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Click Here to view News and Updates In the Tommy Le Deadly Force Case

Deputy involved in deadly force shooting, rehired. Results of internal investigation, which found deputy was at fault in ALL counts investigated, were disregarded
Seattle Times editorial regarding reinstatement of deputy involved in unjustified shooting
The Seattle Times, January 28, 2020

New Sheriff overturns results of internal investigation and rehires controversial deputy
The Herald, January 22, 2020

New sheriff in Snohomish County rehires deputy fired for ‘unjustified’ shooting that resulted in $1 million settlement – Attorney Jeffery Campiche weighs in
The Seattle Times, January 21, 2020

Judge won’t dismiss excessive-force lawsuit alleging Snohomish deputy shouldn’t have been hired
The Seattle Times, January 15, 2020

Attorney Jeffery Campiche, Campiche Arnold PLLC, secures
$1 million settlement for family in the deadly force shooting of their son, Nickolas Peters
Snohomish Co. reaches $1 million deal over man killed by police
KOMO-TV, January 7, 2020

Council approves $1M for family of man killed by deputy
The Herald, January 7, 2020

Snohomish County reaches deal over man killed by police
Q13 FOX, January 7, 2020

Parents of man fatally shot by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy settle federal lawsuit for $1M
The Seattle Times, January 6, 2020

Family of man shot and killed by Snohomish County Deputy settles lawsuit for $1 million
KIRO 7, January 3, 2020

Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney reinstates Deputy Art Wallin, who was fired due to the wrongful deadly force shooting of Nickolas Peters – Jeffery Campiche responded to press inquiries regarding the decision

Deputy fired for fatal shooting rehired by new Snohomish County sheriff
KIRO 7, January 21, 2020

Snohomish Co. sheriff reinstates deputy who was fired after shooting
KOMO-TV, January 21, 2020

New Snohomish County sheriff reinstates deputy who was fired after deadly shooting
Q13 FOX, January 21, 2020

New sheriff reinstates deputy who fatally shot Edmonds man
My Edmunds News, January 21, 2020

Snohomish County sheriff reinstates deputy fired after fatal shooting
Lewiston Tribune, January 21, 2020

Campiche Arnold represents family of man shot by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy
Investigation finds that Deputy was wrong to shoot and kill Nickolas Peters after police chase. Deadly Force was not warranted.
KIRO 7, Top Story at 6PM, October 31, 2019

KIRO-fm-nick-peters-20191031

97.3 KIRO-FM, November 1, 2019

No criminal charges against Snohomish County deputy who fatally shot unarmed man
The Seattle Times, July 30, 2019

Family of Edmonds man shot by deputy sues sheriff’s office
The Herald, June 7, 2019

Family of shooting victim files federal lawsuit against Snohomish County & Sheriff’s Office
Q13 FOX, June 7, 2019

Family files lawsuit for wrongful death of son killed in Bothell by sheriff’s deputy
KOMO-TV, June 6, 2019

Witness says boyfriend followed orders before deputies fired
The Herald, November 21, 2018

Woman says her boyfriend was shot and killed as he held his hands up
KIRO 7, November 21, 2018

Streetcar tracks to blame for Seattle woman’s death
Settlement reached in lawsuit regarding cyclist who died in streetcar tracks accident
KIRO 7, November 21, 2018

Lawsuit blames streetcar tracks for death of Seattle woman
The Seattle Times, May 24, 2017

Attorney Jeffery Campiche represents the family of a bicyclist who lost her life when her tire got stuck in Seattle streetcar tracks
The Seattle Times, August 17, 2016

Group Health settles with Seattle woman
‘This didn’t have to happen, should not have happened’
KOMONews.com, August 8, 2012

Jeffrey Campiche seeks justice for a 3rd grader shot in the classroom
Father of girl shot at school says she faces a long recovery
The Seattle Times, March 1, 2012

Doctor says 8-year-old Bremerton girl will live
MyNorthwest.com, March 14, 2012

Family of girl shot at Bremerton elementary school hires attorney
MyNorthwest.com, March 1, 2012

Family of school shooting victim considers filing lawsuit
KOMO News, March 1, 2012

Washington state trooper sues man who shot him
Seaview Man Sentenced to 50 yrs for Shooting Trooper
The Daily News Online – March 9, 2011

Long Beach trooper: ‘I had seconds to live’
The Daily News – May 9, 2010

WA state trooper sues man in shooting
The Seattle Times – February 18, 2010

Mercer Island police officer hoping to help suicidal man sues over bite wound
Man bites cop, cop sues man
Seattle PI, June 22, 2010

Jeffery Campiche represents a man who claims a broken bicycle led to spinal cord injuries
Bicycle ‘Broke Apart’ Under Him, Man Says
Courthouse News Service – June 15, 2010

Families whose relatives died after using Coleman heater say it’s unsafe
Recall of Coleman heater urged
Seattle PI – December 14, 2006

Washington State Ferries and family settle over missing deckhand’s drowning
Missing deckhand presumed drowned
Seattle PI – July 14, 2002

Ferries and family settle over man’s vanishing
The Seattle Times – July 12, 2002

Man sues state Department of Fisheries, claiming they smeared him
Man Sues, Claiming Fisheries Department Smeared Him — Fisherman Calls Charges Against Him Political
The Seattle Times – August 17, 1990

KOMO AM – January 16th, 2018

KOMO-AM-jan16-tommy-le

KING TV – January 16, 2018

KOMO TV – January 16, 2018

KIRO TV – January 16, 2017

Law Enforcement Oversight Committee, June 13, 2018

KING TV – August 22, 2018

KIRO TV – August 22, 2018

KOMO TV – August 22, 2018

Họp báo tìm công lý cho học sinh 18 tuổi Tommy Lê

Tại văn phòng Luật Sư Campiche Arnold vào lúc 3 giờ chiều thứ Tư 22 tháng 8-2018 đã có buổi Họp báo cập nhật những tin tức về việc Sở Cảnh Sát và Quận Hạt King trong việc đối phó với những yêu cầu đòi công lý cho học sinh gốc Việt

18 tuổi Tommy Lê, bị tử vong oan khiên, và không được Quận Hạt King County tái xét dựa trên những cuộc điều tra khách quan và có thẩm quyền.

Sau khi Memorandum của Sở Cảnh Sát Quận King County phổ biến rộng rãi đe761n báo chí truyền hình địa phương, mà báo chí A Châu không được mời tham dự.

Chỉ ngay vài giờ gấp rút sau đó tại văn phòng luật sư Jeff Campiche và luật sư Linda Diễm Trần đã mời gọi đông đủ báo chí dòng chính và các truyền hình nổi tiếng địa phương và tuần báo Người Việt Tây Bắc.

Trong khoảng một giờ họp báo, luật sư Campiche đã nêu ra những nhận xét đi ngược lại với “Force Review Board”, đã được báo chí và truyền hình Hoa Kỳ dành cho học sinh Tommy Lê nhiều thiện cảm.

