Savage sentenced to five years behind bars for biting sheriff’s deputy after arrest

Alvin McKenzie Savage III will serve five years of a partially suspended 10-year sentence after pleading no contest of a single count of assault on a peace officer.

Savage, 42, was facing multiple charges from two unrelated incidents in 2018 and 2019 when he struck a deal with prosecutors earlier this year. Lincoln County District Court Judge Matthew Cuffe handed down the sentence April 6.

Savage’s 2018 case, which was dismissed, stemmed from a run-in with law enforcement while traveling down U.S. Highway 2 in a vehicle with a broken taillight. During a subsequent search of his vehicle, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies located several grams of methamphetamine, pills, pipes, cash and mushrooms. They were also able to link a needle, scale, 30-milligram morphine pill, a muscle relaxant, three grams of marijuana and several hydrocodone pills to Savage, according to court documents.

Savage was arrested again in November 2019 after authorities responded to a report of an unresponsive motorist on Park Street. In an affidavit, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Ben Fisher recalled that Savage, who was found behind the wheel, smelled strongly of metabolized alcohol.

As first responders sought to treat Savage, he began to struggle, court documents said. Described as becoming “combative,” Savage allegedly tried to smash a monitor in an ambulance.

Authorities eventually handcuffed him in order to transport him to a medical center, according to court documents. Savage continued to struggle against restraints when officials tried to take a blood sample after arriving at the hospital.

In his affidavit, Fisher recounted how Savage bit Deputy Brent Faulkner while the lawman was trying to keep him under control, breaking his skin.

“After the bite, Savage started yelling that he had AIDs,” Fisher wrote in the affidavit.

Speaking before the court April 6, Savage expressed remorse for his behavior despite having no recollection of the events of that day.

“I let my family, friends, law enforcement and first responders down,” he told Cuffe, crediting authorities with saving his life.

Savage, supported by testimony from his mother, unsuccessfully sought a lesser sentence than what was agreed upon in the plea deal struck with prosecutors. Given his pre-existing health problems and the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, Savage argued that the state department of corrections was not “the place” for him.

His mother, Beverly Skaggs, asked that he be released to his family in Oregon. She also cited his health problems and said that she has never known him to be “mean.”

Prosecutors argued that Savage had a lengthy criminal history and a past riddled with substance abuse, drug manufacturing and sales.

While handing down the sentence, Cuffe said he recognized that Savage felt remorse for his actions, but the case was “very serious.”

“You have potentially sentenced [Deputy Brent Faulkner] to a life sentence,” Cuffe said of the bite inflicted in the hospital. “This is very serious and not OK.”