winders admitted to drinking two 16-ounce craft beers, one at around 4 p.m. and the other between 9 and 9:30 p.m.
After Siqueiros asks him for his license, the footage shows Winders saying it’s in his front-left pocket before explaining that his “off-duty pistol” is in his backpack.
He produces his license and registration.
Siqueiros then asks, “Hey, Brett, so were you on your phone or something when you were driving? What’s the deal?”
Winders responds that he was turning off his Audible app, which he’d been using to listen to author and retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink.
Siqueiros asks Winders to get out his insurance information. He then returns to his patrol car to talk with a dispatcher. There’s a bleep and about 10 seconds of silence before Siqueiros gets out and approaches Winders, still seated in his vehicle, to read him his Miranda rights.
“Did you just put some gum in your mouth?” Siqueiros asks Winders, who explains that he had a bite of a granola bar.
“He placed food in his mouth,” Siqueiros says in his call notes. “I have seen subjects do this in the past to mask the odor of alcohol.”
Siqueiros asks Winders how he feels about driving.
Winders admits, “I’m honestly embarrassed. But it’s fine if I’m not fumbling with my Audible.”
“Do you feel impaired at all?” Siqueiros asks.
“No. But I’m obviously noticeable,” Winders says.
Siqueiros returns to his patrol car to review documentation.
He then comes back to Winders’s vehicle.
Siqueiros: Will you consent to standardized field sobriety tests?
Winders: Knowing where I work, is that allowed?
Siqueiros: What do you mean?
(Winders pulls out his Washington County deputy ID card, according to Siqueiros’s notes.)
Siqueiros: What would that have to do with ..?
Winders: I don’t …
Siqueiros: I’m just asking if you’ll consent or not.
Winders: I know it. I just do not want to make it more difficult for you. It would be easier for me to go with you to provide a breath sample. You know I don’t want to … Yeah, we can do something else, field sobriety tests.
From Newberg-Dundee Police Officer Ariel Siqueiros’s body-worn camera system recording.
During the recording, Siqueiros repeatedly asks Winders when he’d drank and where.
At first, Winders says he had a beer at 4 p.m. at a McMenamin’s pub, and a second at a friend’s house nearby between 9 and 9:30. But a few minutes later, he changes his story, saying he had both beers at around 9:30 p.m. at McMenamin’s.
Winders then falls to the ground face first. He rolls over on his back, and Siqueiros asks if he’s all right as he calls over the radio for medical support.
“Yeah,” Winders says. “I’m sorry. It’s very, very embarrassing. … I’m just very light-headed. Right now, everything is going black.”
Siqueiros asks Winders if he wants medics to check him out, and he replies yes.
He then asks Winders if he’s “pretty drunk right now,” and he says no.
“It’s very, very anxiety-inducing,” Winders explains.
He tells Siqueiros his vision is good, then walks over to the side of the road and leans over to vomit.
“Medics should be here shortly,” Siqueiros says. “Just take a deep breath.”
Paramedics show up, check Winders, and clear him for SFSTs.
After Siqueiros says he no longer has probable cause for a DUII arrest, he tells Winders he’s free to go.
Another officer recommends Winders go with the medics to get checked out.
“If I was on the ground for 10 seconds, yeah, I agree with that,” Winders says.
“Take care of yourself and be safe next time, OK?” Siqueiros tells him.
“Yeah, thanks for calling me out,” Winders replies.
“Let this be that kind of little bit of a reminder to wake up for all of us,” Sergeant Eubanks says. “When you had a few, it can be just stuff like this, incidental, right? And it puts you through the wringer. And we don’t want to have to do it either.”
“I got to watch out my stress,” Winders says.
Eubanks then recommends Winders contact an employee assistance program before addressing Siqueiros.
“OK, so I’m gonna follow him him down there, pick him up, bring him back to his car,” Eubanks says apparently referring to the officer who’s getting into the driver’s seat of Winders’s SUV. “And then, uh, I think I’m gonna go off for sound right now.”
“I’m done recording,” Siqueiros says, and the video stops.
Accountability and Oversight
After I emailed him and other law enforcement officials with questions regarding the handling of the footage and the incident, Yamhill County District Attorney Brad Berry told me, “The issues you are currently raising are not within the purview of this office. Just wanted to be sure you are aware of this.”
The next day, however, in response to similar questions, Roy Kaufmann, spokesperson for Oregon’s Department of Justice, said, “It is up to the DA to refer matters to DOJ. He has not referred this matter to us.”
I forwarded Kaufmann’s statement to Berry, who then told me, “I have asked DOJ to review this case. To be clear, they will not be proffering an opinion about alleged missing pieces of recordings or other matters that you are questioning. They will review the case to see, if in their opinion, probable cause may have existed for NDPD to have taken any action. We will be providing them with copies of the reports and recordings.”
I also sent my questions to Sam Tenney, spokesperson for Oregon’s Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST), which certifies law enforcement officers and investigates alleged misconduct.
He told me the agency lacks the authority to oversee or review the actions of public safety agencies.