SeattleTimes, Seattle PI đã tường thuật đầy đủ chũng như những lời phát biểu mạnh mẽ và rất đáng ngưỡng mộ của ứng cử viên Joe Nguyễn, người trẻ nhiệt hiuyết đầy hy vọng thắng cử chức thượng nghị sĩ đơn vị 34- Tukwila. Ngoài ra còn có bà Giám đốc Diane Narasaki của cơ quan ACRS, và Luật sư Diễm Trần đều có những lời tuyên bố trên báo chí đầy thuyết phục.

Hiện vụ kiện đã được mang lên Tòa án Civil Federal Court sẽ mang ra xử vào đầu tháng 6-2019.

Nhiều đồng hương tin tưởng rằng Tòa án Dân Sự Liên Bang sẽ khách quan hơn, vượt qua được những tránh né và mang tính “Xã bênh viên chức xã” , “huyện bênh quan chức huyện”.

Nhiều người còn nhớ qua vụ án OJ Simpson đã được “tòa Dân Sự Liên Bang” xét xử công bằng và mang tính đạo đức nhân bản hơn “tòa Hình Sự” hoặc việc ủy ban “Xử Lý Nội Bộ” của cơ quan.

Chú thích ảnh:

1- Luật sư Jeff Campiche và Luật sư Diễm Trần đã trình bầy những phản chính xác và bênh vực cho Tommy Lê rất hợp lý và thuyết phục..

2- ảnh cậu học sinh bị tử vong một ngày trước buổi lãnh bằng tốt nghiệp Trung học SW Seattle

Brother of dead cyclist accepts settlement, but is still battling over safety

^{KIRO 7 – Nov 21, 2018}

Two years after Desiree McCloud’s death, her 26-year old brother Cody McCloud still has a hard time expressing how angry he is.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can say to the public that would really express how I feel toward the Seattle Department of Transportation or the City of Seattle,” McCloud told KIRO 7 on Wednesday. “You killed a member of my family and you don’t give a (expletive).”

Desiree McCloud, 27, died in May 2016 after her bicycle’s front wheel got caught in a First Hill Streetcar track gap on East Yesler Way near 13th Avenue in Seattle. She was passing another cyclist at the time.

Late last year, the younger McCloud sued the City of Seattle.

“The purpose of the lawsuit above anything else was to address the City as directly as I possibly could,” he said.

Within days of Desiree’s death, family and friends started calling for safety improvements at the site of her crash. KIRO 7 took those concerns to the Seattle Department of Transportation. SDOT City Traffic Engineer Dongho Chang told a KIRO 7 news crew on June 20, 2016 that “some simple things” might be changed, “like signing” near the site.

However, the McCloud family has always believed either physical barriers, such as those that separate cyclists from the streetcar tracks on Broadway, or rubber flanging as installed on a crosswalk across the tracks at Dearborn, would be safer.

Neither has been implemented.

“They’ll put flange filler in one gap in one spot,” Cody McCloud explained, “but the rest of it, to hell with you if you crash and die there. That’s your problem.”

McCloud believes the $490,000 the City of Seattle paid him to settle his complaint is “an admission of guilt in my eyes.” He believes the City admitted it’s “responsible for the death of my sister,” but is very frustrated by the City’s reluctance to make any safety improvements.

Which is why he agreed to tell his story.

Since 2013, the City of Seattle has faced six other legal claims because of First Hill Streetcar track-related bicycle injuries.

McCloud’s lawyer told KIRO 7, before the line was built, the City knew of the risks because a 2007 study of Portland’s rail system showed 67 percent of responding bicyclists reported crashes caused by tracks there.

“The City of Seattle ignored” its consultants and “determined the hazard was less frequent than that, and less severe,” Phillip Arnold of Campich Arnold PLLC in Seattle said from his downtown office. He claims, during the City’s review process “its consultants warned that this was a catastrophic hazard involving death.”

“In 43-years of deposing traffic engineers, I perceive a contemptuousness and arrogance that they shift responsibility to the victim and blame the victim for the crime,” Arnold told KIRO 7.

An SDOT spokeswoman declined to comment on the McCloud settlement. Dawn Schellenberg of SDOT would also not answer KIRO 7’s questions about whether there were any proposed or planned changes to the First Hill Streetcar tracks.

A number of cyclists have also sued the City of Seattle because of crashes along the South Lake Union Streetcar tracks.

Even though Cody McCloud’s legal battle with Seattle is over, he won’t stop demanding changes.

“Hell no,” he said in response. “I’m still here. My sister’s not.”

Family of Edmonds man shot by deputy sues sheriff’s office

^{The Herald – June 7th, 2019}

The family of an Edmonds man who was shot and killed last year by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy filed a civil lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The lawsuit names Snohomish County, Sheriff Ty Trenary and the sheriff’s office. It also specifically names Deputy Art Wallin, who fired the bullets that killed 24-year-old Nickolas Peters during their October encounter east of Lynnwood. The complaint argues that Wallin’s use of excessive force was a violation of rights laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and are asking for more than $5 million in damages for Peters’ death. They’re being represented by Seattle-based law firm Campiche Arnold.

“It’s our belief that Nick should have been arrested, not shot,” attorney Jeff Campiche said at a press briefing Thursday morning.

Mike Peters, the father of Nickolas Peters, said he wants to see law enforcement change how it uses deadly force.

“We can’t have this happening to other people,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”

The complaint raises several questions about the encounter, including whether Nickolas Peters was or wasn’t following orders, and whether he represented any kind of threat to law enforcement. Campiche said that deputies should have clearly seen that Peters was unarmed and that he was not making any move to harm them.

The shooting was investigated by the Snohomish Multi-Agency Response Team, a task force of detectives assigned to cases in which police have used potentially fatal force. A copy of their report was obtained by The Daily Herald through a public records request.

Snohomish County Prosecutor Adam Cornell, who will decide whether to bring criminal charges against any involved deputies, said on Thursday that his office is still reviewing the SMART investigation’s results.

“The case will be reviewed and decided like all of our cases — carefully, thoroughly, and ethically,” Cornell wrote in an email.

On Oct. 23, Peters was driving a Ford F-150 with dark tinted windows with his girlfriend, Britt Jakobsen, headed to her parents’ home in Brier. When Deputy Wallin attempted to pull him over east of Lynnwood, Peters led law enforcement on a triple-digit pursuit, according to the investigation’s documents.

Eventually, a patrol car knocked the truck off the street on Damson Road, documents say. A deputy then rammed his car head-on into the truck, twice, to pin it against some bushes, according to the SMART report.

Two deputies approached the vehicle. Wallin positioned himself at the passenger side door, while another deputy stood on top of the truck’s hood, shining a flashlight through the windshield.

Campiche said there should have been more than enough light to illuminate the inside of the truck and give a clear view of what Peters and Jakobsen were doing.

On audio recorded by nearby witnesses, the two deputies could be heard shouting conflicting commands, SMART detectives wrote in their report:

“Turn it off, turn it off.”

“Open the door.”

“Hands up, hands up, hands up. Get your (expletive) hands up.”

The deputy on the hood told SMART detectives he couldn’t see Peters’ right hand, only that the arm was down by his waist and seat. The deputy said that Peters did not appear to be complying whatsoever, according to the SMART report.

The lawsuit contends otherwise, saying that Peters was trying to follow orders.

At a press conference held by Campiche Arnold in November, Jakobsen said that she and Peters had looked at each other and realized they couldn’t follow all of the commands at once. She also said that Peters had raised both of his hands.

Even if Peters wasn’t doing exactly what the deputies said, there wasn’t justification to shoot him, Campiche said.

“In our country, you don’t execute someone simply because they don’t follow the officer’s commands,” he said.

The deputy on the hood said he was looking down, not at Peters, the moment that Wallin opened fire, SMART detectives wrote.

Wallin fired two shots. Both bullets went through Peters’ right arm, according to a report by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner. One embedded in his ribs, while the other pierced the right lung and landed in the spine.

Campiche believes there was a space in time between the two shots.

A photo from the medical examiner, provided by the law firm, shows a single bullet hole through the passenger side of the windshield.

Likely, Campiche said, Wallin fired the second bullet after the passenger side door was open — unless it somehow went through the same hole.

The picture does not provide a full view of the passenger door and whether there might be any bullet holes in it.

The SMART report indicates that the passenger door wasn’t opened until after the shots were fired, and after backup units arrived.

If the door was open, Campiche surmised, Wallin should have seen that Peters was not making any threatening moves.

A loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol in a green zippered case was later found underneath the center console, but it was likely not within Peters’ reach, Campiche said.

A toxicology report reportedly came back positive for fentanyl, amphetamine and methamphetamine, but that didn’t mean Peters was dangerous, Campiche said.

The only threat that was present was the truck itself, Campiche said, but that had been rendered immobile.

“It was not necessary for Snohomish County Deputy Sheriff Wallin to shoot to kill Nickolas Peters to protect against imminent risk or serious physical injury,” the complaint states.

In the complaint, the plaintiffs argue that the sheriff’s office failed to adequately train its deputies to avoid deadly force when it’s unnecessary — despite calls from the public for police to use less lethal alternatives.

As a result, they allege, Peters was killed.

Wallin declined to speak to SMART detectives. He remains on paid administrative leave, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Shari Ireton said Thursday.

Speaking at the Campiche Arnold law firm, family said Peters was one to let his hugs linger. Whenever he talked to family on the phone, he would say “I love you” before hanging up. And he was always active, having played hockey and lacrosse all through school.

Since his death, life hasn’t been the same, family said.

“Life is just harder now,” his sister, Lyndsay Peters, said. “I have anxiety I never had before. I don’t enjoy things anymore that I used to …”

“There were supposed to be so many more years to make more memories for us,” she said.

Witness says boyfriend followed orders before deputies fired

^{The Herald – November 21st, 2018}

A witness is disputing key details in the fatal shooting of an Edmonds man in October.

Britt Jakobsen, 22, was in the front passenger seat when a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy shot Nickolas Peters on Oct. 23. She and Peters had been dating for about five years, were engaged and were on their way home from a friend’s house.

She spoke publicly Wednesday at a law firm in downtown Seattle. Lawyers are working with her in considering whether the deputy’s use of deadly force warrants a civil rights lawsuit.

The case remains under investigation by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, which includes detectives from several local departments.

Aaron Snell, an Everett police officer and SMART spokesman, said there was little he could say at this point.

“As the investigation is ongoing, we will let the search warrants stand as released,” he said in an email late Wednesday afternoon. “If there is additional information about the incident, or clarification needed, we encourage the female passenger to talk with detectives.”

Deputy Art Wallin had attempted to pull over Peters, 24, on the way to a disturbance call in the 19500 block of Sixth Drive SE in the Lynnwood area. Peters sped off and led deputies on a brief but frantic pursuit, going over 100 mph and weaving all over the street.

Jakobsen said she breathed a sigh of relief when deputies pinned in the vehicle.

“When the vehicle finally stopped, I thought it was over,” she said. “We’re safe.”

“I couldn’t imagine Nick was going to die that night.”

One deputy jumped on the hood and shined a flashlight through the windshield, according to search warrants filed in court, while Wallin positioned himself outside the passenger door.

Contrary to what was initially reported by police, Jakobsen said, she and her boyfriend complied with deputies’ commands that night. When they told him to turn off the truck, he turned it off, she said. When they told them to raise their hands, they obeyed, she said.

Wallin said he couldn’t see Peters’ right hand, court papers said. The deputies ordered the man again to raise his hand.

Jakobsen said the deputy should have had a clear view of them.

“They could see perfectly through the windshield,” she said.

She said there was a moment of confusion when one of the deputies told them to get out of the vehicle. She and Peters locked eyes, realizing they couldn’t comply with both commands, to lift their hands and leave the vehicle, at the same time. So they stayed still.

The deputies said they saw Jakobsen balled up in the passenger seat with her hands over her face, records show. She disputes that description.

Jeff Campiche, a lawyer with Campiche Arnold, said law enforcement was trying to discount her as a witness by saying she had her face covered.

“But she’s a witness,” he said. “She saw what she saw.”

Jakobsen said the deputies didn’t give enough time after their initial commands. Wallin fired two shots and Peters suffered two wounds to his right side.

Right after, Jakobsen said the two deputies dragged her out of the truck by her hair. The warrant papers only mentioned that she was “removed from the vehicle.”

Campiche said the deputies were right to stop Peters for eluding police, but there was no confrontation that would have prompted the use of deadly force.

Law enforcement eventually found a loaded .45-caliber Kimber Custom II pistol in a green zippered case underneath the center console, according to public records. Police say they also recovered 100 oxycodone pills at the scene.

But, Campiche said, the deputies were unaware of the gun when they stopped Peters, and it was out of reach.

“The police are not entitled to execute somebody who has committed a crime,” he said. “Their responsibility is to arrest them.”

Moreover, he said, a deputy should not have jumped onto the hood of the truck. He questioned whether that was in line with standard training to de-escalate volatile incidents.

“Is it the policy of that department to shoot and kill before they have identified a deadly threat, only because a person’s hands are not completely revealed to the policeman?” he said.

When it is completed, the SMART investigation will be forwarded to prosecutors to review.

Family files lawsuit for wrongful death of son killed in Bothell by sheriff’s deputy

^{KOMO-TV – June 6, 2019}

BOTHELL, Wash. — A Snohomish family whose son was shot after a police pursuit last fall has filed a civil claim against the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

Mike and Jayni Peters are seeking damages in excess of $5 million for their son’s death in the Bothell-area on Oct. 23. The family announced the filing during a news conference in their attorney Jeffrey Campiche’s office Thursday.

Campiche, in laying out the events that night, said Nickolas Peters should have been arrested for speeding away from deputies, not shot.

