On Feb 25, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Lt. James “Mac” McLaughlin stood outside a home in Sunriver.
The DCSO SWAT commander, McLaughlin was leading a team in delivering an arrest warrant to Paul Akehurst, who was wanted for allegedly making $700 in purchases with a stolen gasoline card he’d bought and eluding officers several times on his motorcycle in late 2025 and early this year.
About a dozen SWAT vehicles filled the 1.1-acre lot’s horseshoe driveway. McLaughlin and his team members walked around the property, trading notes. Dep. Michael Mangin had just hung up a phone call with the property owner, Kelli Hayes, who was not home. Akehurst is a longtime friend who often stayed at Hayes’ home with his two grade-school children when not staying with his parents in Deschutes River Woods. Hayes told Mangin that Akehurst has an open invitation to stay whenever he wanted. She didn’t know where he was, she told Mangin.
Standing near the home’s front porch, and captured by one of Hayes’ three Ring cameras, Mangin told McLaughlin how the call with Hayes went.
“She’s a real bitch. I told her that if she doesn’t cooperate, I’ll get her for aiding and abetting,” Mangin said. “And I told her that if Paul doesn’t come out, I’d get him for Burg 1,” referencing the charge of burglary in the first degree.
McLaughlin laughed.
“Your vindictism [sic] knows no bounds,” McLaughlin said, meaning vindictiveness. “I love it.”
This Feb. 25 incident, during which Akehurst surrendered peacefully after waking up from a nap on the couch, is a large component of the complaint Kelli Hayes and Paul’s mother, Lorena Akehurst, filed with the DCSO while visiting him at the Deschutes County Adult Jail on April 22. They initially made a verbal complaint regarding the 60 days that jail deputies had placed Akehurst in solitary confinement. After reviewing the Ring camera footage and considering circumstances of the raid, they expanded the complaint. Hayes told the Source that the policing and investigative tactics used to apprehend Akehurst were “escalatory” and a waste of taxpayer resources.
On June 5, Interim Sheriff Ty Rupert placed three Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office employees on paid administrative leave, pending an internal investigation into the complaint, the Source reported.
The next day, McLaughlin, who is a DCSO detective lieutenant, outed himself as one of those three, calling the leave “political theater” meant to hobble his campaign. At the same time McLaughlin said he respects the investigation process and that he “has nothing to hide.”
As a result of the investigation into McLaughlin, the DCSO SWAT commander, Capt. Mike Sundberg informed staff in a June 5 email, which the Source requested and reviewed, that the DCSO’s SWAT team is temporarily suspending operations while resuming training. During the interim, the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team, operated by the Bend and Redmond police departments, will provide tactical resources for incidents within DCSO’s jurisdiction, according to the email. SWAT teams are heavily armed and carry out arrests and seizures deemed high risk, such as hostage situations and armed barricades.
“CERT leadership has also requested that, if the CERT team is activated, a DCSO supervisor shall respond to the Incident Command to provide operational approval and coordinate on behalf of this office,” Sundberg wrote in the email to staff.
In the criminal trial that culminated in Deschutes County Circuit June 1, Akehurst pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and two counts of driving while suspended, all of which are felonies. Akehurst is now serving the beginning of his 30-month prison sentence at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, awaiting transfer.
Reached by phone, Andrew Ince, the attorney who represented Akehurst, said those Ring camera statements were “definitely problematic” and were discussed in negotiating charges in the case, some of which were dropped on June 1 in accordance with Akehurst’s plea deal.
Regarding the third-party DCSO internal investigation into Hayes’ and Akehurst’s April 22 complaint, Ince said he’s, “99% certain it’ll determine whether law enforcement exceeded its authority or violated any policies in pursuit of the investigation of these cases.”
In response to questions about the video and other circumstances regarding the investigation, McLaughlin issued an emailed statement to the Source. He says he appreciates that details of the Ring camera footage are being made public, “as it provides a more complete picture of the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
“Out of respect for the ongoing investigation, we will not discuss specific details,” McLaughlin added. “However, we remain confident that a thorough review of all available facts and circumstances will provide a full and accurate understanding of what occurred.”
McLaughlin added that he is cooperating fully with the investigation and he looks forward to “a fair and timely resolution.”
Dep. Michael Mangin was not immediately available.
