Exclusive: Members of embattled Pierce drug unit seek damages from sheriff, prosecutor
Nine members of the Pierce County sheriff’s embattled drug unit have filed $1.5 million claims against Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett, former Sheriff Paul Pastor and five others in their administrations.
The claims were filed this week with Pierce County Risk Management as a precursor to lawsuits.
The sheriff’s Special Investigation Unit was disbanded in April after concerns arose that members had violated multiple policies and procedures, including writing fake police reports and conducting improper searches.
No final determinations have been made.
Ten members of the unit were placed on the prosecutors “potential impeachment recurring witness list,” which means information that calls into question their credibility must be turned over to defense attorneys.
Both the Sheriff’s Department and the Prosecutor’s Office conducted investigations and generated documents “disparaging me that were extremely untrue and portrayed me as being dishonest or lying,” according to a claim filed by deputy Lucas Cole. “When myself and other members of SIU spoke out against this dishonesty and other matters of public interest, we were removed from our positions and case assignments and reassigned to other assignments and the drug unit was disbanded.”
Similar claims were filed by Lt. Cynthia Fajardo, Sgt. Chris Adamson, detectives Darrin Rayner, Ryan Olivarez, Elizabeth Reigle and Shaun Darby, and deputies Jason Bray and James Maas.
Sgt. Tommie Nicodemus is the only member of the Special Investigation Unit that was placed on the impeachment list who has not filed a claim against the departments.
Named in the claims are Pastor, who retired Wednesday, Undersheriff Brent Bomkamp, chief of staff Mike Blair, Robnett, deputy prosecuting attorneys James Schacht and Fred Wist, and prosecutor’s investigator Keith Barnes.
Both departments said they could not comment on the claims because they had not yet received them.
An internal investigation conducted by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office wrapped up earlier this month and found Fajardo, Adamson, Olivarez, Darby and Nicodemus might have violated several policies.
The drug unit remains disbanded and all members have been reassigned to patrol or the Criminal Investigations Bureau.
“My reputation and truthfulness are essential in this career field, and both have been unquestionably damaged,” Cole wrote in his claim.
Olivarez said he was hoping to go work for an out-of-state law enforcement agency but the attack on his reputation has ruined that opportunity and dashed his dreams of being a narcotics investigator. He also argues in his claim that disbanding the unit “over time allowed the drug trafficking to skyrocket in the Pierce County area.”
Members of the unit have suffered stress-induced ailments, depression, anxiety and insomnia due to the investigations and attack on their credibility, forcing them to take sick leave, according to the claims.
Darby says in his claim he has used more sick time in the last seven months than in the 21 years he has worked for the Sheriff’s Department, adding that the two departments have “ruined my life and career.”
Drug unit members also say they have been impacted financially by loss of overtime and impact to their retirement funds, have lost the ability to work undercover and have had their reputations irreparably damaged.
“I have incurred irreparable damage to my excellent reputation and work ethic,” Maas wrote in his claim. “It has caused me to question my continued work for a department that I have given 25 years of my life to.”
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is looking for an outside agency with narcotics expertise to review the internal investigation and determine which policies were violated and what discipline is appropriate for members of the drug unit.
Some drug unit members could be removed from the impeachment list.
“It is entirely possible that some of the SIU members will be cleared by the investigation,” said Adam Faber, spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office. “They would then be removed from the list. We are still reviewing the investigation.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 1:31 PM.