Peters drove erratically and at speeds exceeding 100 mph to escape arrest, a law enforcement source told KOMO.

Once the pickup stopped deputies surrounded the vehicle shouting commands, Campiche said.

“Some officers are yelling, put your hands up, others are saying turn off the engine, others are saying get out of the car,” Campiche said.

Peters and his girlfriend, who was in the passenger seat, briefly looked at one another then gunfire blasted toward them, Campiche added. The woman was pulled from the truck and additional shots were fired. She wasn’t hurt.

“In the police report they say, well, he didn’t follow their commands, so they shot him,” Campiche said. “In our country, you don’t execute someone simply because they don’t follow the officer’s commands, and it’s hard to follow conflicting commands.”

The sheriff’s office told KOMO Thursday they have turned the criminal investigation over to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office to review. A portion of the sheriff’s office investigation remains ongoing.

Snohomish County Prosecutor Adam Cornell said in an email he has two senior deputy prosecutors reviewing the case. Cornell said he will consult with them and make a decision on whether to pursue charges.

“The case will be reviewed and decided like all of our cases — carefully, thoroughly and ethically,” Cornell wrote in the email.

The Peters family are suing the sheriff’s office, the State of Washington, Deputy Arthur Wallin and unnamed deputies. Wallin, the sheriff’s office said Thursday, remains on paid administrative leave.

Nickolas Peters, his family said, was a beloved son and brother. Growing up he was a star hockey and lacrosse player. Before he was shot the 24-year-old man was working as a painter, had recently moved out of his parent’s house and was planning to start working for his dad’s business, his family said.

Mike Peters, the slain man’s father, said Thursday that he wants the lawsuit to make police officers think twice before taking a life.

“This can’t happen to anybody else,” Mike Peters said. “This is huge, it’s going to be painful forever now and we’ve got to make a change, it’s time.”

Jayni Peters said she talked to her son the day he was shot – he told her he loved her.

“We never got off the phone without saying ‘love you.’ [He] never left us without saying ‘love you,’” she said. “He didn’t deserve this. He had his whole life ahead of him.”

Family of shooting victim files federal lawsuit against Snohomish County & Sheriff’s Office

^{Q13 FOX – June 7, 2019}

SNOHOMISH, Wash. — A Snohomish family says they want justice in the police shooting death of their son.

The family’s lawyer just filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Snohomish County and the sheriff’s office. This, seven months after a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed 24-year-old Nickolas Peters after a traffic stop.

His family chooses to remember him as an athlete and a shining star in their lives.

“Never got off the phone without saying I love you. Never left us without saying I love you,” said Nickolas’ mother Jayni Peters.

Jayni Peters remembers her son’s loving nature, even on the day he was killed.

“That afternoon he called me and he said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, love you bye,’” said Peters.

But Jayni never saw Nickolas alive again. He was shot multiple times by a Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputy back in October. The sheriff’s deputies tell us Nickolas was speeding, fled police, had warrants out for his arrest, was driving a stolen truck on a suspended license, had methamphetamine in his system, and had a gun not registered to him in the vehicle.

But the family’s lawyer says deputies didn’t know any of that at the time of the shooting but used excessive force and violated his civil rights.

“The danger was in Nickolas’ driving for which he should have been arrested and prosecuted. Not shot,” said Attorney Campiche Arnold.

The details of what led up to the deputy shooting Peters are still under internal investigation while the deputy remains on paid administrative leave. There are few answers to the mounting questions for Peters’ father.

“You can’t ask them any questions because they’ll say it’s still being investigated so they won’t tell you one thing,” said Mike Peters.

While the family admits Nickolas made some poor decisions, their own forensic investigator and what they know about Nickolas makes them believe the sheriff’s deputy did not have to kill him.

“I don’t feel like that’s my brother. When I read that I’m like they’re not talking about my brother,” said Lyndsay Peters.

The SMART (Snohomish Co Multiple Agency Response Team) team is made up of Snohomish County law enforcement officers from multiple agencies. They investigate police use of force incidents. They sent their findings in this case to the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office back in March. The Prosecutor’s Office tell us the matter is still being reviewed.

Woman says her boyfriend was shot and killed as he held his hands up

^{KIRO 7 – November 21, 2018}

A Lynnwood woman was sitting in a truck next to her boyfriend when he was shot by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy.

Britt Jacobsen told KIRO 7 about the night Nick Peters was killed near Bothell.

On Oct. 23, she says Peters refused to stop when a deputy tried to pull him over. She says Peters drove off with her in the passenger seat. She said Peters knew she didn’t want him to try to get away. A deputy tried the pursuit intervention technique, or pit maneuver, and eventually, two deputies pinned in the truck so it couldn’t move.

Jacobsen says a deputy stood on the hood of the F-150 truck and shined a light in on them. According to the search warrant, another deputy stood on the passenger side.

She says the deputies ordered them to put their hands up and get out of the car. She says she and Peters put up their hands. She says she watched the deputy shoot Peters. Next, she says she was dragged out of the car by her hair, forced to the ground and stomped on. Peters was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he died.

“He wasn’t a threat, we both weren’t a threat,” said Jacobsen, ” I just cannot believe they took him away.”

KIRO-7 obtained a search warrant that says Peters refused to show his right hand before the deputy fired. It also revealed a loaded pistol was found in a pouch under the center console and drugs were found in the truck, and Peters’ system.

Attorney Jeff Campiche is investigating the shooting and deciding whether to file a civil suit against the deputy and the department. He says Peters was not holding a weapon at the time he was killed and the truck was stopped. He says there was no reason to use deadly force. Instead, he said Peters should have been arrested.

“There wasn’t a confrontation that justified deadly force,” said attorney Jeff Campiche, “He had no weapon in his hand.”

Jacobsen is the daughter of a retired Seattle Police officer. Ken Jacobsen doesn’t understand why a deputy would climb on the hood of the truck, making himself vulnerable.

“They should have taken protection for themselves and they ordered the suspects, or two subjects, out of the car and nobody would have been hurt,” said Ken Jacobsen.

KIRO-7 contacted Officer Aaron Snell with the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, he said the shooting is still under investigation.

Brother’s claims against Seattle and Sound Transit blame streetcar tracks in bicyclist’s deadly crash

^{Evan Bush, Seattle Times – May 24, 2017}

The brother of a bicyclist killed a year ago has filed claims against the city of Seattle and Sound Transit, saying the First Hill Streetcar trolley tracks were to blame for the crash.

Cody McCloud, who described the year after his sister’s death as a “literal hell” for his family, is seeking damages of at least $2 million in the claims, which were announced at a news conference Wednesday morning on the anniversary of Desiree McCloud’s death.

“Streetcar tracks are a known hazard — known to the city of Seattle,” said Phil Arnold, Cody McCloud’s lawyer. “Seattle had many opportunities to fix this mess.”

Arnold described the streetcar tracks as a “lethal bicycle trap.” He said the city knew the streetcar tracks were a hazard, and yet continually encouraged people to bike on its streets.

