AG's Office to investigate Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer at Inslee's request

The state Attorney General's office will open a criminal investigation into Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer over his January 911 call accusing a Black newspaper delivery driver of threatening to kill him. 

The investigation comes at the direction of Gov. Jay Inslee, Inslee's office said in a news release Friday afternoon. 

"The initial reports of these events were very concerning to me, and I had hoped to see some action taken to initiate a criminal investigation at the local level. But, to my knowledge, that has not happened almost three months after the incident," Inslee said. "So now the state is stepping in."

Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer (submitted photo)

Troyer, a 35-year veteran of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department serving his first term as sheriff, has been under fire since March when a bombshell Seattle Times report revealed he called 911 on a man delivering newspapers in his neighborhood. 

RELATED: Pierce County sheriff elicits massive police response after claiming newspaper delivery man threatened him

He told 911 operators the man had threatened to kill him, prompting 42 units from various South Sound law enforcement agencies to respond. 

When questioned by a Tacoma police officer who arrived at the scene, Troyer said he'd never been threatened.

Inslee's announcement comes weeks after the Pierce County Council voted on April 6 to hire an outside investigator to probe whether any potential biases or prejudices took place that night and whether or not Troyer misused his authority as sheriff.

Sheriff Troyer released the following statement to Q13 News Friday afternoon:

"Just like with the local investigation being conducted by the Pierce County Council I welcome any and all inquiries into the event that occurred on January 27th.  I and the department will fully cooperate with the investigation and look forward to it being done."

The investigation by Brian Moran, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, will also look into whether or not Troyer violated department policy or any criminal law. 

The Council also asked Moran to investigate public comments made by Troyer in November regarding the death of Manny Ellis, a Black man who died in Tacoma police custody.

Inlee's office said the AG's investigation will determine whether Troyer violated the state's false reporting law or any other criminal statutes. 

"I appreciate the governor’s confidence in our office," Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. "We will conduct a diligent, fact-based review."

Back on March 30, Troyer issued the following statement about the independent investigation:

"I welcome a fair, independent, and unbiased investigation into the events in November of 2020, TPD case 20-316-01845 and January of 2021, TPD case 21-027-00104 where I contacted dispatch about safety concerns in the City of Tacoma.  I also request that the County Council expands the scope of their inquiry to include my comments to the media regarding the investigation into the death of Manny Ellis, TPD case 20-063-02551.  I believe that the expanded scope and the findings of this investigation will increase transparency and create opportunities for building trust with the community that I have served for over 35 years."

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