Former Puyallup police officer was accused of rape. Here’s why he’s already out of jail
A former Puyallup police officer who was fired earlier this year after he was arrested on suspicion of rape has pleaded guilty to a lesser crime and been released from jail.
Niamkey Ange Amichia, 32, pleaded guilty Friday in Pierce County Superior Court to patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor. Judge James Orlando sentenced him to 90 days in county jail. Amichia already served 134 days behind bars since he was arrested in March, so he was released.
New evidence made it doubtful the state could convict the defendant of his original charge of third-degree rape, a felony, prosecutors wrote in court filings. Prosecuting Attorney’s Office spokesperson Adam Faber said in an email that the charge hinged on whether the woman the defendant was accused of raping consented to Amichia not using a condom, and he said text messages between the two undermined the case.
The Puyallup Police Department hired Amichia in August 2022, shortly after he’d resigned from the Bellevue Police Department, where he’d been unable to complete a field training program, according to public records obtained by The News Tribune. Training officers noted he lacked basic understanding of laws and included inaccuracies in reports while excluding important facts.
Police Chief Scott Engle and a deputy chief interviewed him several days before he resigned from Bellevue, and Engle told city officials in an email that his struggles seemed normal for an entry-level candidate with no prior police experience.
Amichia was arrested March 2 as he started his shift. The same day, Engle put out a statement that said Amichia was fired immediately. The chief said the police officer was still in training at the time of his arrest and that he had never worked alone as an officer.
Charges alleged Amichia raped a prostitute while off duty Oct. 7, and DNA from a sexual assault kit linked him to a 2016 rape case in Waterbury, Connecticut. In the Pierce County case, the woman told Sheriff’s Department deputies she met a man online, and he picked her up at her residence, drove her to a nearby street, raped her and forced her out of his truck. She noted his license plate, called 911 and went to a hospital. A records check showed the truck was registered to Amichia.
Amichia agreed to pay the woman $400 before their encounter, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. In an interview with detectives, she alleged that he demanded they have unprotected sex, and she said she went along with his demands because she was afraid of what would happen to her if she didn’t comply.
In the Connecticut case, the victim reported her attacker entered her residence claiming to be a police officer, bound her with zip-ties and raped her, according to the probable cause document in Pierce County. The suspect left behind a condom with his DNA. It does not appear that Amichia has been charged there.
Amichia gave a statement to detectives after he was arrested. Records state he said both encounters were consensual, and he admitted to paying for sex outside his marriage. He said he lived in Middlebury, Connecticut before he moved to Washington. Records show he lived in Issaquah when he was arrested.
A Puyallup police spokesperson previously told The News Tribune that the department conducted a background investigation into Amichia’s past to determine if he was suited to become an officer. Capt. Ryan Portmann said the investigation met or exceeded the state’s required standards. It included a polygraph and a psychological exam. Portmann said Amichia manipulated his way through the department’s background process.
On Tuesday, Portmann said Amichia was a probationary employee, so he would have had little recourse to get his job back if he had appealed his termination.
“We have no intention of hiring him back,” Portmann said.
The department has to notify the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission when an officer is arrested, Portmann said. All law enforcement officers have to maintain certification with the commission. Its database shows a case involving Amichia was opened days after he was charged, and it is ongoing.
