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Police still hope to solve theft of seized cash By JESSICA SMITH Chances are "pretty bleak" authorities will ever discover who stole more than $10,000 from the Medford police property room in 1998, the lead investigator says. "If we're going to develop a suspect, we usually do so right away," said Oregon State Police Detective Greg Wright. "Sometimes time helps, but I don't think that's going to be the case here." Investigators haven't received any leads for about a year, and the leads they've followed haven't produced any suspects, Wright said. Wright has another 10 months to solve the two-year-old mystery before the statute of limitations expires in January 2001. Medford police discovered the cash missing on Jan. 9, 1998. Investigators said someone broke into the evidence room -- a secured closet inside the police property management room in City Hall. The thief pried open a locked box that held more than $10,000 in cash. Most of the money was seized as evidence from a bank robbery suspect arrested in Medford. The police department turned the investigation over to the state police. When Eric Mellgren became police chief in the summer of 1998, he urged the state police to keep the case open despite the lack of progress. Mellgren said it was a crime that could not go unsolved, and that he wanted the case cleared to preserve the department's integrity. On Thursday, Mellgren said that's still what he wants. But it's also important that investigators are allowed to complete a thorough examination of the evidence, he said. "If the case could be closed, that would be great," he said. "But I have a greater fear that the case will get (politicized) and we'll make poor decisions." Aside from tips that went nowhere, Wright said the biggest challenge in the investigation was weeding through potential suspects. Although only four Medford police employees have keys to the evidence room, every officer and several police volunteers have access to the larger property management room. "The biggest challenge was the set-up at the Medford Police Department," Wright said. "It was so lax and so many people had access." Since the crime, Medford police have heightened security in the property room, installing alarms and 24-hour surveillance cameras. And architects have drafted plans to make room for an expanded evidence storage room at the city shops at McAndrews Road and Columbus Avenue. The plan is to move the entire property and evidence-control operation to the new office by July. The project -- estimated at $846,000 -- includes moving the Parks and Recreation Department to a new building and renovating the structure to include vaults for weapons, drug and cash evidence. A fenced lot for impounded vehicles also is planned. Security will be a top priority, with an audio and video surveillance system, alarms and a card-lock system that tracks who enters the building, Mellgren said. "It'll be more difficult for something like that to happen again. I hope." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA