Steve Gilbert, 67, starts his days slowly. He grabs his phone, sits down with a steaming cup of coffee, and watches video footage from the 80-something cameras located in his mini-golf and bowling alley business on Highway 99 in west Eugene. He constantly has to check for criminal activity from the day before.
Robbery, theft, arson, assault, vandalism, trespassing and burglary are some of the things that business owners, real estate agents, police officers and private security companies have experienced in the recent past, according to Eugene Police Department dispatch logs. Calls are surging.
In 2024, there were more than 87,000 calls for service to 911 in Eugene. Over half of those calls were to areas in west Eugene. Almost 20% of those calls were complaints of criminal trespassing, and most were from businesses.
The business
The Gilbert Plaza has been in Steve Gilbert’s family for four generations. His grandfather built the plaza in 1956. Gilbert bought Putters Pizza and Family Entertainment and the plaza from his family in 2018 and recently sold it to his son, Eric.
Gilbert’s establishment and property lot have been damaged time and time again. From broken windows to illegal trespassing, to metal stolen from his roof, Gilbert has seen it all.
He says he’s experienced issues every single day since he started working — 26 years. He is tired. Because it hasn’t gotten better. It’s gotten worse.
Although Gilbert doesn’t run Putters anymore, he is still present and does everything in his power to help his son and the other businesses on his property.
He sends about three emails per week to the City of Eugene, calling their attention to the issues on Highway 99. There is an option on the City of Eugene website to email every city councilor, the mayor and the city managers in one thread. He also adds the local Bethel neighborhood association and Pat Farr, the Lane County Commissioner whose district includes the highway 99 corridor.
He has never received a formal response.
About a year ago, Gilbert had wire stolen off the roof of his building. He claims he’s been chased with a machete and has witnessed cars being broken into in his parking lot. He has a security camera screen located in the sports bar behind the bar, so customers can keep an eye on their vehicles. He pays thousands of dollars out of pocket for everything that happens to his business.
Gilbert owns the whole property and parking lot that Putters stands on, about five acres. A sports bar, dry cleaning service, multiple clothing stores, restaurants, barber shops and a small church sit on his property. The tenants, such as Burrito Amigos, have a shared experience with Putters.
A few years ago, a woman came into Burrito Amigos and attempted to steal the money out of their tip jar. An employee asked the woman to leave and return the money, but the woman punched the employee in the face.
Sarah Piccolo, the current manager for Burrito Amigos, has worked on the Gilbert property for 16 years. When asked if her foot traffic is affected by crime, she said, “I feel like people are just more cautious when they pull up to make sure that everything looks okay.”
Piccolo has worked in west Eugene for 30 years. She doesn’t feel safe and believes that the 99 area is very different from the rest of Eugene.
“I feel like we’re just the lower income,” said Piccolo. She thinks a police station location on Highway 99 could offer a possible solution to the issues she has seen.
More police presence in the 99 corridor would make Piccolo feel safer and more heard, something Gilbert has been advocating for to the police department and the City of Eugene.
The damage
The last seven years have been hard for Gilbert. In the last two years alone, he has paid $75,000 in damages, like broken windows and stolen property. One incident that Gilbert can remember involved gunfire about four years ago. The front windows of Putters were shot and shattered, with the driver speeding off and doing the same to other businesses in west Eugene. Gilbert found footage of the person on one of his security cameras, which he gave to the police. They eventually caught the man, but Gilbert says he was paid just $6 in restitution for six months.
West Eugene businesses, according to Gilbert, paid $25,000 for damaged property in this instance alone.
Last year, Gilbert had trespassers destroy the HVAC unit on the roof of his building and stole copper, which cost him $25,000 to replace. He reported the incident, but claims that no one showed up.
Gilbert started reporting and discussing issues with the city council in 2022. Before then, he solely reported incidents to the police.
“They didn’t know who Steve Gilbert was… they do now.”
