Columbia County deputy who fatally shot man had left previous police job over performance problems, records show

According to records, the Columbia County sheriff’s deputy who killed a man after a car chase last week had previously been fired for failing a drug test and had left another police station due to performance issues.

Kyle Graham, who had previously escaped from Washington State Patrol officers during a pursuit, was being pursued by Cpl. Seann Luedke on July 20. Graham crashed down an embankment after losing control of the Kia Optima he was operating. When Luedke discovered the 47-year-old Graham with a gun following the collision, the deputy shot and killed him, according to Oregon State Police.

According to documents The Oregonian/OregonLive was able to get, Luedke was hired by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office despite a lieutenant characterizing his work history as problematic in 2021, the second time he applied to be a deputy there.

In an email, Luedke’s lawyer stated that neither he nor his client should speak until the shooting inquiry was over.

According to a Department of Public Safety Standards and Training document, Luedke had resigned from the St. Helens Police Department in March 2020 to avoid being dismissed for not finishing 20 police reports, including several death investigations. The document claims that when the victim requested a protection order, there was a delay because he neglected to fill up a report on a domestic violence case.

Shortly after leaving the St. Helens Police Department, Luedke joined the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. The offer letter, which was signed by Sheriff Brian Pixley, states that he was employed as a temporary worker in April 2020 and was given a conditional offer of permanent employment on June 4.

The sheriff wrote a letter to Luedke on June 25, 2020, stating that although Luedke’s explanation seemed believable and I agreed with it, the sheriff’s office found out about two weeks after that offer that Luedke’s drug test resulted in a low positive for marijuana. However, the sheriff’s letter states that a second drug test was deemed invalid since synthetic urine was found.

He reportedly failed a psychological test as well.

The sheriff terminated Luedke’s job after he had been employed on a temporary basis for roughly two months.

In an emailed response to inquiries from The Oregonian/OregonLive, Pixley stated that a later sheriff’s office investigation found that Luedke could not have changed the sample without being noticed and that the unusual urinalysis result might have been caused by overhydration instead of tampering.

The year after his drug test rejection, Luedke reapplied for a job at the sheriff’s office and stated that he was in the process of getting a full-time job when he failed the psychological test and tested positive for marijuana in trace levels from an ointment.

His application was detected by staff. According to documents, Lt. Levi Raethke wrote to another lieutenant on February 23, 2021, “It appears that Luedke’s past may be problematic.” Do you usually end a background now or do you keep going?

According to a document signed by the sheriff, Luedke was hired by the sheriff’s office on September 15, 2021, as part of the ongoing employment process.

After a thorough examination, the agency determined Luedke met the requirements to be hired, the sheriff said, acknowledging the lieutenant’s internal email expressing concerns regarding Luedke’s work history.

According to Pixley, every recruiting choice is carefully considered and founded on a comprehensive analysis of the information at hand. Corporal Luedke has been a professional and honest member of the community since joining CCSO. His peers and superiors have come to trust him.

While Oregon State Police look into the shooting earlier this month, Luedke is on regular leave.

During a challenging and dynamic circumstance, Corporal Luedke responded in line with his training and duty, according to Pixley’s account of Graham’s deadly shooting. As a law enforcement officer, we remain completely confident in his behavior and skills.

While acknowledging Graham’s problematic past, his family has questioned the circumstances surrounding his death.

Graham assaulted and stabbed a man to death in 2010, earning him a 10-year prison sentence for first-degree manslaughter. Marie Berry, his fiancée, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he was in solitary confinement for three years while incarcerated.He claims he was falsely accused.

According to Berry, Graham was doing well prior to his passing. He was a robotics student at Clark College and had been baptized the previous year.

However, he still battled addiction, which Graham’s brother Brian Canton suggested would have contributed to the incident’s demise.

At around six in the morning on Saturday, Graham arrived at Berry’s house, informed her that he had been pursued by police, and requested permission to stay. “I let him in reluctantly,” she remarked. Later that evening, he texted her while she was still there.

Graham wrote to Berry, “Please help me, I want to get clean, and I’m not ready to give up.”

Berry claimed to have seen on social media that there had been a high-speed chase in the area the following day, after Graham had left her house to travel to Vancouver.

Berry responded, “Oh my god, please no,” already thinking and dreading he was the driver.

Are you okay? She sent him a text.

She never received a response.

Fedor Zarkhin is an enterprise and breaking news reporter. Have you got a story? You may reach him by email at fzarkhin@oregonian.com or by phone at 971-373-2905.

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