GRESHAM, Ore. — A former homeless services specialist for the city of Gresham is accused of abusing his official position and committing multiple counts of theft, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
Kevin Vaughn Dahlgren, 53, has amassed a sizable following on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, where he frequently posts videos of homeless people, often accompanied by his own opinions on "empowering not enabling" them. As of Tuesday afternoon, Dahlgren had over 25,000 followers.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office opened a criminal investigation into Dahlgren after getting a referral from Gresham police back on March 23, according to the agency. Dahlgren resigned his position with the city of Gresham a week later, on March 30.
According to the DA's office, a grand jury approved an indictment of Dahlgren on Oct. 26 after hearing sworn testimony from eight witnesses. He's charged with 19 counts in total, including seven counts of first-degree theft, five counts of identity theft, two counts of aggravated identity theft and five counts of first-degree official misconduct.
The indictment lists the city of Gresham as the victim of the theft charges, each one alleging stolen property "of $1,000 or more," and names multiple individuals as victims of identity theft.
The court issued a warrant for Dahlgren's arrest, and the DA's office said that detectives with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office arrested him Tuesday morning. He was booked into the county detention center.
An investigation into Dahlgren is ongoing, and the DA's office said that more victims have been identified but not yet located. Anyone who has been in contact with Dahlgren in his capacity as an outreach worker is asked to contact MCSO Detective Dylan Lerch at dylan.lerch@mcso.us.
This is a developing story and may be updated with more details as they emerge.