His relationship with the police, he feels, is strong. His issue isn’t with the police force. “The city of Eugene is the number one threat to my business,” he said.
He feels they do not listen, let alone address his concerns.
The police
Chris Skinner, the chief of the Eugene Police Department, explained that every email sent to the city council is also sent to him. He reads through hundreds of emails a day to determine which messages are police-related so he can decide whether to take immediate action.
“Every business that sends an email to the mayor [and] council about the issues they’re having with their business, comes to me,” said Skinner.
The number one call for service in Eugene is criminal trespassing. “That’s our crime reduction goal for 2025,” said Skinner.
In the 97402-zip code area, 19,446 calls for criminal trespassing were made from 2019 to 2024, nearly half of all Eugene calls.
Gilbert has to have trespassing letters on his property so he can personally trespass people without the help of the police.
Businesses are required to have trespassing letters on file to formally trespass someone.
To Skinner, reducing criminal trespassing includes making sure those businesses have those letters, like Gilbert does. He says another strategy EPD is working on is ensuring officers can help connect people they trespass with resources such as temporary housing or shelters.
The EPD uses drones to help with quick responses to calls and ensure the safety of officers who report to the scene of a crime. The program has slowly grown, with five drones active and ready to dispatch. Skinner believes this will also help with the large amount of requests for service in Eugene.
Fences, security guards and locked doors
Green Health Dispensary, located on Highway 99 less than a mile from Putters, has had similar, though less severe, problems to Gilbert.
People have attempted to break into the dispensary multiple times, leading the business to keep their front door locked all day. Customers must ring a doorbell to enter, and the door is then opened by an employee.
Green Health has multiple security cameras and has hired a private security company to walk employees to their vehicles at night.
“I’ve worked here for eight years,” said employee Heather Hancock. “I think it’s [Highway 99] probably the roughest patch of the city.”
The Value Inn Motel, located across from an auto parts store that shut down a few months ago, also locks its office doors.
Jay Patel, who has worked at Value Inn for 27 years, explained that if he didn’t lock the door to the office, people would just walk in.
A fence was put up around the motel to lessen crimes. “We are in fear to run this business,” said Patel. “And to lose this business.”
Patel explained that people don’t feel safe coming to his motel, which is hurting his business.
A mile up the road from Value Inn, Tina Wolf manages The Embers, a bar located on the corner of Highway 99 and Bethel Drive. Wolf, who has managed the watering hole for seven years, put up a fence around the lot to prevent people from accessing the train tracks right behind the bar. Items used to be stolen from the back of the bar and needles were dumped before the fence was put there.
“Crime itself hasn’t really affected my business since we put the fence up,” said Wolf.
She doesn’t allow large backpacks into the bar and has taught her employees to keep a watch on the door at all times. She has cameras inside and outside of the bar, which she checks periodically throughout the day.
The worst incident to happen to The Embers was in 2022 when $15,000 was stolen during a break-in. The incident was reported, but “nothing ever came of it,” according to Wolf. “I would never walk down here at night by myself,” said Wolf.
Craig Rounds, an employee at Ace Buyers, a pawn shop, said he doesn’t like walking on Highway 99 unless he has to.
He has seen people fall over on the sidewalk right by his shop, presumably dead. Someone was stabbed near the back of his establishment a few years ago and needles frequently litter the ground.
“We just need more businesses and nicer businesses in this area that are willing to come out here,” said Rounds.
People, he feels, are afraid to come into his store, and he doesn’t blame them.
Real estate, security and local support
“Buyers steer away from that area [Highway 99],” said Rene Nelson, a real estate agent at Pacwest Commercial Real Estate for 20 years.
She said trespassing, stealing, damage to property and garbage are reasons why buyers avoid the area. “It’s very expensive to clean that stuff up.”
Nelson had a property listed for sale on 99 but it expired four months ago. She said the owner took the listing off the market to remodel and clean things up, but they struggled to get someone interested in buying.
