Charges are filed in Ellis case. Here are 2 others putting local police under scrutiny
The death of Manuel Ellis was not the only case putting Pierce County law enforcement agencies under scrutiny.
Two other major investigations continue to slowly move forward.
One is looking into a Tacoma police officer who drove his patrol car through a crowd that had gathered to watch street racing downtown, striking six people.
The other is examining whether Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer committed a crime when he called 911 to allege that a newspaper carrier outside his Tacoma home had threatened to kill him.
Both investigations are ongoing, and officials said it’s unknown when the cases will wrap up.
Patrol car vs. pedestrians
On Jan. 23, police were called to South 9th Street and Pacific Avenue to handle about 100 people who were blocking the streets as several cars put on a sideshow, doing doughnuts in the intersection and allowing their cars to drift near onlookers.
Officer Khanh Phan responded to the scene and was alone in his patrol SUV as he tried to drive closer to the action. Cell phone footage showed him back up a few feet and rev the engine before his vehicle surged forward, running over at least one person and striking five others.
He continued driving forward through the crowd before stopping to call for medical aid.
Phan feared for his safety because people were banging on the patrol vehicle and yelling, police have said. He apparently did not believe he could back up.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team is in charge of the case.
Puyallup police Capt. Dan Pashon, who is handling inquiries into the incident, said the case could wrap up in two to three weeks.
“Pretty much everything is done,” Pashon told The News Tribune on May 28. “It all comes down to video.”
The FBI assisted with enhancing video footage of the incident, and investigators are waiting for that work to be complete.
Although investigators have issued regular press releases as required by law during investigations into alleged police wrongdoing, no real information about the case has been made public since Feb. 5.
At that time, investigators were still trying to interview three people struck by the patrol car and dozens of witnesses. Pashon said those interviews have been completed.
Phan, 58, remains on paid administrative leave until the investigation is completed. He has been with the Police Department nearly 30 years.
The City Council has said it is concerned about the officer’s actions, as well as by those who participated in the sideshow and damaged public property during protests in the days after the incident.
Tacoma Police Union Local 6 has said Phan “is a human and a dedicated public servant who reacted to a violent mob trying to do him harm.”
Troyer’s run-in with newspaper carrier
On Jan. 27, Troyer called 911 and asked for one or two patrol cars to assist him with a confrontation he had in his Tacoma neighborhood. Three times during a nearly five-minute call with dispatchers, the sheriff said the other man had threatened him.
The other man was Sedrick Altheimer, a 24-year-old Black man delivering newspapers in the area.
Altheimer denied making threats, and Troyer told an officer at the scene that Altheimer never threatened him, according to a police report.
Troyer has repeatedly said he never recanted and the officer either misheard or misunderstood what he said, which is that Troyer did not believe the run-in warranted an investigation.
The officer was not wearing a body camera at the time so there is no record of his conversation with Troyer.
On April 23, Gov. Jay Inslee asked the Attorney General’s Office to launch a criminal investigation into the incident and determine whether the sheriff’s statement to the 911 operator rises to the level of criminal false reporting.
“We will conduct a diligent, fact-based review,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in an April 23 statement.
No other information has been released about the investigation.
On Friday, spokeswoman Brionna Aho confirmed the investigation is ongoing but declined to provide details.
The Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance has filed two federal civil rights complaints against Troyer, claiming his interaction with Altheimer violated civil and human rights, including the carrier’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. The complaints also allege Troyer used excessive force, made a false 911 call, fabricated evidence and jeopardized Altheimer’s safety.
Pierce County Council initially hired someone to do a fact-finding investigation into Troyer’s actions, but that was put on pause after the Attorney General’s Office announced it would be doing a criminal investigation.
Troyer was elected to be the county’s top cop in November after spending 19 years as the department’s spokesperson.