A new start
Paul Akehurst, who’s named after his father, was born in California along with his sister and brother. Their parents, Paul and Lorena Akehurst, are first-generation immigrants; Paul from England, Lorena from an undeveloped corner of Nicaragua. They raised their children in Missouri, near the Ozarks. The family moved to Bend in 2008. A devoted motorcyclist, Akehurst took to the winding roads and tracks of Central Oregon.
In 2020, Akehurst was diagnosed with a hereditary degenerative spinal condition he shares with his father and siblings. He’s also suffered a host of traumatic brain injuries, sustained since boyhood when he discovered his love of motorcycles. He also sustained TBIs while in a Missouri prison, where fights seemed unavoidable.
“My dad invited me out here while doing civil engineer work,” Akehurst said. “I just loved it out here.”
Akehurst’s first encounter with Central Oregon law enforcement began in 2014 when he pleaded guilty to eluding a police officer, reckless driving, DUII, reckless endangerment and other charges. He served about two years in prison.
Akehurst stayed out of trouble for nearly a decade until 2023, when he was convicted of four felony charges of driving while suspended or revoked, through 2025.
Last September, Akehurst’s troubles ramped up, when he was arrested for aggravated identity theft for suspicion of spending about $700 on a stolen gasoline credit card. Between stints in Deschutes County Adult Jail, posting bond and appearing for custody hearings in Deschutes County Family Court, Akehurst caught several more indictments for criminal driving while suspended, eluding a police officer and reckless driving, all felonies.
That precipitated the arrest warrant that DCSO SWAT administered on Feb. 25 at Haye’s Sunriver home.
Visiting the Source office, Hayes reached Akehurst by phone at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. Akehurst spoke of his frustration with the Sheriff’s Office, alleging they used his children as leverage against him. He added that he hopes he gets transferred to a prison relatively close to Redmond, where his two children live with their mother. He recently lost custody in court.
Hayes said Akehurst’s TBI and spinal condition, along with general mental health issues, make him much more a candidate for mental health treatment than for the 30 months in jail that has already involved time in solitary confinement.
“These are symptoms of Paul’s disabilities,” Hayes said. “He’s a unique person who, yes, can be belligerent to authority. We’re not saying he shouldn’t pay for his mistakes, but 30 months for a gas card and running from cops — that’s way too much. He needs help with his mental health.”
After the conversation with Akehurst, Hayes noted that the DCSO publicized both arrests of Akehurst, first on Feb. 25 and again on March 31. She wonders why those resources and publicity aren’t spread more evenly across suspects throughout the County. And she has a problem with Akehurst having to fight his cases from solitary confinement in jail.
“I have a problem with not treating other people the same way who do the same thing,” Hayes said. “We have people committing DUIIs daily, in Deschutes County. And they’re not being swatted. Or we have people eluding police every day. So why all that for Paul?”
[Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.]
This article appears in the Source June 18, 2026.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
I am praying to our Good Lord above that this issue is truly addressed. This is not the first time a raid has been unwarranted and it certainly not the first time that terrible things have been said about a member of the community and threats made even on young peoples lives. I am praying for you that have filed this grievance that you actually get justice and hopefully because of this, they will look into all of their officers and all of their SWAT teams. It has been said by other law enforcement agencies in the state of Oregon that Deschutes County is the most corrupt that they’ve ever seen.
Unwarranted? He had an outstanding felony warrant, issued by the court. And when you choose to continually make poor choices (as outlined in the article showing a 12-year track record of poor decision making) or choose to repeatedly elude law enforcement when they are trying to serve the warrant with less dramatic measures, further action is taken to serve that warrant. Fairly standard practice. So unless you have proof showing that this was done unlawfully along with professional knowledge of legal parameters surrounding warrant arrests, respectfully, stay in your lane.
You know how this whole mess could have been avoided? Turning himself in. OR not committing felony crimes to begin with.
McLaughlin is yet another poor candidate for our public offices. He did not offer an apology for his approach in his statement. He instead leaned further into his words and actions. Persons in these roles need to lead by example, for both their subordinates and the public.
So you are a fan of vindictiveness knowing no bounds also? The story states he had ten years of no trouble. There will be more information coming out, it is good to know that people will continually back the poor behavior of officers but not be concerned by the statements made. A police officer’s job is to arrest, not to be the judge and jury. Most of the crimes were dismissed. Tell me another story of someone getting swatted for driving charges? This was personal for these officers.