She said she’s seen a change in the 99 area, specifically from an “okay space” to a place people avoid. She thinks it’s going to take a lot of effort from the local government to make a change. “I don’t know if we will ever get there,” said Nelson.
Brittany Quick-Warner, the CEO of the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, expressed her frustration with the crime situation in Eugene and how it affects businesses. “Frankly, this issue is so challenging. But all of the low-hanging fruit ideas have been exhausted,” said Quick-Warner. “If there was an easy solution, we would have already pursued it.”
One of the “low-hanging fruit” ideas Quick-Warner talked about is making sure each business has trespassing letters on file and signs that state those letters are on file. The Chamber of Commerce is working on getting signs for businesses who might not have them. She said they hope to have them and hand them out in the next couple of weeks.
According to Quick-Warner, the Chamber directly communicates with the City of Eugene and advocates for issues that the city might not see as a priority.
Some of the people in west Eugene have shown their support for a police substation in their area.
“We've helped amplify their request for that police substation,” said Quick-Warner, but there has been no course of action yet to build one. “It's not necessarily that the city disagreed, it's just that they weren't prioritizing it.”
An expansion of police services in west Eugene might not be on the table in the near future, however. The city is facing an $11.5 million dollar shortfall for the upcoming budget cycle.
The Eugene City Council voted to increase stormwater fees last month, but will still need to cut close to $6 million to balance the next two-year budget. Many of the proposed cuts would eliminate vacant positions, including some police department jobs. A final decision on the upcoming budget is expected June 23.
Steven Sturman, a security officer at North Pacific Security located on Highway 99, has been with the company for nine years. NPS works with about four businesses on the road, responding to alarms, potential break-ins and trespassing. According to Sturman, police officers traditionally respond to alarms on properties, but their response has proven to be slow. Sturman explained that NPS speeds up the process by going to properties and verifying criminal activity before they call the police to respond to the scene.
“We get there, we see the crime occur, and we report it to the police,” said Sturman. NPS officers are unarmed, but are trained to help de-escalate a situation. Sturman recalls a time in 2018, by the 7-Eleven on the intersection of Roosevelt Boulevard. and Highway 99, where one of his officers was shot three times and killed. He tells his staff that if situations escalate, to get in their car and leave. “Better to be a live coward than a dead hero,” said Sturman.
He believes private security doesn’t benefit businesses as much as police presence would. “Being a private security, we are very limited on what we can do and the criminal elements know that,” he said.
Sturman explained that over the years, he has learned that as drug use increases, property crimes also increase, which might be why he has seen the 99 corridor worsen over the past four years.
Shelters and services
Blaze Kenyon, the director of homeless shelter services for St. Vincent DePaul 450 service station on Highway 99, understands the frustrations that businesses have towards crime.
However, Kenyon believes that homelessness and the presence of shelters do not always correlate to the uptick in crime in that area.
“It’s easy to assume motive,” said Kenyon. “It’s easy to assume that this person who needs something more is motivated to steal it.”
The 450 service station on Highway 99 has security teams on site and security cameras that are constantly monitored for threatening behavior or people that are in need of medical attention.
Richard Hatfield, the program manager for the 410 safe sleep site on Garfield Street, has been in the homeless shelter services for 18 years.
“The most common misconception is that ‘They’re homeless, they don’t have jobs so crime funds their life,’” said Hatfield.
At the 410 site, over half of the residents have full-time jobs.
“Some people just lost their job one day and have nowhere to go,” said Hatfield, who said he understands the concerns that people may have regarding the condensing of homeless shelters and services. But he doesn’t think shutting these programs down or moving them will help anyone.
“We are helping thousands of people, and there has to be a place to do that,” he said.
The author of this story, Abby Snethen, recently graduated from the University of Oregon with a master's degree in Journalism. To see more of her work, visit https://www.abbysnethen.com/
