246. Richard Gene Lembke
Richard worked for Champion Plywool of Lebanon, OR for more than 28 years until they went out of business, and then went to work for Jones Veneer in Eugene. OR. He also had a music studio, and taught guitar and accordion lessons.
348. Lewis Lee Lembke
Deputies shoot Aloha man after assault, threats
Created on Thursday, 08 January 2015 00:00 | Written by Doug Burkhardt | Print
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Confrontation comes shortly after domestic violence call by wife
Law enforcement officials are investigating a deputy-involved shooting that left an Aloha man dead early Friday morning, Jan. 2.According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the incident took place at 2:27 a.m. in an apartment at 4519 S.W. Masters Loop, near Southwest 209th Avenue. Sgt. Bob Ray, sheriff’s office spokesman, said deputies were called to the apartment by a woman, Harriet Lembke, 61. Deputies contacted the woman at the apartment, and, according to their report, she told them her husband, Lewis Lembke, 47, had assaulted her.
“It was Lembke’s house; he lived there with his wife,” Ray said. “No one else was in the house.”
After being assaulted, Harriet Lembke locked herself in the bathroom until deputies arrived. Deputies tried to contact Lewis Lembke, who then allegedly partially emerged from a bedroom doorway armed with a semi-automatic handgun.
Deputies ordered the man to drop the weapon, but he refused and reportedly threatened the deputies. After he pointed his gun at the deputies, deputies fired, and Lembke was struck at least once.
“He was holding a handgun pointed directly at the deputies,” Ray said. “They were forced to shoot.”
After Lembke was wounded, deputies performed CPR until emergency medical personnel with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue arrived at the scene, but Lembke died shortly after the shooting.
The incident that led to Lembke’s death started at 1:12 a.m. At that time, Harriet Lembke called emergency medical personnel to her apartment because she was concerned her husband had possibly overdosed on alcohol. She reported that her husband was very ill and unresponsive. Three deputies assisted TVF&R medics as they tried to treat Lembke for possible over-consumption of alcohol. Lembke came around and refused more treatment.
No crime had been committed, so after Lembke declined to be treated, deputies and TVF&R emergency medical personnel left the residence at 2:17 a.m. Ray said that initial contact by deputies, who were at the apartment for about 65 minutes, may have angered Lembke.
“The deputies left the residence at 2:17 a.m.,” Ray said. “At 2:21, she (Harriet Lembke) was calling us back, and said he (Lembke) had become violent, and choked and assaulted her.”
Ray said Lembke’s wife suffered minor injuries in the assault.
The Washington County Major Crimes Team is investigating the incident, assisted by the Oregon State Police Forensics Unit and the Washington County Forensics Science Unit. Investigators discovered that one of the deputies’ bullets struck the end of the handgun and lodged itself “in the front of the frame below the barrel.”
“We’re very fortunate no one else got injured,” Ray said. “Our prayers go out to his wife and family, and to the deputies involved.”
The deputies involved were placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure with an officer-involved shooting. The names of the deputies are being withheld until after the investigation has been completed.
