Former policeman allegedly threatened employer when confronted about Tacoma theft

When former Lakewood police officer Skeeter Manos was confronted about stealing from the Tacoma construction company that hired him after he was released from prison, he stopped showing up for work.

Pierce County prosecutors contend he then sent Integrated NW Construction text messages threatening to expose the manager’s criminal history.

For his part, Manos claims the company’s accusations were leveled after he found out the manager was overbilling customers and agreed to help an aggrieved client.

Integrated NW Construction owner Caralyn Valdeman called his defense “completely baseless.”

“It’s infuriating from our perspective,” she said. “We really treated him like family and he stole from us. He really took advantage of us.”

Manos, 38, turned himself in to the Pierce County Jail on Monday though police had not issued a warrant for his arrest.

On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to second-degree theft. Court Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered Manos released on his own recognizance and banned him from having contact with the company, Valdeman or the manager.

Manos made headlines in 2012 when he admitted to stealing from a charity set up for the families of four Lakewood police officers gunned down in 2009.

He was treasurer of the Lakewood police guild at the time and had access to the funds.

Sentenced to 33 months in prison, Manos was released in July and placed on probation.

A Tacoma construction company hired him as a lead contractor to oversee crews working on deck remodels and home renovations.

Manos, who was hired under the name Tim Manos, was given a Home Depot credit card to be used only for emergency purchases and was supposed to first get authorization before using it and then turn in receipts, Valdeman said.

Another safeguard put in place were email alerts sent every time the card was used.

Police said Manos figured out how to change where the email alerts were sent.

Integrated NW Construction didn’t realize there were $2,500 in unauthorized purchases until another employee used the card in November and Valdeman didn’t receive an alert, according to charging papers.

“They asked defendant about these charges and defendant started failing to appear for work,” records show.

Manos allegedly bought tools the company already owned or wouldn’t use on job sites. In some cases, he returned the items bought with the company credit card and pocketed gift cards for the amount of the returned merchandise.

On Dec. 22, Manos started his own construction company in Seattle, which prosecutors believe explains what he used the tools for.

No one answered the phone Tuesday at Manos’ company, Seattle-based Green Leaf Remodeling LLC. The call was forwarded to Manos’ cellphone.

Valdeman said she had concerns about hiring Manos after finding out about his criminal history, but decided to give him a second chance.

“We really believed he had changed his way,” she said. “He was very convincing.”

Valdeman declined to discuss the details of Manos’ alleged retaliation because of the ongoing investigation.

He allegedly sent text messages threatening to expose the criminal history of the company’s manager and included a background check he ran three months before.

In a 25-page memo filed Tuesday by Manos’ attorney, he accuses the company of “attempting to use the legal system to exact revenge against Mr. Manos for daring to help an aggrieved customer seek redress against (the manager) for his fraud and deceit.”

The memo includes 10 letters from family, friends, Manos’ probation officer, two customers angry at Integrated NW Construction and a former employee of the company.

Manos was fired in December.

Days before he turned himself in, Manos reached out to media outlets because he said he feared police wouldn’t treat him fairly.

He wanted to apologize for stealing from the fallen officers’ fund and the police guild.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life apologizing for that and trying to make up for that,” Manos told KOMO.

Manos pleaded guilty to taking $112,000 from a fund set up after Sgt. Mark Renninger and officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards were killed at a Parkland coffee shop in 2009.

He stole an additional $47,000 from the Lakewood Police Independent Guild, the union that represents rank-and-file officers.

Prosecutors said Manos spent the stolen money on a Las Vegas vacation, gambling, outdoor gear, household appliances, a computer and a television.

He also pleaded guilty to charges that he passed himself off as a local accountant to hide his fraud.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Former policeman allegedly threatened employer when confronted about Tacoma theft."