Cody McCloud said the claims are “not about the money. It’s about a message: ‘Don’t kill me on these streets.’ ”

Claims for damages typically precede a lawsuit. If the agencies choose not to fulfill the claims within 60 days, McCloud’s lawyers plan to sue.

Desiree McCloud, 27, was riding with three other cyclists last May from East Capitol Hill to Alki Beach when the crash occurred. Surveillance images from a Seattle Police Department investigation showed her pedaling between the streetcar tracks on East Yesler Way when she attempted to pass another cyclist in her group.

That cyclist told police she saw McCloud’s bike wobble before McCloud crashed and tumbled to the pavement.

She died 11 days later at Harborview Medical Center. An autopsy found that McCloud, who was wearing a helmet, died as a result of blunt-force head trauma.

In their report last year, police did not find evidence to conclude whether the streetcar tracks played a role in McCloud’s crash.

“It is unknown if McCloud attempted to cross back over and if interaction with the rail was what led to her loss of control, and that question appears impossible to resolve,” police wrote in the report. “What is known is that no other vehicles were involved and that McCloud lost control of her bicycle, which caused her to fall to the ground. This incident, though obviously tragic, appears to be the sole result of some form of operator error on the part of McCloud.”

Arnold said he can prove Desiree McCloud’s tire became caught by the streetcar tracks, throwing her over her handlebars and into the pavement. He said he consulted a medical professor who is an expert in biomechanical engineering.

The professor, after reviewing medical records and other information, “concluded the only way this could occur would be for the bicycle to slow from beneath Desiree and throw her,” Arnold said.

Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick referred questions about the claim to the city of Seattle.

“Sound Transit provided funding for this project, but that was our only involvement,” Patrick said. “The city of Seattle planned, built and operates the streetcar.”

In an email, a spokeswoman with Seattle’s Department of Finance and Administration said it was city policy to not comment on pending claims.

Cyclists say streetcar tracks are dangerous because their tires can slip and their wheels can get caught in the flangeway gap — the groove where trolley wheels run.

The city does not collect data about streetcar-track crashes specifically, and many go unreported. After a request from The Seattle Times last year, more than 100 cyclists detailed falls they believe were caused by rail tracks.

Arnold said the city could have prevented Desiree McCloud’s death by excluding cyclists from East Yesler Way, separating the cyclists with a protected bike lane, marking the bicycle lane a “no-passing zone” or filling the gap with a rubber filler that compresses underneath the weight of a streetcar but would hold up for a bicycle.

The Seattle Department of Transportation has explored rubber flange filler in the past, but found the rubber didn’t last very long and could be slick for cyclists, too, a former rail manager told The Seattle Times in an interview last year.

Seattle has faced legal action over streetcar tracks before. In 2010, six bicyclists sued the city, claiming the South Lake Union streetcar tracks caused them to crash and Seattle knowingly allowed the unsafe conditions.

Although the city acknowledged the tracks could be hazardous, a judge agreed with the city’s argument that it had a right to build the streetcar line in the manner it chose and that the cyclists had not proved the city breached its duty to provide reasonably safe streets.

Jeffery Campiche, another lawyer working on Cody McCloud’s claims, said a 2016 case against the city of Port Orchard that was heard by the state Court of Appeals has clarified the legal standard in bicycle cases. He believes it will bolster McCloud’s case.

In the Port Orchard case, the appeals court decided it was Port Orchard’s duty to maintain roads to be “reasonably safe for ordinary travel, which includes bicycle travel.”

“How long would automobile drivers tolerate having in the middle of the road a trap that would flip their cars?” asked Arnold.

The Seattle Department of Transportation is working on a third streetcar line called the Center City Connector. Slated to open in 2020, the $135 million line would link the First Hill and South Lake Union streetcars.

Deadly streetcar tracks? Horror stories haunt Seattle bicyclists

^{Evan Bush, Seattle Times – August 17, 2016}

A look at her helmet explains the pieces of the story Melissa Riesland can’t recall. Its outer plastic is cracked. On its left side, the Styrofoam that encased her skull is crushed to about half its original width.

It was a drizzly morning commute three years ago in May and Riesland was pedaling to work, something she’d done for 13 years.

She was stopped, waiting at a light on Westlake Avenue. Be careful out there, a construction flagger told her.

She can’t recall the fall, doesn’t remember going to Harborview Medical Center, and only later learned that she’d lain in the street and snored as if she were taking a nap.

A witness told police that her tire had become caught in the streetcar tracks. Riesland believes her tires slipped on the wet tracks’ surface.

“I’m an experienced biker, so I know you go across them at 90 degrees,” she said.

Riesland suffered a skull fracture and a traumatic brain injury. For five days she was in the hospital. For nine months she attended therapy sessions.

Every cyclist seems to have a streetcar story.

Taylor Hurley, a former bike messenger who builds custom bikes under the brand Mobius Cycle, estimates 30 percent of her biking friends have crashed on the tracks.

When she mentions her wreck, “Everyone I talk to is like, ‘Oh my God, I know …’” before telling their tale (or a friend’s), she said.

Although the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)’s design for streetcar tracks has evolved to better tolerate bikes, cyclists say the tracks are a danger that often ensnares members of their flock.

Some question whether tracks and tires can coexist, particularly after a woman died after falling near the tracks on East Yesler Way. The investigation of her death is ongoing, but family and friends believe the streetcar tracks played a role.

Although anecdotes abound, the scope of the problem isn’t known and there aren’t always simple solutions on space-constrained Seattle streets.

Solid data about streetcar-track crashes doesn’t exist. SDOT has analyzed collision records, but the data include only incidents reported to the police and fire departments. Streetcar-track wrecks are coded as “Pedalcyclist struck object in road,” the same way a crash caused by a pothole would be entered.

Wrecks go unreported. Many are not serious enough to warrant a police investigation or emergency response.

Alexander Spencer, a fair-weather bike commuter in South Lake Union, was on Harrison Avenue earlier this summer when his front wheel got caught in tracks (“that’s like a drumstick in your spokes,” he said). He skinned a knee, bruised his side, hurt his shoulder and scraped up an arm. He hurt badly enough to stay home from work for almost a week. He posted his experience on Reddit but did not contact officials.

When asked in a public-records request for incident reports about bicycle collisions involving streetcars or their tracks, Seattle police found 10 cases since 2008 that were likely among the most serious crashes.

The cases included both experienced and new cyclists. Hurley rode Seattle’s streets “eight hours a day” for six years. “Even with my skills, I could not escape the fate that befell me,” she said.

A box truck, she explained, forced her out of the right lane on South Jackson Street in October 2014 and in between the streetcar’s tracks. She was able to push her front wheel free of one track, but the track snagged her rear wheel as she tried to angle out. She went over the handlebars and landed on her shoulder, breaking her sternum, damaging her heart and deadening the nerves in her left thigh, she said.

Wrenching to make adjustments on bikes is painful for her, and the last time she tried to ride, it left her so sore she used a cane for three days.

“My leg is completely numb,” she said.

