Gee Scott: Sheriff Ed Troyer is ‘an embarrassment’ to all officers

“I think Ed Troyer (Pierce County Sheriff) is an embarrassment to all the men and women that put on a uniform for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department,” Gee Scott said on KIRO Newsradio.

Troyer is facing two misdemeanor charges after he called a 911 back-channel meant for law enforcement officers, and told dispatchers newspaper carrier Sedrick Altheimer threatened to kill him near his home in January 2021.

Troyer took the stand on Thursday and began to describe his confrontation with Altheimer. He said Altheimer told him “I’m going to take you out!” in their initial confrontation. Troyer said he would never make a false complaint.

Troyer testified he then called 911 and that he said he wanted one or two police units. He said he let the dispatcher know the responding units would be coming into a hostile situation.

Troyer described Altheimer as saying, “Why are you confronting a black newspaper carrier in a white neighborhood?”

Just a few minutes later, Troyer said Altheimer never identified himself as a newspaper carrier.

“The reason I’m testifying here is the media made me out to be a racist and the state is trying to make me out to be a liar,” Troyer said.

Troyer said that when he got back to his home, he told his wife, Wendy, he was “threatened” by Altheimer, but did not use the word “kill” in his testimony. Wendy Troyer testified Thursday morning that her husband told her he was “threatened” when he returned after the confrontation. She also didn’t use the word “kill.”

KIRO Newsradio’s Sam Campbell has been covering the trial. He told MyNorthwest that there was a lot of legal wrangling Thursday and that it appeared that the defense would be calling more witnesses than expected.

Chad Lawless is one of the first Tacoma police officers to arrive on the scene. He’s also the officer who interviewed Troyer and wrote the official incident report. According to Lawless, Troyer did not mention any threats made to him. In fact, Lawless said that when asked directly, Troyer denied Althemier ever threatened to kill him.

Jim Brunner is the Seattle Times political reporter covering the trial. He was on The Gee and Ursula Show on Thursday.

“Certainly, the defense made a big push to question the credibility of Lawless,” Brunner said.

“I think the defense is in trouble. I think the defense is against the ropes. I think Ed Troyer, in this case, it was game, set, match yesterday,” Gee said.

“I think it is going great for the state. But here’s something to think about. No matter what the verdict is, Troyer cannot be fired. So even with a guilty conviction, he is still the sheriff until there is a recall,” Gee continues.

Ursula Reutin countered with, “the other part of it is these are misdemeanors. At most, if convicted, I believe it’s up to a year in jail and a fine.”

“It was clear to me that these officers, including detective Lawless, just really felt uncomfortable about having to deal with this,” Ursula said.

KIRO Newsradio reporter Sam Campbell and Seattle Times political reporter Jim Brunner contributed to this report.

Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.