Marion Woman Avoids Charge for Gun in Airport, Linn County Deputies Receive More than $200,000 in Back Pay

It turns out a Marion woman is fortunate that some of the items she tried to take through airplane security did not belong to her.

That's because one of the items she did have with her was a gun.

KCRG reports that Tesha Dobling, 50, of Marion was arrested last week when authorities found a .25 caliber weapon stashed in one of her bags. The Linn County attorney, however, decided not to press charges for the moment since it was unclear whether Dobling knew the gun was in the bag.

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said he decided against charges because there wasn’t enough evidence to bring the case to court. Vander Sanden said authorities did not provide evidence that Dobling was aware the handgun was in the carry-on bag. In addition, the bag contained personal items belonging to two different people.

Vander Sanden said the gun was so carefully hidden the TSA had to scan it twice to determine a weapon was in the framework on the bag itself. 

In other Linn County law enforcement news, another confusing incident is being settled with deputies receiving $223,689 in backpay, according to the Gazette.

What Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner calls confusing, conflicting federal labor rules has required his office to pay $223,869 in back pay to four deputies who have worked 24-hour shifts for the sheriff’s rescue squad.

The court case and negotiation that led to the award of back pay also have revealed something else that is confusing, Gardner said on Tuesday. That is, his office can save more than an estimated $100,000 a year by converting the rescue squad’s 24-hour shifts to 25-hour ones.

He said he may consider a move to 25-hour shifts. But as likely, he said, is that the rescue squad will continue on 16-hour shifts, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. without overnight coverage, which has been the schedule since March due to a staff shortage.