The state Attorney General's office is seeking to require Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer to post bail of $10,000 as a condition of continued release pending his upcoming trial on charges of false reporting.
The motion, filed Friday, seeks to revoke Troyer's previous no-bail release on his personal recognizance in the case stemming from his controversial confrontation last year with a Black newspaper carrier.
A hearing on whether to grant the bail motion is scheduled for July 1.
The request by prosecutors follows a recent decision by a Pierce County judge to impose a one-year anti-harassment order against Troyer, requiring him to stay 1,000 feet away from Sedrick Altheimer, the newspaper carrier, due to continuing incidents of "unlawful harassment."
In issuing that order, Pierce County District Court Pro Tem Judge Christine Chin cited multiple incidents in recent months in which Altheimer said Troyer followed him in his unmarked SUV, circling around and flashing his lights as he delivered newspapers in Tacoma.
Through his attorney, Troyer has denied those encounters, saying he has only run into Altheimer once in April, when Altheimer delivered a newspaper to Troyer's father.
The motion filed Friday asserts that Troyer should be required to post $10,000 bail cash or bond and that his conditions of release should be amended to require "strict compliance" with the anti-harassment order.
"Defendant's actions are a clear and willful violation of this court's order that he have NO CONTACT with Sedrick Altheimer," wrote assistant attorneys general Melanie Tratnik and Barbara Serrano, in the motion seeking bail.
An attorney for Troyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Troyer was charged last year with misdemeanor counts of false reporting and making a false or misleading statement to a public servant stemming from his Jan. 27, 2021 encounter with Altheimer, who was delivering newspapers on his regular route in Tacoma when Troyer began following him in his unmarked personal SUV.
The two wound up in a standoff, and Troyer called in a massive police response, repeatedly telling an emergency dispatcher that Altheimer had threatened to kill him. However, Troyer backed off his threat claims upon questioning by Tacoma police, leading to the false-reporting charges.
An investigation commissioned by the Pierce County Council found Troyer's conduct had violated polices on bias-free policing and other professional standards. Troyer also has been placed on the county's Brady list" — a roster of law enforcement officers with credibility problems.
Altheimer has filed a federal civil lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages over the incident, saying he could have been killed during the police response.
Troyer, who is an independently elected official, has rejected calls for his resignation and has slammed the Attorney General's decision to file charges as an "anti cop hit job."
A trial in the criminal case is scheduled for October.
