Live Updates: Pierce Sheriff Ed Troyer on the witness stand in his false-reporting trial

The top law enforcement officer in Pierce County, Sheriff Ed Troyer, was called to the witness stand Thursday in district court to testify on false reporting charges about his late-night confrontation with a newspaper carrier in Tacoma.

It was after 2 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2021 when Troyer called a law enforcement-only line to tell dispatchers a Black motorist driving in his West End neighborhood had threatened his life, initially prompting a massive police response. A dispatcher testified last week that 40 officers were driving to Troyer’s aid before the first Tacoma cops to arrive downgraded the call. At least 10 officers arrived.

Over the course of the sheriff’s trial, jurors have so far heard testimony from a 911 dispatcher who answered Troyer’s distress call, Tacoma Police Department officers who responded, Sedrick Altheimer, the 26-year-old former newspaper carrier, and other witnesses including sheriff’s deputies and Altheimer’s employer. Prosecutors from the state Attorney General’s Office rested their case Wednesday afternoon, and then it was the defense’s turn to call witnesses.

Jurors will decide whether Troyer is guilty of two misdemeanors, false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. With no criminal history, a conviction on each charge would carry penalties of up to a year in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.

The News Tribune is providing live updates of the proceedings, and the trial is being livestreamed on our website.

2:36 p.m.: Troyer was called to the stand and was sworn in to testify. Attorneys for the defendant from Seattle-based law firm Frey Buck will question him first.

Attorney Anne Bremner began by asking about Troyer’s employment history with the Sheriff’s Department. Troyer was sworn in as sheriff about two months before the confrontation with Altheimer, and he has worked for the Sheriff’s Department since 1985.

She then asked about his interactions with law enforcement that responded to the scene. Troyer said he’d never met the Tacoma police officers who arrived because they were much younger than him and worked at a different police agency.

2:42 p.m.: Troyer said he’d never met the newspaper carrier, Altheimer, before that night. He said he told police at the scene that if Altheimer was a newspaper carrier out doing his job, he should be allowed to continue his paper route.

2:45 p.m.: Bremner asked if he’s received other threats in his line of work. “If you don’t like being threatened, then you don’t want to do this job,” Troyer said. He said he’s received threats in emails, even written on bathroom walls.

2:50 p.m.: The defense attorney turned to ask about Troyer’s upbringing. He said he was born and raised in Tacoma and attended Wilson High School.

Asked why he wanted to become a law enforcement officer, Troyer said when he was a child, “some of the best people I met were cops, and some of the worst.” Troyer said he recalled several good incidents that made him want to work in policing.

Sheriff Troyer called cops on newspaper carrier almost 2 years ago. Here’s a timeline

2:56 p.m.: Bremner asked when Troyer became spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department, the public information officer. Troyer said he started about 22 years ago and had some “self taught” background in media. He said he worked in radio a bit in college.

3 p.m.: Bremner asked about homicide cases Troyer provided media information for, including the 2009 shooting of four Lakewood Police Department officers at a coffee shop. Troyer said he would typically go to the crime scene and gather information about what happened.

3:05 p.m.: The defense presented a document to Troyer that Bremner said contained a list of charitable organizations he has been involved with. She asked him how many pages were in the exhibit. There were three.

Prosecutors objected to the exhibit being admitted on the basis of relevance, but the judge overruled.

Then the defense asked to mark photos of Troyer’s family as exhibits. The state objected and the judge again overruled.

3:11 p.m.: Troyer is reviewing about 13 photos of his family. He said one contained his granddaughters, two grandsons and three younger foster kids that were living with his daughter’s family. One was taken at his swearing-in ceremony, one was from a Japanese hibachi restaurant and another was at a haunted house attraction.

State assistant attorney general Melanie Tratnik objected to the photos. Bremner said they were relevant to show the racial diversity of Troyer’s family given that Altheimer has accused Troyer of racially profiling him.

3:20 p.m.: Defense attorneys put up a large map of the neighborhood around Troyer’s West End home in Tacoma and displayed a photo of his house. Troyer said he first saw Altheimer from a second-floor window.

3:25 p.m.: Troyer said he lives in a quiet neighborhood, but that morning he saw a car with no headlights on going in and out of driveways. He said it caused him concern because his son’s car was recently broken into and his wife had dealt with similar issues.