“The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training’s jurisdiction is limited to the standards required for certification of individual public safety professionals,” Tenney said. “Oregon’s public safety agencies are accountable to cities, county boards, elected officials, or commissions. In this case, your concerns should be brought to whoever at the city of Newberg oversees the police department – likely the city manager, but I can’t say for sure because I’m not familiar with Newberg’s city government.”
Will Worthey, Newberg’s city manager, told me he did not want to comment on my questions about the police department’s handling of the call and body-worn camera footage.
Mayor Bill Rosacker declined to comment on those questions as well.
“The role of the mayor and city council is to create policy. The only issue here that would be a policy issue is whether to grant you a waiver of the fees,” Rosacker said Tuesday. “You are welcome to appeal the city manager’s decision to council but my position is that we do not waive fees for anyone.”
The mayor and city manager of Dundee, the city Newberg shares the police department with, did not immediately respond to two emails seeking comment.
Regarding state oversight, Tess Seger, communications director for Oregon’s Senate Majority Office, told me:
There is no external entity (such as a state agency) that is responsible for reviewing whether a particular officer has violated a law enforcement agency’s body cam policy. Nor is there anything in the law that requires an agency to take a particular action if an officer violates their body cam policy.
From email sent by Tess Seger, communications director for Oregon’s Senate Majority Office
Public Records Battle
I filed appeals with the Newberg-Dundee Police Department and the Yamhill County District Attorney’s office to waive the $210 I paid for Siqueiros’s redacted body-worn camera footage and the $1,680 police are charging me for unreleased videos from two other officers.
Both of those appeals were turned down. I am considering further legal action to waive all of the fees so the two other videos can be released.
In September 2023, I filed my initial public records request for all documentation related to Winders’s traffic stop, including sound and video footage.
Melissa Ferguson, a police records and evidence technician, provided me with CAD notes and audio recordings of radio communication. However, citing state law, she said the body-worn camera footage was exempt because it was not in the public’s interest.
I argued it was with help from attorneys, including Alan Kessler and Brian Decker, and on Dec. 11, the Yamhill County District Attorney’s Office ruled in my favor.
“The footage indicates that NDPD’s DUII investigation was thorough and appropriate, but I believe that there is a public interest in disclosure of the footage,” wrote Chief Deputy District Attorney Kathryn Lynch.
She ordered the NDPD to release the videos with redactions, including blurring faces and private documents and bleeping private information in audio recordings.
The next day, Ferguson estimated the redaction process would take about three hours, with an hourly rate of $70 and an initial charge of $210, which she asked me to pay to start editing. She mentioned that if the process took less time than estimated, I would be reimbursed the difference, but if it exceeded the estimate, I would be notified of the additional costs.
Ferguson sent me Siqueiros’s redacted body-worn camera footage on Dec. 18.
The next day, she sent me an email saying:
It took me over 12 hours to do the first video and I underestimated the amount of time it would take when we first were discussing payment.
We do use this Axon software but must go frame by frame as it drops its tracking consistently, which is why it’s so labor intensive.
Moving forward, we do have to charge the actual cost for the time it takes us to do this. Due to our staffing levels with holidays and job duties, it will be mid-January before I could complete your request for the 2 additional videos and I estimate 12 hours per video, so 24 hours total time @ $70 an hour will be $1680.
Email sent by Melissa Ferguson, NDPD police records and evidence technician, on Dec. 19, 2023.
I argued that the costs were disproportionately high compared to the work involved in redacting the videos. I highlighted the existence of less expensive, even free, video editing software as viable alternatives to the Axon software used by the NDPD. I also pointed out Axon’s claims that their software could automatically redact videos through its Redaction Assistant feature and that a company spokesperson said tech support was available.
The police department declined to waive the fees. Captain Simmons wrote:
We use Axon’s redaction assistant to redact the videos. The process requires the redactor to go frame-by- frame. We are not going to use any other redaction tool other than the one Axon recommends we use. Our body camera videos stay within Axon’s web-based program where the metadata of each video tracks user access of the videos, including redaction activity by the redactor of a video. … While the Newberg-Dundee Police believe in transparency, we are allowed by statute to establish fees and collect reimbursement for the cost of making these public records available.
From email sent by NDPD Capt. Ryan Simmons on Feb. 12, 2024.
I told the district attorney’s office I couldn’t afford to pay the fees. My appeal also emphasized the broader implications for public transparency and accountability.
I cited an Oregon Appeals Court ruling that says waiving or reducing fees is in the public interest “when the furnishing of the record has utility—indeed, its greatest utility—to the community or society as a whole.”
I also cited the NDPD’s body-worn camera policy, which states:
The Newberg-Dundee Police Department recognizes the importance of transparent policing that protects the community and the police. …
The department has adopted the use of body-worn cameras to accomplish serval objectives, including but not limited to:
… g) To enhance transparency to the community;”
From the Newberg-Dundee Police Department’s policy manial
“I have previously ruled that disclosure of redacted footage is in the public interest. That does not necessarily mean, however, that NDPD is required to waive its entire fee,” Lynch wrote in a Feb. 16 letter. “I find that NDPD’s decision was reasonable given the significant amount of time required to redact the footage.”
I can still fight to have the fees waived in court.
