TACOMA, Wash. — The first witnesses took the stand Thursday in the criminal trial of Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer.
Troyer faces two misdemeanor charges after he allegedly claimed on an officer line to 911 dispatch that a Black newspaper carrier threatened to kill him in January 2021. He retracted those statements when police arrived.
Former Tacoma Police Officer Corey Ventura, who now works as an officer in Southlake, Texas, was the first witness to testify for the state. Ventura and his partner Chad Lawless were the first unit to respond to the scene.
Ventura answered questions from both prosecuting attorneys and Troyer's lawyers about what he witnessed when he responded to the call.
On Jan. 27, 2021, Troyer called 911 on a line used by law enforcement to gather routine information and requests and said that he “caught” newspaper carrier Sedrick Altheimer in his driveway and “he just threatened to kill me,” according to probable cause documents.
Ventura testified that initially, he was responding to a high-priority call. When he arrived, he saw Altheimer and Troyer's vehicles facing each other. Ventura spoke with Altheimer, which was recorded on Ventura’s body camera footage and played for jurors. Ventura said that Altheimer was agitated and he tried to calm him down.
Ventura said he determined that, after examining the scene, the call did not warrant high-priority status.
After a recess for lunch, court reconvened, and SouthSound 911 dispatcher Conan Shadel was called.
Shadel explained how 911 calls are classified according to a ranking system, and that when he took Troyer's call, he designated it a priority code zero, the highest priority, because of a statement made by Troyer.
"He's in my driveway, and my neighbor's driveway, and he knows who I am and he tried to kill me and I got him blocked in," Troyer said on the 911 call played in court Thursday.
Shadel recalled that Troyer said someone was trying to kill him four times on the phone call.
Troyer's attorney, Anne Bremner, inquired about why Shadel gave the call such a high priority and the 911 dispatcher said it was because he was afraid for Troyer's safety.
"When an officer or deputy or whoever is saying that they're in danger, my focus is, as a dispatcher, to get units there quickly," Shadel said.
Tacoma Police Officer Aaron Baran was the last witness of the day.
When Baran heard the call concerning Troyer, he and his partner sped to the scene.
When he arrived, Baran testified he spent most of his time on the scene covering Officer Ventura.
When some of Baran's text messages that disparaged the sheriff were read out loud, Baran said it was out of frustration for being involved in the incident.
"The only reason we believe, or I believe we were in this situation of this high profile case is because of the actions of the sheriff," Baran said.
Court has gone into recess for the week and is scheduled to resume Monday morning at 8:45 a.m.
When questioned during Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's investigation into the incident, officers who responded to the scene said Troyer told them Altheimer didn't make any threats and he did not observe any weapons on him.
Troyer faces one charge of false reporting and one charge of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. Troyer pleaded not guilty to the charges in October 2021.
The trial began Nov. 21. However, jury selection was delayed after Troyer's health prevented him from being in the courtroom. The prosecution and defense gave opening statements Wednesday, two days past when they were originally scheduled. The trial is expected to last about two weeks, according to the court's original schedule.
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