Pierce County Sheriff Troyer says he knew charges were ‘coming since day one’

The Attorney General’s Office in Washington has filed two misdemeanor charges against Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer over an encounter with a newspaper driver last year.

Rantz: State AG charges Pierce County Sheriff with 2 misdemeanors after ‘unusual’ move

Troyer joined KTTH’s Jason Rantz Show on Tuesday to react. He found out about the charges Monday night when Rantz called him, looking for a comment.

“We knew this was coming from day one. I’ve got a letter from the governor where he’s actively asking the AG’s office to do a criminal investigation, which is not a fair and independent investigation like they portrayed it to be,” Troyer said.

The charges stem from an incident where Troyer called the police on a man who turned out to be a newspaper delivery driver. Troyer said he saw a car driving in and out of a neighbor’s driveway at 2 a.m. with its headlights off. Troyer had previously experienced a car break-in and was suspicious. He then drove after the man, identified as 24-year-old Sedrick Altheimer.

Altheimer, who is Black, claimed Troyer targeted him in a case of racial profiling. Troyer has maintained that he couldn’t tell the race — or gender — of the driver.

On Tuesday, Troyer said the state has put a stop to the independent investigation, which was something he supported, due to the charges from the attorney general.

“I’m hoping that fair and independent investigation is able to pick back up,” he said.

If convicted, the punishment for these two charges would be up to a year in jail or a $5,000 fine.

“The thing is, I knew that this was going to happen, so I was already ready and planning to go to the mat for it,” he said. “So I’m not going to back down, I’m not going to be bullied. I’m looking forward to a jury who is independent, and self-minded people, who will hear the facts, and I’ll leave it up to the voters.”

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3 – 6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.