Sunriver PD Chief Mills not in court for arraignment

Sunriver Police Chief Marc Mills was arraigned on one count of harassment in Deschutes County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon, but as it was a misdemeanor, he was not required to be on hand for the court proceeding.

Mills instead was represented by his attorney, Erick Ward, who said his client was not required to appear for arraignment because the charge is only a misdemeanor.

Mills is accused of physically striking Sunriver police Sgt. Joseph Patnode in December, while both were on duty at the Sunriver police station, sending the back of Patnode’s head back into a wall.

Judge Bethany Flint granted Mills conditional release but directed that he be fingerprinted and have a booking photo taken at the Deschutes County Jail.

Ward said he expects Mills to appear for his entry of plea, which is scheduled for March 6.

Mills, 62, has been on paid administrative leave since the investigation began in early December.

Investigators are not releasing what led up to the altercation between the chief and Patnode.

The Sunriver Service District board is conducting their own internal investigation into the altercation but have stated that Mills has not been interviewed on the matter.

Ward told NewsChannel 21 after the arraignment that Mills is cooperating with the investigation but would not confirm if Mills was interviewed for the service district’s internal investigation.

“Well, as you can imagine this is been incredibly hard on him — it would be incredibly hard on anyone,” the attorney said. “The charge is not incredibly serious. As far as the crime seriousness goes, this is a relatively low misdemeanor. The conduct, of course, is serious. He’s obviously taking it pretty hard.”