Jury selection began Monday in the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer. He is charged with false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.
The misdemeanor charges stem from a confrontation between Troyer and Black newspaper carrier Sedrick Altheimer, early last year. Altheimer was working his regular delivery route, in Troyer's Tacoma neighborhood, on Jan. 27 of last year when Troyer began following him in his car around 2 a.m.
Altheimer said he approached the car to find out why he was being followed. Troyer called 911 and reported that he caught someone in his driveway who had threatened to kill him. The call alerted more than 40 law enforcement officers from agencies across the county, and more than a dozen arrived at the scene.
Records show that Troyer later walked back his initial claim that Altheimer had threatened him. If convicted of both offenses, the sheriff could be sentenced to up to 364 days in jail and fined up to $5,000 dollars. KNKX South Sound reporter Kari Plog will be covering the trial.
It’s unclear if a conviction would have any bearing over Troyer’s role as sheriff. State law requires immediate forfeiture of office if an elected official is convicted of a felony. Troyer’s charges are misdemeanors. But that forfeiture also extends to any founded claims of so-called “malfeasance in office,” the definition of which is murky.
Immediately after charges were filed, an independent report authored by former U.S. Attorney Brian Moran found that Troyer had violated his department’s policies. Moran wrote that Troyer was untruthful and exhibited “improper bias” when he called 911 on Altheimer. The report said it’s “not hyperbole” that the newspaper carrier, while surrounded by police, could have been “an unintentional or misperceived gesture away from serious harm or worse.”
All of this has called Troyer’s credibility into question — landing him on Pierce County’s “list of recurring witnesses with potential impeachment information,” also known as the Brady list.