About six months later, Jadivan Elzughbi, who had been living in Seattle all of 13 hours, had a similar incident on Broadway. Realizing there was a cycle track adjacent to where he was riding, Elzughbi tried to navigate across streetcar tracks but caught a tire and fell on his side. He suffered a broken hip.

After her wreck, Melissa Riesland had to relearn to read complicated material.

“If a character doesn’t come back for a few chapters, I don’t remember who they are,” she said.

She started with “Little House on the Prairie” books, worked her way through teen fiction like the “Leviathan” series and after two years could manage adult books like “A God in Ruins.”

Three years after the wreck, “I’m pretty (well) recovered, as much as that’s possible. But it feels I’ll never be quite what I was,” she said.

Long push for safety
Seattle first installed modern streetcar lines in South Lake Union in 2007. SDOT initially considered banning bikes on Westlake Avenue but decided against it.

After several crashes, six cyclists sued the city. Although the city acknowledged the tracks could be hazardous, a judge agreed with the city’s argument that it had a right to build the streetcar line in the manner it chose and that the cyclists had not proved the city breached its duty to provide reasonably safe streets.

The city has since adjusted the right lane of Westlake, where there are tracks, to make it transit-only. Interim Rail Manager Michael James said the move was made to bolster bus passage through South Lake Union but also helps with bikers.

“We don’t want cyclists in a lane that has streetcar tracks; it’s not the safest place for them to be,” James said.

The city also adjusted how bikes and streetcars interact when it designed the First Hill Streetcar. Instead of putting the tracks in the right lane, as it did in South Lake Union, tracks are in the center, which is less attractive to cyclists. SDOT built protected bike lanes running the length of Broadway on Capitol Hill. On East Yesler Way, bike lanes provide a division from traffic.

Cyclists still must navigate difficult intersections, though. On South Jackson Street, they ride in a general-purpose traffic lane adjacent to the tracks.

Study confirms risks

Other cities have struggled with bikes and tracks. A study of serious cycling wrecks in Toronto, which has the most extensive streetcar network in North America, found that 32 percent of cyclists in the study had wrecked on rail.

“On streets with streetcar tracks, there was threefold higher risk of being in a crash and ending up with an injury in the emergency department,” said University of British Columbia researcher Kay Teschke.

Teschke said that 85 percent of streetcar-related wrecks were caused by a cyclist’s wheel being caught in the flangeway gap, the space in the track that holds the wheels to the rail. In the others, the cyclist’s tires slipped on the rail. Women were more likely than men to be injured by streetcar tracks.

“Women tend to cycle a little slower, on average. It seems possible that might contribute to them lingering a split-second longer in the track,” Teschke said.

The researchers concluded the way to prevent wrecks on the tracks is to provide riders with protected bike lanes or give the streetcars a dedicated right of way. Protected intersections should also be installed, they said.

In Seattle, “that section of Broadway that has separated bike lanes is just beautiful,” Teschke said.

SDOT is designing a third line, the Center City Connector, to join the two existing lines on First Avenue.

“We’re looking to complete that design early next year,” James said.

It calls for a center-running transit-only lane, and a general-traffic lane on its right. Traffic delineators would line the streetcar lane.

“Unfortunately, on First Avenue we just can’t fit protected bikeway,” James said.

But James said cyclists have a capable north-south route with Second Avenue’s protected bike lane.

“We need to make sure the connections to and from Second and First and the crossings of the streetcar are designed as safely as they can be,” James said.

Has the city done enough? The question looms again.

The family of Desiree McCloud, the cyclist who died on East Yesler Way, has retained a lawyer to investigate a potential wrongful-death case against the city.

“The family feels that her death was avoidable — or even more accurately, that her or somebody else’s death was predictable,” said Jeff Campiche, their attorney.

At a community meeting a month after her death, family and community members asked for alterations to the stretch where she was killed. So far, no changes have been made. James said SDOT is waiting for the conclusion of the investigation.

Riesland, the rider badly injured on Westlake, said she never seriously considered legal action. She’d seen news of the six cyclists’ lawsuit being dismissed. Insurance covered most of her expenses.

She’s moved on. When returning to work as a technical editor went poorly, she applied for job retraining and is now studying health information management at Shoreline College.

Learning has bolstered her recovery.

“Being in school, it structures my brain,” she said. “It forced my brain to work.“

She bought a new bike.

“I’m determined to ride again,” she said, but on wide, flat trails.

No longer confident, she keeps her seat abnormally low. At first her husband ran behind her as she pedaled, giving assurance she could get past any tentative wobbles.

Ever since her crash, she has feared someone would be badly hurt or killed on the tracks, as McCloud’s family believes was the case in her wreck.

“I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen,” Riesland said.

Family of man shot and killed by Snohomish County Deputy settles lawsuit for $1 million

^{KIRO7 News Staff – January 3, 2020}

The family of an Edmonds man who was fatally shot by a Snohomish County deputy in 2018 has agreed to settle their federal civil rights lawsuit for $1 million, their lawyers announced Friday.

Nickolas Peters, 24, was shot and by Deputy Art Wallin on Oct. 23, 2018, near Bothell. Weeks after the shooting, Peters’ girlfriend, Britt Jacobsen, spoke to KIRO 7 about the night Peters was killed.

Jacobsen was a passenger in the vehicle when she says Peters refused to stop during a traffic stop. A deputy tried the pursuit intervention technique, or pit maneuver, and eventually two deputies pinned in the truck so it couldn’t move.

Jacobsen says a deputy stood on the hood of the F-150 truck and shined a light in on them. According to the search warrant, another deputy stood on the passenger side.

She said the deputies ordered them to put their hands up and get out of the car. She said she and Peters put up their hands. She said she watched the deputy shoot Peters. Next, she said she was dragged out of the car by her hair, forced to the ground and stomped on. Peters was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he died.

Jacobsen, the daughter of a retired Seattle Police Department officer, told KIRO 7 in 2018 that she didn’t understand why a deputy would climb on the hood of the truck, making himself vulnerable.

“(Nikolas) wasn’t a threat, we both weren’t a threat,” Jacobsen said. “I just cannot believe they took him away.”

In the fall, a report on the shooting was released and concluded that Wallin used excessive force. Wallin was fired by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department as a result of the report.

“The firing of Deputy Wallin and this 7-figure settlement removes any question regarding the wrongfulness of Deputy Walling’s deadly shooting of the Peters’ son, Nickolas,” the family’s attorney, Jeffery Campiche, said in a news release Friday.

In the report on the shooting, Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary wrote about the inconsistencies and missteps by Wallin that led to his termination.

“The use of deadly force is to be done with great reservations and using it here, when the events do not appear to have warranted it, is more than just a regrettable mistake, it is a loss that cannot be undone,” Trenary said.

