# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread #2 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531 "2020-06-23T20:29:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1011
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531/1011 "2021-03-20T09:42:23Z")
Tacoma, WA: > **[Pierce County sheriff confronted Black newspaper carrier](https://apnews.com/general-news-40de9ca637a765f808e8731a45f6caaf)** > > The sheriff of Pierce County, Washington, sparked a large police response in late January after confronting a Black newspaper carrier driving near his home, telling a 911 dispatcher the man “threatened to kill me.” > [@](#): > > The sheriff of Pierce County, Washington, sparked a large police response in late January after confronting a Black newspaper carrier driving near his home, telling a 911 dispatcher the man “threatened to kill me.” > > The Seattle Times [reports](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/black-newspaper-delivery-driver-detained-after-pierce-county-sheriff-claims-then-recants-threat-to-life/) that Sheriff Ed Troyer retracted that allegation upon questioning by Tacoma police. Following the newspaper’s report about the incident, elected officials in Pierce County and others on Friday called for an investigation. > > Troyer said he would be open to an independent investigation. “In 35 years, I have never had a complaint against me for racial bias,” he told the newspaper. > > The 24-year-old carrier, Sedrick Altheimer, said the early morning encounter on Jan. 27 left him afraid and angry at Troyer — who was driving an unmarked, personal SUV and didn’t identify himself as law enforcement. > [@](#): > > Troyer, who is white, said he did not racially profile Altheimer. He said he began following the carrier because he saw a driver he believed was behaving suspiciously in his neighborhood in Tacoma. > > “There is nothing to do with him being Black,” Troyer said. > > Troyer’s call to a 911 dispatcher, which came in shortly after 2 a.m., spurred an urgent countywide alert that sent more than 40 officers from multiple agencies rushing toward the scene, public records show. Most were called off after Tacoma police arrived. > > “I’m yelling ‘What are you guys here for? What am I doing wrong? You guys are trying to arrest a paper carrier!’ ” Altheimer said. > > Early on Jan. 27, Altheimer was working his regular delivery route in his Geo Prizm in Tacoma’s West End when, he said, he noticed a white SUV following him. > > “I’m throwing papers out the window, left and right, both windows are down,” Altheimer said. He said he didn’t know it was the county sheriff behind the wheel of the unmarked Chevy Tahoe. > > When a responding police officer asked Troyer whether he had been threatened, as his call to dispatchers repeatedly had claimed, the sheriff “advised that (Altheimer) never threatened him” and said he had seen no weapons. Still, Troyer said, he was sure that Altheimer “wanted to fight,” according to the police report. > > After conferring with Troyer and a Tacoma police sergeant, a responding police officer released Altheimer. > > “All he had to do is calmly say, ‘Hey, I am delivering newspapers,’ ” Troyer said. Sure… just respond calmly to over 40 amped up cops with their guns pointed at you, convinced you threatened to kill a fellow cop… that’s all you have to do is just be calm. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread-2/912531)._