Jury says anti-masker is guilty of all charges from Crumb Together incident; new cookie biz opening in same location
An anti-mask activist from the Gresham, Portland area has been found guilty of all charges stemming from a violent confrontation at a cookie store in Eugene in 2021.
A 12-member jury returned its verdict Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court. It found Amy Verlee Hall guilty of assault, burglary, criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct and harassment.
The charges stem from a Nov. 3, 2021 incident in which Hall and an accomplice, Ricki Collin, entered Crumb Together and confronted co-owner Deirdre Strirpe about the pandemic face mask policy. They got into a verbal – then physical – altercation with Stirpe, involving yelling, shoving, fighting and the removal of a bat Stirpe had taken out as things got heated.
Hall and Collin walked with Stirpe’s bat and then immediately encountered several of Eugene’s police officers. The couple showed officers their own video of the encounter that led to their arrest.
Hall is scheduled to appear for sentencing on February 9th.
Meanwhile, authorities say Collin is at large and warrants have been issued for his arrest in Lane and Washington counties.
Crumbs again? A new cookie shop will be opening soon
Meanwhile, a new cookie shop opens in downtown Eugene, in the same premises once occupied by Crumb Together on Oak Street.
“Big Cookies, Rad Vibes” promises Doughmo’s Cookie Company and is based in Hawaii. It will open its first mainland store by the end of the month.
Kodie Dorman is the business partner of the business owner, who this week renovated the store with her husband Bradley. She told KLCC her cookies have Hawaiian accents, while Doughmo’s website says some proceeds go to animal rescues, Alzheimer’s research, and women’s health and abortion funds.
Owners of now-closed stores have been grappling with regional online issues
Crumb Together closed just over a year after the anti-Masker incident and more than a decade downtown. The store became a reluctant viral flashpoint when Hall and Collin attacked Stirpe, prompting online ridicule from fellow anti-maskers and a spate of cookie orders from store supporters. Sometimes the orders were so large that Crumb Together had to go out of business and close the storefront.
When Deirdre Stirpe and her husband Tony announced they would be closing permanently in October 2022, they didn’t hold back the frustration and disappointment they felt trying to operate a business in downtown Eugene.
“Keeping our door open – we used to think – would push our cookie smell out into the street and invite people to come in for delicious treats,” explained Tony Stirpe. “That doesn’t happen anymore. What comes through our door and what approaches our door frankly frightens us sometimes.”
The Stirpes also expressed disappointment at the World Athletics Championships, which Eugene hosted last year. They said the hype and expected economic boost from the sporting event never materialized for them and many others in the city.
©2023, KLCC.