Resignations and ‘Salsa-gate’
Winders resigned from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on May 24, 2023.
Deputy David Huey, a spokesperson for the agency, told me:
It’s important to clarify that we are unaware of the decisions that led to Mr. Winders’ resignation. …
We, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, were informed of the traffic incident involving Mr. Winders handled by the Newberg Police Department (PD) in 2023 and undertook an internal affairs review to assess the situation.
From email sent by WCSO Deputy David Huey on Feb. 23, 2024.
The WCSO denied a public records request I filed for documents relating to Winders’s resignation, citing a state law and subsections that allow agencies to exempt records about personnel discipline action, investigatory information compiled for criminal law purposes, trade secrets, and litigation involving the agency.
The DPSST responded to a similar request by sending me an F4S separation document that shows limited information, including the date of Winders’s resignation.
It says, “Employee resigned during an Internal Affairs investigation. Not eligible for rehire at WCSO.”
The DPSST said Winders is currently the subject of a professional standards case, meaning his law enforcement certifications are under review, and all documents related to the investigation are exempt from release under state public records law.
Stephen Mayer, a spokesperson for the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, told me Winders was placed on the agency’s Brady list on Jan. 3, 2022.
The term “Brady list” is derived from the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland. Prosecutors maintain a Brady list that includes the names of law enforcement officers whose records could undermine their credibility as witnesses in court.
Mayer declined to say why Winders is on the list but offered this detailed explanation regarding his status with the DA’s office:
It is important to note that our “Brady list” actually contains two designations: first, and most serious, is the “Alert” designation, which signifies that we will not use that officer as a witness in court. Second, and far more common, is the “Additional Discovery” designation. This occurs when there are materials related to an officer’s conduct which could be considered exculpatory in a criminal case, but the conduct is not so egregious as to cause an “Alert.” We can (and often do) use these officers as court witnesses, after disclosing the potentially exculpatory materials to the defense attorney. Winders is designated “additional discovery” and thus would be eligible for subpoena should he ever be needed to testify.
From email sent by Stephen Mayer, spokesperson for the Washington County DA’s Office, on Feb. 27, 2024.
Melissa Canning, a former WCSO deputy and Winders’s old partner, is now suing Washington County.
On April 30, Mayer told me Canning had also been added to the Brady list under the additional discovery category.
In response, Jose Klein, Canning’s attorney, said:
At every stage of her service as a deputy in the sheriff’s office of Washington County, Deputy Canning has been honest in her dealings with her employer and the citizens she encountered on the job. For that honesty, she has experienced a pattern of retaliation from the County that is the subject of a pending lawsuit which she initiated after her employment was unlawfully ended. We view this latest action by the County to be simply further retaliation and injury to Deputy Canning’s good name.
Email Jose Klein, attorney for Melissa Canning, sent on April 30, 2024.
Canning filed a whistleblower lawsuit in February of last year, as first reported by The Oregonian. She claims she faced retaliation after disclosing Winders’s alleged failure to investigate a homeless man’s sexual assault claim. Canning says her report about Winders, her patrol partner, dismissing the allegation as unfounded led to her being ostracized within the department, denied promotions, and subjected to a baseless criminal investigation over a minor incident involving a salsa bowl from a restaurant, an episode now referred to as “salsa-gate.”
According to the lawsuit, Canning, who is of Filipina and Native American descent, says she was discriminated against and that the sheriff’s office conducted an unfair investigation into her actions while overlooking more serious misconduct by white male deputies. She seeks $3.5 million in damages for economic, non-economic, and punitive reasons.
The sheriff’s office responded briefly last year to a media inquiry, disagreeing with the portrayal of the events but citing the ongoing legal process as a reason for not commenting further.
The conflict escalated following an off-duty dinner in February 2022, when Canning was accused of stealing a “mortar salsa container” valued at $1.91. It led to Canning being placed on paid administrative leave and stripped of her badge and gun while an investigation was conducted. Although the district attorney’s office declined prosecuting, the sheriff’s office reprimanded Canning for violating professional conduct policies. Meanwhile, according to her lawsuit, Winders did not face any leave then and was later selected for prestigious roles within the department.
Canning says her complaint led to Winders being placed on the Brady list after she reported his alleged dishonesty regarding the sexual assault case. Despite her efforts, the lawsuit claims the sheriff’s office sought to discredit her, impacting her career and well-being significantly, culminating in a hostile work environment that contributed to her developing a panic disorder and post-traumatic stress. Canning sought medical leave but was denied, and requests for modified duty were also refused.
As stated in the lawsuit, Canning was laid off due to medical issues on Jan. 31, 2023.
Before joining the sheriff’s office in 2018, Canning followed in her family’s footsteps into law enforcement. Despite the turmoil, she expressed no regret in standing up for what she believes is right, emphasizing the importance of fighting against injustice for the sake of her children and her principles.
The lawsuit also highlights allegations of other deputies facing minimal consequences for more serious misconduct, contrasting the treatment Canning received after she attempted to address and rectify the reported sexual assault and her subsequent entanglement in “salsa-gate.”
Klein says her case is in the discovery phase, and she “remains eager to tell her story to a jury.”