On Friday, Campiche gave credit to the Sheriff’s Department for its handling of the investigation, saying:

“The Snohomish County Sheriff’s investigation objectively established that Deputy Wallin’s shooting of Nickolas Peters violated the Sheriff’s Office written policies restricting an officer’s lawful use of deadly force, and is a testament to the integrity of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The Snohomish County sheriff’s investigation and termination of Deputy Wallin is a shining example for other law enforcement agencies to follow. The Peters family will forever grieve the unnecessary and unlawful death of their son and pray for police restraint from using deadly force.”

A spokesperson for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department sent KIRO 7 the following statement:

“Given that the personnel portion of the October 2018 shooting is still being litigated (arbitration), Sheriff Fortney cannot comment on the settlement at this time. When the personnel portion of the investigation is settled, he will be making a comment.”

Parents of man fatally shot by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy settle federal lawsuit for $1M

^{Sara Jean Green, Seattle Times – January 6, 2020}

The parents of a 24-year-old man fatally shot by a Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputy in 2018 have settled their federal lawsuit against the county for $1 million, according to the family’s attorney.

In July, Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Cornell issued a six-page memorandum that states the use of deadly force against Nickolas Michael Peters was justified under the circumstances and the law that was in place at the time. Also in July, Peters’ parents filed a federal lawsuit against Deputy Art Wallin, the sheriff’s office and Snohomish County, alleging Peters’ civil rights were violated and that the county and sheriff are liable for the excessive force.

Then in October, former Sheriff Ty Trenary fired Wallin, a 13-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, after determining Wallin violated sheriff’s office policies when he initiated a vehicle pursuit on Oct. 23, 2018, and used unauthorized force when he twice fired into the windshield of the stopped pickup, killing Peters, who was behind the wheel.

“The family felt the firing of the deputy sheriff, the conclusion he’d violated sheriff’s office policies in the use of deadly force, and the $1 million (settlement) is a clear statement it was wrong to kill their kid,” attorney Jeff Campiche said. “They always felt Nick should’ve been arrested and punished for what he did but not executed.”

Campiche commended the sheriff’s office for conducting a thorough investigation and noted a number of Wallin’s claims about the shooting were disproved by evidence. For instance, he said Wallin claimed he warned Peters several times he would shoot if Peters didn’t comply with his orders. But “the audio clearly shows (Wallin) didn’t do that,” Campiche said.

The prosecutor’s office, which represented the county, does not comment on litigation, said Deputy Prosecutor Bridget Casey, one of the attorneys involved in the case.

In an Oct. 3 letter obtained by The Seattle Times, Trenary outlined the sequence of events that started with a disturbance call just after 10 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2018:

On his way to the call in the Kennard Corner area of unincorporated Snohomish County, Wallin saw a Ford F-150 being recklessly driven, with erratic speed and lane changes.

Wallin initiated a traffic stop and the pickup’s driver turned into a dead-end street and appeared to stop. As Wallin told dispatch the vehicle had been “reckless” and the driver was refusing orders to show his hands, the pickup accelerated past the deputy and his vehicle. Wallin then turned his car around and pursued the pickup based on “reckless driving,” the letter says.

“However, your decision to engage in the pursuit at all at this point was not in accord with SCSO policy because our policy clearly states that you may not initiate a pursuit based solely on reckless driving,” Trenary wrote. (A sergeant who failed to call off the pursuit was also disciplined by the sheriff, the letter says.)

The pursuit lasted just over two minutes. Deputy Mark Stich joined in, and both he and Wallin couldn’t stop the pickup. The pickup ultimately went off the road, onto the sidewalk and into some trees and bushes along North Damson Road, south of Highway 524.

When it appeared the driver was attempting to flee again, Stich used his patrol car to ram the front of the F-150, pushing it into the foliage, according to the letter.

Both Wallin and Stich got out of their patrol cars and ordered Peters to shut off the engine and show his hands. Peters ignored the commands and revved his engine for several seconds before shutting it off. When Stich saw Peters try to open the driver’s door, Stich climbed over his patrol car onto the pickup’s hood to stop him from running away, the letter says. As he climbed, Stich looked into the truck’s cab and did not see any weapons.

Eighteen seconds after the truck was stopped and 10 seconds after the engine was turned off, Wallin fired twice into the windshield, striking Peters in the right arm. One of those bullets entered his chest cavity, killing him.

In a later written statement and interview, Wallin said he fired because he believed Peters had restarted his engine and that Stich was in danger of being run over or pinned between the pickup and patrol car. After the shooting, investigators found the pickup’s ignition in the “off” position and Stich did not recall the truck being restarted, the letter says. Wallin later claimed he believed he was the one who put the pickup in park and turned off the engine.

Snohomish Co. reaches $1 million deal over man killed by police

^{KOMO News Staff, Seattle Times – January 7th, 2020}

Snohomish County has approved a $1 million settlement with the family of a man who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.

The Daily Herald reports the Snohomish County Council voted to approve the agreement Monday.

Authorities say 24-year-old Nickolas Peters was shot and killed following a car chase by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies in October 2018. Peters’ parents filed a lawsuit last summer seeking $20 million in damages through a jury trial. They said their son should have been arrested for speeding away from deputies, not shot.

The county admitted no wrongdoing and the family agreed to drop all claims against the county as part of the settlement.

According to police and court records in the case, Peters drove erratically and at speeds exceeding 100 mph to escape arrest.

Once the pickup stopped deputies surrounded the vehicle shouting commands, said the Peters family attorney, Jeffrey Campiche.

Council approves $1M for family of man killed by deputy

^{Zachariah Bryan, The Herald – January 7, 2020}

The Snohomish County Council on Monday unanimously approved a $1 million settlement with the family of an Edmonds man who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.

Both parties had agreed to the settlement amount last week, but the council needed to give its stamp of approval to finalize the deal.

Nickolas Peters, 24, led Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies on a brief, high-speed chase in October 2018. Deputies pinned his truck against some bushes on Damson Road, east of Lynnwood.

One deputy jumped on the hood of the vehicle and shined a flashlight through the windshield, while Deputy Art Wallin positioned himself outside the passenger door.

They shouted conflicting commands of “turn it off” and “hands up,” according to audio collected by investigators.

According to documents from investigations into the shooting, the deputies told investigators that Peters wasn’t complying with commands.

Peters’ girlfriend, Britt Jakobsen, who was in the passenger seat that night, said they were trying to follow orders.

Wallin fired twice, killing Peters.

Prosecutor Adam Cornell declined to pursue charges against the deputy after reviewing an investigation conducted by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team.

Wallin was fired in October following an internal investigation by the sheriff’s office. In a decision letter, then-Sheriff Ty Trenary determined that Wallin broke policy both in pursuing Peters and in shooting him.

Last summer, Peters’ family filed a lawsuit, demanding $20 million in damages through a jury trial.

In reaching the settlement, the county admitted no wrongdoing and the family agreed to drop all claims against the county.

Attorney Jeff Campiche, representing the family, called the settlement an acknowledgment from the county that the shooting of Peters was wrong.

“The Peters family will forever grieve the unnecessary and unlawful death of their son and pray for police restraint from using deadly force,” Campiche wrote in a statement.

