A Myrtle Point police officer who was under an Oregon State Police investigation stemming from an off-duty confrontation will not face criminal charges.

However, police Sgt. Yost Espelien remains on paid leave and has been since Dec. 18, following the beginning of the OSP investigation, Myrtle Point Police Chief Rock Rakosi said. With Espelien on leave, the city has four officers, including Rakosi, on patrol.

Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier finished reviewing the OSP report over the weekend.

“I’ve received the completed report. ... I’ve made some initial decisions,” Frasier said. “I will not be filing criminal charges.”

Rakosi declined comment on the investigation. He said it is generally standard procedure to place officers who are the subject of investigations on leave.

“Being a personnel issue, I can’t say a lot,” Rakosi said. “I wish I could be more forthcoming.”

Frasier said the investigation stemmed from an incident in which Espelien reportedly threatened an individual with a gun while off duty in late November.

Espelien tells a different story.

He said he got a call from a friend, who told him a man was at her apartment and refusing to leave. Espelien went over and found the man, who he had arrested on previous occasions, outside her apartment. He was in the parking lot, but didn’t appear to be leaving.

“I told him he needed to leave,” Espelien said.

The pair had what Espelien described as a 30-second conversation and the man left.

There was no threatening, according to Espelien. Later, he said Rakosi talked to him about a complaint, which stated the off-duty officer had threatened the man with a gun and the man accused Espelien of drunken driving. Espelien admits to having alcohol that night, but said he was not drunk.

“I offered to give a breath test, and did so within an hour,” he said.

The next day he wrote a report on the incident and didn’t hear about it again until a State Police detective contacted him about three weeks later.

Frasier said Rakosi immediately requested OSP look into the allegation after hearing about it, but a detective wasn’t available until  Dec. 12. The investigation was completed around New Year’s Day and the final report was delivered to Frasier on Jan. 6.

Frasier said after reviewing the report, he found nothing that could be considered a crime.

Espelien said he isn’t concerned about being placed on paid leave, which he said is normal in these situations, but is concerned how long he has been on leave.

“I totally understand how it works,” he said. “What’s frustrating for me is that it took so long for me to be contacted. ... If I’m not doing what I do, I get rusty.

“I just want to get back to work,” Espelien added.

Though no criminal charges will be filed at this point, there could be further ramifications for Espelien.

“There are concerns I have about his behavior,” Frasier said.

The district attorney’s concerns include the reported incident and another in which Espelien reportedly got into “a shouting match” with someone.

He delivered the report findings to Rakosi on Monday, so the chief could consider disciplinary action. He also sent the report to the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training for review. The department certifies law enforcement officers in Oregon.

Any disciplinary action would be up to the discretion of Rasoki and the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, Frasier said. Frasier said Monday he doubted that the report had reached the department.

Department spokeswoman Jeanine Hohn said Espelien doesn’t have any incidents that are cause for concern on his work history.

“He’s has a pretty clean work record,” she said. “He’s moved around, but always had a place to go.”

 According to Hohn, Espelien has basic, intermediate, advanced and supervisory police certifications. He started his law enforcement career in 1995 in Scappoose as a reserve officer. Then he moved on to the Coquille Police Department in 1997 and then the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in 1999. He resigned from Washington County in January 2005 and was hired in Myrtle Point on July 2005. Espelien was promoted to sergeant in December of that year.