Inset: Marganne Allen (GoFundMe). Background: The scene where Allen was struck by a vehicle in Oregon (KPTV).
An Oregon bicyclist was tragically killed in a collision with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who allegedly ran a stop sign during a drug surveillance operation, according to a lawsuit filed by the victim’s husband.
Mark A. Meleason, the husband of Marganne Allen who was 53 years old at the time of her death, is seeking $2.5 million in damages. The lawsuit contends that the agent, Samuel Landis, aged 39, was negligent in causing Allen’s death that occurred on March 28, 2023, in Salem.
Meleason’s legal complaint further accuses the DEA, Salem Police, and Oregon State Police of permitting authorities to disregard traffic laws while carrying out a sting operation targeting a suspected drug dealer. It is argued that there was no pressing emergency that justified Landis running the stop sign or any other task force members exceeding speed limits or ignoring traffic regulations, as noted in court filings.
Landis was initially charged with criminally negligent homicide in Marion County Circuit Court, but his case was transferred to federal court, where it was dismissed this year after a judge ruled he was immune from prosecution under a clause that allowed Landis’ attorneys to argue a federal defense of immunity from prosecution because he was a DEA agent actively surveilling a suspected drug dealer while on duty.
The victim’s husband, Mark A. Meleason, disagrees with the ruling.
“His driving behavior was like playing Russian roulette with his vehicle aimed at the public,” Meleason told the Salem Statesman Journal. “The judge’s decision granted Landis immunity for killing my wife, my soulmate.”
Landis’ attorney, David Angeli, said his client was conducting a police operation that day, cracking down on the fentanyl crisis in the area, even though Marion County prosecutors had argued Landis wasn’t in danger or in an emergency when he hit Allen.
Following Allen’s death, mourned the mother of two and program manager for Oregon’s Agricultural Water Quality Resources Department.
“She was an avid bicyclist,” family friend Michael Baird told local Fox affiliate KPTV. “I always used to see her riding a bicycle to and from work, rain or shine. She was well-liked, well thought of. She was a scientist and very avid about her work and being a good steward for the state of Oregon and the resources.”
