The unchecked power of the elected sheriff

Last week, a judge ordered Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer to stay 1,000 feet away from a local Black newspaper carrier. The carrier, Sedrick Altheimer, had filed an anti-harassment protection order against Troyer.

This isn’t the only legal trouble Troyer is facing. But Troyer is still in office and he says he plans to stay there.

Ed Troyer was elected sheriff in Pierce County in November 2020. In January 2021, he called an officers-only emergency line, claiming that his local newspaper delivery person, Sedrick Altheimer, had threatened his life.

Fourteen officers arrived at the scene.

Jared Brown, the News Tribune's criminal legal accountability reporter, says that call was later canceled when officers realized there was no emergency. The case is still being investigated, but Troyer has been charged for false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.