Former Pierce Sheriff candidate investigated for cyber harassment, impersonating officer
A former candidate for Pierce County Sheriff who fell short in the August primary election faces a criminal investigation for allegedly impersonating a sheriff’s sergeant in an effort to damage a rival candidate’s campaign.
Sheriff’s Department detectives suspect Craig Gocha, 37, of impersonating a law enforcement officer by filing an internal complaint under the sergeant’s name against Chief of Patrol and sheriff candidate Patti Jackson, according to an incident report provided by the department to The News Tribune. Gocha denied the allegation when informed he was a suspect in two misdemeanor crimes, according to the report.
The sergeant, Mike Csapo, who was also a candidate in the primary, told detectives he never filed a complaint against Jackson and had no knowledge of it, according to the report.
Gocha was also investigated for possible cyber harassment of Jackson.
Gocha has worked in law enforcement for 11 years, including as a police officer in Puyallup and Yakima and for the Sheriff’s Department. According to his campaign for Sheriff, he left the department in 2021 to spend more time with his family. He has since worked for Amazon and now works for Expedia, according to his LinkedIn page, where he’s said he chairs the global development committee for veterans.
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said Sept. 11 that it received a referral from the Sheriff’s Department soon after the Aug. 6 primary election. Spokesperson Adam Faber said they asked the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to handle it because it involved candidates for county office.
A spokesperson for the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Tara Tsehlana, said Sept. 11 that she believed the case was still pending review, and she hoped to have an update Sept. 12.
Gocha, Jackson, Csapo and three other candidates were in the running to replace Sheriff Ed Troyer prior to the primary, which narrowed the field to Jackson and Keith Swank, a former Seattle Police Department officer.
The incident report outlines an investigation that began in mid-May, shortly after the internal complaint against Jackson was filed under Csapo’s name.
A call to Gocha’s personal cell phone Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 11, went to voicemail. According to the incident report that details the investigation, Gocha told detectives Aug. 8 that he did not send the email complaining about Jackson in Csapo’s name, stating that it was “petty.”
“I ran a clean campaign and it’s not something I would do at all,” Gocha reportedly said.
Jackson told The News Tribune in a brief phone call Sept. 11 that since she is still actively engaged in the election, she would decline to comment on the investigation and would rather let the accountability process play out.
Sheriff Ed Troyer told the newspaper on Sept. 11 that the working theory in the case was that Gocha created a fake LinkedIn account under Csapo’s name.
“It’s very concerning. And you know, we took it seriously because it was disparaging to two of my employees’ names,” Troyer said. “So I wanted it looked into.”
Troyer said he was pretty shocked by the details of the investigation, and he wanted to be clear that Gocha was no longer an employee of the department and wouldn’t be again.
Impersonated complaint tied to Gocha’s IP address
Detectives began investigating the case after its internal affairs unit received a complaint, which listed the complainant as Mike Csapo and listed his personal email as a way to contact him. The complaint included a link to Jackson’s LinkedIn page. It alleged that Jackson had violated policy because her profile photo showed her in her department uniform and linked to her campaign website.
“She also announced on this page while her profile picture and messages clearly represent her as a Department leader,” the complaint reportedly read. “This is a clear attempt to sway voters and use her current employee for political reasons, against policy.”
A detective sergeant in internal affairs and Undersheriff Brent Bomkamp looked into the allegation and found no policy violations, records state.
“I looked at her posts from the last four months and found no posts where she was announcing that she was running for sheriff. Her profile picture is a headshot with no distinguishable department uniform or equipment,” the report states.
On May 29, a lieutenant emailed Csapo about the outcome of the emailed complaint. Csapo soon called to say that he did not send any such email.
“Sergeant Csapo was on speaker phone and advised he did not send any such email and had no idea what was going on,” the report states. “Sergeant Csapo advised he did not have a LinkedIn account and was not interested in ‘dirty politics’.”
Subsequent investigation found that the IP address associated with the complaint was tied to Gocha’s Comcast account. Detectives applied for a search warrant for the IP address, which was approved by a judge May 31.
Through search warrants to LinkedIn, detectives also reported learning that Gocha viewed Jackson’s LinkedIn account on May 14, the day the complaint was filed.
“It is probable that Gocha viewed Chief Jackson’s LinkedIn account and completed the email,” detectives wrote. “There is no data that shows Mike Csapo viewed Chief Jackson’s account at all. Therefore, he wouldn’t have any knowledge of her page content.”
A search warrant was also obtained for Gocha’s cell phone, which reportedly showed the device pinging off of cell towers near his residence south of Puyallup during the time frame the email was sent.
Detectives wrote in their report that assuming Csapo’s identity to file a complaint against another member of the department went beyond “political game play.”
“It could possibly damage both parties’ careers and their standing in the upcoming election,” detectives wrote.
Harassment allegations
The Sheriff’s Department’s investigation also detailed communications that Jackson has had with Gocha through LinkedIn’s messaging feature in 2023 and 2024, which eventually led to Jackson blocking and unfollowing him.
A detective interviewed her June 6 at the South Hill Precinct, and she reportedly became visibly upset when they began speaking about Gocha. According to the incident report, Jackson said she was being harassed.
Gocha messaged her in June 2023 on LinkedIn, stating that he wanted to sit down with her and talk about the election, records state. On Jan. 27, 2024, Gocha reportedly asked her when she would be announcing her candidacy and start scheduling town halls.
After a March 4 Zoom meeting that Jackson had with the guild, Gocha messaged her about statements she made about former Sheriff Paul Pastor’s endorsement of her. Pastor was the longest-serving sheriff when he retired in 2019.
“Did you say I asked for Paul [Pastor]’s endorsement tonight?” Gocha wrote. “I have never asked for his endorsement. I contacted him out of respect stating I wanted to strengthen the department.”
“Hello, how are you?” Jackson replied. “I said I know of three of four of us candidates who reached out to Sheriff Pastor,”
Gocha responded with spelling errors, stating he was good, that he hoped Jackson was well, and that what she’d said sounded good as long she didn’t imply that he had asked for an endorsement. He said he knew Pastor had endorsed Jackson and that he’d just contacted him out of respect.
Jackson told the detective she believed Gocha had somehow been able to listen to her presentation to the guild, which she found inappropriate.
Two days after the detective interviewed Jackson, she reported getting LinkedIn notifications that created a concern that someone was tampering with her account. One said “Patricia wants to connect with you on LinkedIn,” and the other was a notification that Gocha had viewed her account.
Detectives later asked Gocha about his LinkedIn usage and his communications with Jackson. He reportedly said he often views other candidates’ LinkedIn pages. He also said he did not listen to Jackson’s guild presentation but was told about it, and that was what prompted his messages to her.
This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