Troyer said he saw the car pull into several driveways from the wrong side of the street and at that point, he decided he was going to try to get the vehicle’s license plate.

3:30 p.m.: Troyer said he drove three blocks on Narrows Place and turned onto North 27th Street, where he soon saw the car without headlights on in another driveway.

“If I saw a car driving with headlights on, I wouldn’t think anything of it,” the sheriff said.

3:33 p.m.: Bremner asked Troyer what he did when he saw the car. He said he pulled up behind it and as he came to a stop, the driver got out and started walking toward him. The defense attorney asked what his demeanor was, and Troyer said the man was mad and was swinging his arms.

“He just came and laid into me,” Troyer said. He said the driver said “words like, ‘I’ll take you out.’”

3:36 p.m.: Troyer said he stayed in his car after he called 911. He said Altheimer was screaming at him about being a Black man in a white neighborhood. Troyer said he tried to speak calmly and told Altheimer he had a Black grandson who wouldn’t appreciate hearing that. He also told the man he has Black friends.

3:40 p.m.: Bremner asked Troyer about how he and Altheimer identified each other. Troyer said that Altheimer said he knew who he was, but that the man never told him he was a newspaper carrier. He said he didn’t learn Altheimer was working until several officers who responded to the scene told him.

Bremner asked Troyer what his reaction was to learning he was a newspaper carrier. “Why didn’t he just tell me that,” Troyer said.

3:50 p.m.: Troyer was handed a Tacoma police report that was created about the incident. He said he wasn’t aware a report was made until Jim Brunner, a reporter for The Seattle Times, called him about the confrontation.

3:53 p.m.: Bremner addressed the charges Troyer is facing and asked if he ever initiated a false report or reported false information. Troyer repeatedly said no. Bremner asked Troyer if he was sure.

“100 percent,” Troyer said. “The reason why I’m here testifying is the media has made me out to be a racist and the state has made me out to be a liar.”

3:56 p.m.: Bremner asked if anything else happened that night. Troyer said that later, his wife told him there was a car in the driveway, and he heard a car engine revving. Troyer said he looked out the window and saw Altheimer yelling and swinging his arms. Then he threw a newspaper to his house and drove away.

Troyer said he stayed up the rest of the night waiting to see if the man would come back.

Asked about firearms, Troyer said he wasn’t armed the night of the encounter and that he “isn’t a gun person.”

4 p.m.: Bremner asked Troyer what he was wearing that night. Troyer was wearing gray jeans, a sport coat with a “decent shirt” underneath and gray boots, he said.

4:02 p.m.: Bremner asked when Troyer was able to tell that Altheimer was Black. Troyer said when the man got out of his car and approached his vehicle, he could see the man’s race. He said he couldn’t see his race when he first saw the man’s car from his home.

4:04 p.m.: The defense attorney asked Troyer if he requested 40 police units to respond. He said no, he asked for one or two units with individual officers, and that he just needed someone there to calm Altheimer down.

4:09 p.m.: Troyer said he has never received a complaint on the basis of racial profiling, discrimination or false reporting.

4:10 p.m.: Bremner asked Troyer about his conversation with The Seattle Times reporter. He said 50 percent of the conversation was about parts of the confrontation that he’d never heard about or never happened.

Troyer said he didn’t get phone calls from other reporters after The Seattle Times’ story was published. He said media took the story and “ran with it.”

“It was Black newspaper boy chased by white sheriff, and that made it around the country,” Troyer said.

Asked how that narrative was wrong, Troyer said he wasn’t racist and he didn’t lie about what happened.

Bremner asked Troyer if his testimony was the first time he was able to say “what really happened.” Troyer said yes. The defense attorney asked the sheriff if he was telling the entire truth.

“I’ve told — considering there’s months that have gone by — there are some details, but I’ve told the truth, and I’ve told honestly what was in my heart and what I was thinking,” Troyer said.

4:15 p.m.: Jurors were dismissed for the day. Defense attorneys said that on Monday, they want to play Troyer’s call to South Sound 911. Troyer has not yet been dismissed as a witness, and prosecutors will be able to cross-examine him once the defense is finished questioning him.