TACOMA — A jury acquitted Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer on Wednesday of two gross misdemeanors stemming from a 2021 confrontation in his northwest Tacoma neighborhood where his report that a newspaper carrier threatened to kill him triggered a massive police response.
Troyer’s defense team, led by celebrity attorney Anne Bremner, rested heavily on the sheriff’s reputation as the department’s longtime spokesperson and argued throughout the trial that he never walked back his threat report as responding police documented.
His lawyers also emphasized his request for one or two patrol cars, rather than the countywide distress call that dispatchers entered out of concern for the sheriff’s safety.
Bremner said following the verdict that Troyer and the defense team were grateful for the jury’s work.
“There was actual evidence against the state’s case, including body camera and footage,” she said. “The totality of all that kind of evidence, I think, was convincing as to Ed’s innocence and also, I think, his character.”
Attorney General Bob Ferguson, whose office prosecuted the case, released a statement about the verdict.
“Part of upholding the rule of law is respecting the decision of a jury,” Ferguson said. “I appreciate the jury’s service, and thank my team for their hard work.”
The verdict followed several hours of deliberation and a misdemeanor trial comprised of three days of painstaking jury selection and several days of testimony from six law enforcement officers and two dispatchers involved in the emergency response. A visiting judge from Kitsap County, Jeffrey Jahns, presided over the District Court case.
Troyer took the stand in his defense, claiming the newspaper carrier said, “I’ll take you out,” and approached his car like he wanted to fight. Prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s Office then grilled him about inconsistencies in his statements.
Bremner attributed the discrepancies to the length of time since the incident nearly two years ago and asserted Troyer had no reason to lie to get a police response. Troyer declined pre-trial investigative interviews on the advice of attorneys, resisted calls to resign and referred to his prosecution as a “politically motivated anti-cop hit job.”
“He’s a good man. He’s a great man who deserves not this for sure,” Bremner said during her closing argument Tuesday. “He’ll get past this. But this prosecution is wrongful in so many ways.”
The Attorney General’s Office charged Troyer with false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant last October following a months-long probe requested by Gov. Jay Inslee. Inslee said he did so because no local authorities investigated the elected sheriff’s actions.
A County Council-sponsored administrative probe of the incident by a former U.S. Attorney found Troyer violated four department policies on conduct, community engagement, bias and off-duty intervention. As the elected sheriff, only Troyer could decide to discipline himself.
Troyer has paid for his defense out of his own pocket after the County Council declined to foot the bill.
Assistant attorney general Melanie Tratnik said during her closing argument that Troyer did make a false report about his neighborhood’s newspaper carrier, Sedrick Altheimer, 26, to “teach Mr. Altheimer a lesson.” Altheimer, who is Black, testified he accused Troyer of following him due to his race during the confrontation.
Altheimer’s federal lawsuit against Pierce County and Troyer related to the confrontation remains pending. The complaint alleges the sheriff had “racial animus” and “reckless disregard” for Altheimer’s civil rights when he falsely told dispatchers the newspaper carrier threatened to kill him, leading to his detainment by police.
Troyer’s back-channel call to the 911 center on Jan. 27, 2021, spurred dispatchers to enter a countywide distress call reserved for officers in danger and natural disasters.
“In my perception of what was going on, waiting any amount of time could be a life or death situation,” South Sound 911 dispatcher Conrad Shadel testified Dec. 1 about his call with Troyer.
The loud beeping over the radio from the Priority 0 call followed by an announcement that an officer needed help sent police sprinting to their cars and rushing to the scene with lights and sirens activated, according to court testimony. More than 40 officers were dispatched and 14 arrived to aid Troyer, who they learned en route had reported the threat.
But the first Tacoma police at the scene quickly determined the incident didn’t require so many officers and asked dispatchers to downgrade the call. There was no active confrontation and Altheimer appeared to be a newspaper carrier.
Altheimer and Troyer’s vehicles were parked nose-to-nose following an earlier encounter where Altheimer approached Troyer’s car on foot.
Altheimer testified he was dropping off newspapers when he saw Troyer and asked why he was following him. The sheriff testified Altheimer was enraged and threatened him.
The lead officer at the scene, Chad Lawless, testified that he walked toward the sheriff after deciding it was safe for his partner, Corey Ventura, to talk to Altheimer by himself.
On his way, Lawless said officer Zachary Hobbs, who spoke with Troyer briefly first, told him, “You need to talk to this guy.” Hobbs testified Troyer didn’t mention a threat to him.
Lawless testified Troyer began the conversation by explaining that he started following Altheimer’s car because he suspected he could be a thief by his driving but did not mention a threat.
Then Lawless asked Troyer if he was threatened, according to his testimony. “He said, ‘no,’” prompting Lawless to ask if there was a threat or a weapon shown. “And again he said, ‘No.’” Troyer also shook his head, he testified. The sheriff responded, “It was clear that he wanted to fight,” Lawless said.
Troyer testified he remembered the conversation differently.
“He said something to the effect about the threats,” Troyer said, recalling the question as, “What about the threats?” Troyer testified he responded, “I’m not worried about it.”
Troyer also testified if Altheimer had told him he was a newspaper carrier from the beginning that the situation could have been avoided. “I said, ‘Let him go do his job,’” once Troyer found out, he testified.
Tacoma police released Altheimer from the scene shortly thereafter. Troyer testified he believed that was the last he’d hear of the incident, but then he got a call from the Seattle Times months later.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Troyer said of the false reporting charges last week. “The reason why I’m here is the media has made me out to be a racist and the state has made me out to be a liar.”
