On May 30, 2018 Oregon State University student Cedar A Haddad, pre-electrical and computer engineering major, was booked into the Lincoln County Jail after kidnapping a Newport hotel employee with an imitation handgun.

Reports state Haddad brought the fake weapon into the hotel and pointed it at the clerk around 3 a.m. before handcuffing her and asking her to come with him. He drove with her in the car for around an hour before releasing her in a Newport neighborhood.

According to the Lincoln County Circuit Court document, Haddad appeared in court on May 14 in custody and was convicted for kidnapping in the first degree, a class A felony. Haddad will be in custody for 90 months and will not be offered any sentence reductions or work release. Haddad was also sentenced to 349 days on a count of menacing and 90 days on a count of coercion, both which he plead guilty to. Upon his release, he will be on post-prison supervision for three years with the court recommendation of pursuing mental health treatment.