Ex-Pierce Sheriff’s sergeant sentenced to months in jail for felony domestic violence
A former Pierce County sheriff’s sergeant has been sentenced to months in jail for strangling his girlfriend and threatening her with a machete.
Robert Glen Carpenter pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court to second-degree domestic-violence assault. Judge TaTeasha Monique Davis handed down a sentence of six months, the low end of the standard sentencing range for defendants prosecuted in similar cases.
The charge stemmed from a Nov. 14 incident at Carpenter’s Puyallup home. According to court documents, the defendant came home drunk and then, over the course of two hours, choked his girlfriend several times, held a machete within inches of her throat, threatened to kill her children and said he would cut off her head and chop her into pieces. At one point, Carpenter threw the machete onto a bed, pulled out a pocket knife and told the woman to pick up the larger blade and fight him for her “freedom.”
This is Carpenter’s second felony conviction in Pierce County. Less than a month before this assault, he was sentenced to time served after he pleaded guilty to felony harassment in a 2018 stabbing incident in Tacoma. That assault ended Carpenter’s 25-year career with the Sheriff’s Department, which, according to court documents, included roles as a defensive tactics, SWAT tactics and firearms instructor.
Carpenter, 52, has been in custody since he surrendered to a SWAT team at his home hours after the assault. He received credit for time served and will likely face approximately three more months in jail.
Other charges leveled against the defendant were dropped as part of a plea agreement, prosecuting attorney’s office spokesperson Adam Faber said. Carpenter originally faced charges of first-degree kidnapping, three counts of second-degree assault and felony harassment.
The man’s defense attorney, Bradley Barshis, said in a phone call Tuesday he thought the outcome of the case was a good resolution. Barshis is a lawyer for Newton & Hall, which has offices in Kent and Bellevue. He said Carpenter wasn’t someone who needed to stay in jail, and he referred the man’s former law enforcement career.
“This is a guy that has essentially served and protected our community for 25 years,” Barshis said. “An individual who worked on the SWAT team and made sure our communities were made safe.”
The Sheriff’s Department SWAT team that arrested Carpenter responded after his girlfriend called 911 at about 5:19 a.m. to report the incident in the 8300 block of 191st Street East, a department spokesperson told The News Tribune last year.
In interviews with detectives, the girlfriend later said the assault started at about 3:30 a.m. when Carpenter came home drunk and woke her up by slapping her on the head. She said he yelled at her, tried to take her car keys, then left the room before he came back and put both hands around her neck. Records state Carpenter strangled her for 30 seconds until she gave him her phone.
Carpenter choked his girlfriend two more times during the assault. The woman said at one point he strangled her so tightly her vision started going in and out, and she was convinced she would die.
This wasn’t the first time Carpenter had attacked his girlfriend, according to court documents. The woman told detectives that Carpenter previously put his knee on her chest, placed a foot on her broken arm and told her “he had killed guys as an officer this way,” records state.
Strangulation is one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Unconsciousness can happen in seconds, and death in minutes. Whether someone is strangled by their partner is also one of the top predictors of a subsequent homicide.
The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence describes domestic violence and abuse as a pattern of behavior that a person uses to gain power and control over another. Those behaviors include isolation from friends and family, emotional abuse, controlling finances, monitoring and assault.
Resources are available for people who are in crisis or those worried about someone else.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 or 800-787-3224
Teen Dating Violence Hotline: 866-331-9474
The StrongHearts Native Helpline: 844-762-8483
The National Domestic Violence Hotline Deaf Services: 855-812-1001 (videophone) or 800-787-3224 (TTY)
