Complaint of forgery for ex-DA

Brookings incident results in a citation

Former District Attorney Mike Riese was issued a criminal citation for suspicion of forgery involving a prescription drug Monday in Brookings — a day before he was scheduled to be arraigned for a separate incident in Del Norte County.

A police officer arrived at Chetco Pharmacy around 2 p.m. after receiving a complaint regarding documentation for a prescription, said Brookings police Sgt. Kelby McCrae.

The officer contacted Riese in the parking lot of the pharmacy and issued him the citation, McCrae said, adding Riese offered no resistance upon contact.

“It’s going to be a misunderstanding,” Riese later told the Triplicate. “The (prescription) looked questionable to them and now I have to clear that up.”

Riese is set to appear in Del Norte Superior Court today for an arraignment on one count of driving under the influence of drugs, two counts of child endangerment and a single count of public intoxication, all stemming from an Aug. 22 incident.

On that day, Crescent City  Safeway employees called for a welfare check for Riese. They told police he “appeared confused and disoriented,” according to a police report.

Questioned outside the store, Riese told officers he was taking medication after undergoing knee surgery and had not slept for several days, the report stated.

Riese told officers he had walked to the store and was going to be picked up by his girlfriend, but his truck was in the parking lot, the report stated.

When his girlfriend arrived, she told officers she was going to take him to seek medical treatment, the report stated.

Steve Kadel of the Curry Coastal Pilot contributed to this report.

Reach Anthony Skeens at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it