Troyer asks County Council to cover legal fees in criminal probe. Here’s what it decided
Taxpayers will not be paying for the Pierce County sheriff’s legal counsel in state and county investigations surrounding his January confrontation with a Black newspaper carrier.
The Pierce County Council voted Tuesday to deny Sheriff Ed Troyer’s request for legal representation at county expense.
In an Aug. 10 letter to council obtained by The News Tribune, Troyer asked to hire outside legal counsel.
“As the elected sheriff, my job is full time 24-7. Therefore, I was working at the time of this incident,” he said in his letter. “The investigation will show I acted reasonably and properly and will clear me and Pierce County.”
According to county code, the council determines whether to defend employees or elected officials in criminal cases, like the state investigation.
The Washington state Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into whether Troyer made a false 911 call saying the newspaper carrier was threatening him.
Council Chairman Derek Young (D-Gig Harbor) said while the council debated whether the encounter was part of Troyer’s duties as sheriff, it is the council’s decision whether to provide Troyer’s legal representation.
“This is not a policy question,” Young told The News Tribune. “Even if we think he was representing the county, it’s up to our discretion.”
The council was split in its decision. In a voice vote, four members voted to reject Troyer’s request and three voted to approve it. The council did not hold a roll call vote.
Troyer has indicated legal counsel is needed for interviews investigators are requesting, Young told other council members in the meeting. He has not been charged with a crime.
The sheriff told The News Tribune after the vote he expected the result. He believes the vote was along party lines. He said Democratic council members who voted to reject his request are the same ones who voted to take the first step to change the elected sheriff position into an appointed position.
Troyer, who was voted-in last year, supports the elected position.
“It’s unfortunate that council members are politicizing this instead of truth-seeking, which they state they want,” he said.
Troyer previously told The News Tribune he did not violate department policy because he wasn’t acting as an officer of the law on the night of the encounter near his Tacoma home.
“I wasn’t doing law enforcement action. I was simply watching out for my neighborhood,” Troyer said in April.
Troyer clarified on Tuesday that he meant “not doing law enforcement action” as in he was not intimidating the carrier. He did not have a gun, nor did he show his badge.
“But we all know that we are officers 24/7,” he said.
Council member Ryan Mello (D-Tacoma) said before the vote the sheriff was not acting in an official capacity.
“In public comments, he said he did not identify himself as a sheriff, he was not in public vehicle and did not have a badge,” Mello said in the meeting. “Those data points lead me to say that the taxpayers should not pay for the criminal defense.”
Troyer was elected as sheriff in November with 64 percent approval and sworn in following certified results. Previously, he was the public information officer for the department for 19 years.
On Jan. 27, Troyer confronted a newspaper deliveryman. Troyer said he saw a car driving in and out of neighboring driveways and became suspicious. He got in his personal vehicle without his badge or service weapon and said he went to catch a license plate of the car he believed to be suspicious.
Sedrick Altheimer, who was delivering papers, said the sheriff was following him. Altheimer eventually stopped and asked Troyer what he was doing.
Troyer called 911 and asked dispatchers to send a patrol car or two to the scene. He told dispatchers at least three times in the nearly five-minute call that he was threatened by Altheimer.
The emergency call triggered an “officer in trouble” response, and 42 officers, deputies and troopers started to respond to the scene. Nearly all were called off after the initial Tacoma officers arrived and found no danger.
Altheimer denies threatening Troyer. A Tacoma police officer wrote in a report the sheriff told him Altheimer never made threats. Troyer later told The News Tribune that Tacoma police misunderstood him when he said he didn’t want anything done about the carrier’s alleged threat.
Troyer has repeatedly said he did not racially profile Altheimer.
The confrontation prompted the County Council to open a fact-finding investigation in April.
In the same month, the state Attorney General’s Office launched a criminal investigation. One of the charges being considered against Troyer is criminal false reporting for telling the 911 operator Altheimer threatened him.
Both investigations are ongoing.
Altheimer also filed a $5 million claim for damages against Pierce County. The damages claim is the first step in suing a government agency before filing a lawsuit.
The claim states Altheimer suffered emotional distress from the “racial profiling, false arrest and unnecessary use of excessive force of this man whose only crime was being a black man in a white neighborhood.”
Prosecuting Attorney Mary Robnett has yet to decide whether the county government will represent Troyer if a lawsuit is filed, spokesperson Adam Faber said.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 6:44 PM.
