TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A jury acquitted a Washington county sheriff Wednesday in a case involving his confrontation with a Black newspaper carrier.
The six-member male and nearly all-white jury found Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer not guilty on misdemeanor false-reporting charges, The Seattle Times reported. The jury deliberated much of Wednesday before returning the unanimous verdict.
Troyer cried as the verdict was read and hugged his attorneys.
Troyer, who is white, has worked for the sheriff's office for decades in the state's second-most populous county. He was charged in October 2021 by the state attorney general’s office with one count of false reporting and one count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.
Prosecutors accused Troyer of lying when he called an emergency dispatcher around 2 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2021, saying four times that Sedrick Altheimer was threatening to kill him.
More than 40 officers responded to the scene. Most were called off after Tacoma police arrived.
Troyer told responding Tacoma police, however, that he was not threatened by Altheimer, according to an incident report and testimony by Officer Chad Lawless, who said he specifically asked Troyer twice about threats.
Troyer testified that he never retracted his threat claims but merely said he “wasn’t worried” about Altheimer once officers explained he was a newspaper carrier.
Closing arguments painted Troyer as a “great man” wrongfully accused, and conversely, as a liar...
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