Washington State Attorney General’s Office announcement.
TACOMA — A Pierce County jury today found Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer not guilty of false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant after an early morning encounter with a newspaper carrier in 2021.
The Attorney General’s Office filed the charges against Troyer after Gov. Jay Inslee referred the case to the office.
The charges stemmed from an incident that began at approximately 2 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2021, when Troyer called the 911 “officer line” and told a dispatcher that the carrier “knows who I am and he threatened to kill me.”
“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.”
Troyer had followed the man during part of the carrier’s route. After the newspaper carrier approached Troyer and asked him why he was following him, the two got into a verbal exchange that eventually led to them facing each other in their vehicles on the road.
Troyer’s call to dispatch and claim of a threat on his life prompted more than 40 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies to rush toward the scene to assist another law enforcement officer they believed was in danger. According to charging documents, despite his statement to dispatchers, officers on scene reported that Troyer later told them the carrier did not threaten him.
Officers released the newspaper carrier to finish his route about half an hour after they arrived on scene.
On April 24, 2021, Gov. Inslee referred the criminal investigation to the Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office does not have authority to initiate criminal investigations, unless it receives and accepts a referral from a county prosecutor or the governor.
After its investigation of the incident, the Attorney General’s Office filed two misdemeanor charges against Troyer in October of 2021.
Assistant Attorneys General Melanie Tratnik and Barbara Serrano, paralegal Jennifer Payne and Legal Assistant Rebecca Hendrickson are handling the case for the Attorney General’s Office.
Read Seattle Times coverage of here.
Inslee is a social justice Nazi, thank God he is stupid! Ferguson’s socialism and methods are dangerous, reminds me of national socialism, CCP, autocratic Russia! Be warned he is a dangerous man!
While I am no fan of the constabulary, I believe this is the correct verdict. It does appear that this is a case of two fellows with rather large chips in their shoulders attempting a measuring contest.
This trial should have been in another county. Shades of “Janovich” to me.
At least Janovich did jail time.
Too bad people don’t get all the news on this case. After all the incident and everyone goes back to work, the newspaper guy drives to Troyer’s house, guns his engine several times and throws a newspaper at his house yelling a bunch of epithets. Troyer does not take the paper.
This is just one of the truths that was not told.
Jury took only 7 hours to come to the conclusion of this 10 day two MISDEMEANOR case.
Your tax dollars at work in these “woke” times and the way this state is heading, it won’t be the last.
I can still remember when the attorney general was more than a hit man for the governor and the political ambitions they hold.