Deputy fired for fatal shooting rehired by new Snohomish County sheriff

^{KIRO Staff, KIRO-TV – January 21, 2020}

A former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy who was fired for a fatal shooting has been rehired by new Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney.

Deputy Art Wallin shot and killed 24-year-old Nickolas Peters on Oct. 23, 2018. He was fired after a report found the shooting was “unjustified.”

Wallin was reinstated as a deputy sheriff K-9 handler with the Snohomish County Sheriff on Jan. 17 – two weeks after the Peters family settled a federal civil rights lawsuit against the county for $1 million.

Background Information on the shooting

In the weeks after the fatal shooting, Peters’ girlfriend, Britt Jacobsen, spoke to KIRO 7 about the night Peters was killed.

Jacobsen was a passenger in the vehicle when she says Peters refused to stop during a traffic stop. A deputy tried the pursuit intervention technique, or PIT maneuver, and eventually two deputies pinned in the truck so it couldn’t move.

Jacobsen says a deputy stood on the hood of the F-150 truck and shined a light in on them. According to the search warrant, another deputy stood on the passenger side.

She said the deputies ordered them to put their hands up and get out of the car. She said she and Peters put up their hands. She said she watched the deputy shoot Peters.

Peters was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he died.

Jacobsen, the daughter of a retired Seattle Police Department officer, told KIRO 7 in 2018 that she didn’t understand why a deputy would climb on the hood of the truck, making himself vulnerable.

“(Nikolas) wasn’t a threat, we both weren’t a threat,” Jacobsen said. “I just cannot believe they took him away.”

Report finds shooting was ‘unjustified’

In the fall, a report on the shooting was released and concluded that Wallin used excessive force.

Wallin was fired by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department as a result of the report.

Then-Sheriff Ty Trenary wrote a response to Wallin after the investigation was complete. In it, Trenary noted the inconsistencies and missteps Wallin took that led to his termination.

Trenary wrote, “The use of deadly force is to be done with great reservations and using it here, when the events do not appear to have warranted it, is more than just a regrettable mistake, it is a loss that cannot be undone.”

The Peters family spoke to KIRO 7 following the release of the report and said they knew all along there was no reason the 24-year-old should have been shot to death by Wallin. They Peters family explained that were appreciative of the department’s decision to fire Wallin, but said a thorough investigation and a vindicating report aren’t a time machine.

“It doesn’t change what happened – Nick never gets to come back from this,” said his father, Mike Peters.

The lawsuit and settlement

Even before the final report was issued, the Peters and their attorney, Jeff Campiche, filed a civil rights wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court against Snohomish County and Wallin.

“We need law enforcement that appreciates the value of human life and understands that when our young people commit a crime, they should be arrested and punished but they shouldn’t be killed,” Campiche said at the time.

On Jan. 3, Peters’ family agreed to settle their federal civil rights lawsuit against Snohomish County for $1 million.

Full Jan. 21 statement from Jeffery M. Campiche, attorney for the Peters family:

“The Peters family is disappointed and concerned by Sheriff Fortney’s reinstatement of Deputy Wallin, the deputy who shot and killed their son because his “spidey sense” told him that Nickolas had a gun (he did not). The family’s concern is that Deputy Wallin, has demonstrated a willingness to unnecessarily use deadly force in situations that don’t justify it. Specifically, the Investigative Report stated this: There is no statement, information or evidence to show that Nickolas Peters was known or believed to be armed with a firearm or deadly weapon at the time of the encounter, or that he displayed a weapon or threatened deadly force on the either deputy or his passenger. His vehicle was effectively pinned and disabled.

“Yet, Sheriff Forney’s decision to disregard his own office’s investigation and reinstate Deputy Wallin is a clear statement that the new sheriff intends to protect and enable deputies who use excessive force upon his constituents, whether justified or not.

“Sheriff Forney’s decision to give a gun and badge (and a salary) back to an unstable officer who has demonstrated his willingness use unnecessary deadly force on citizens should be reconsidered.”

Full Jan. 21 statement from new Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney:

“Last Friday, I reinstated Deputy Arthur Wallin to full commissioned status as a Deputy Sheriff K-9 handler with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

“Before I was elected Sheriff, I was well aware of the incident that Deputy Wallin was involved in that led to his termination by the former administration. I believe I speak for many Sheriff’s Office employees that we were shocked when the former administration decided to terminate him even after he was cleared of criminal charges by the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney. After the election, but prior to taking office, I made no promises to Deputy Wallin other than I would give the case a second look. I felt obligated to do so since the facts that I knew at the time of the incident did not seem to warrant termination. I knew full well that after taking office I could learn more information that previously had not been available to me which may lead me to upholding the termination case. I went into the review process with an open mind. The review consisted of reading the entire file, which included both the results of the SMART investigation and the Sheriff’s Office internal investigation by the Office of Professional Accountability. The file contained additional information that I did not have prior to taking office. After carefully reviewing the information, I found the termination of Deputy Wallin was not justified and that his actions were reasonable under the circumstances the suspect chose to put him in that night:

“1. Deputy Wallin’s pursuit of the suspect was within policy because the suspect was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and posed a danger to other drivers on the road, and the suspect was using his truck as a weapon (purposefully ramming patrol vehicles) posing a credible threat to responding deputies and the public;

“2. Deputy Wallin’s decision to use deadly force was within policy because he was protecting his partner and the community from an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.

“The bottom line is, Deputy Wallin never should have been terminated in the first place. Deputy sheriffs are expected to make split second decisions in situations which are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving. The incident the former administration terminated him for would fall under this category. Deputy Wallin believed his partner’s life was in danger when he chose to use force. I believe Deputy Wallin’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances in which they occurred. I also believe the SMART investigation supported Deputy Wallin’s version of what took place that night and his decision was appropriate under the circumstances. In my judgment, Deputy Wallin put his life on the line to protect both his partner and his community.

“I understand the difficult job that law enforcement officers, corrections, and support personnel have to go through in their daily duties. I value the work of all Sheriff’s Office employees and I am committed to ensuring that they are always treated fairly by this administration.”

Snohomish Co. sheriff reinstates deputy who was fired after shooting

^{KOMO News Staff, KOMO-TV – January 21, 2020}

A deputy who was terminated by former Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary after he shot and killed a suspect in October 2018 has been reinstated to fully commissioned status by new Sheriff Adam Fortney.

The deputy, Arthur Wallin, was fired last October because Trenary said the shooting of suspect Nickolas Michael Peters, 24, violated the agency’s policies.

However, Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Cornell ruled that the shooting was justified because Peters engaged in reckless behavior and failed to respond to commands to show his hands.

And after carefully reviewing the case, the new sheriff agreed with the prosecutor.

“The bottom line is, Deputy Wallin never should have been terminated in the first place,” Sheriff Fortney said Tuesday in a prepared statement. “Deputy sheriffs are expected to make split second decisions in situations which are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving. The incident the former administration terminated him for would fall under this category.”

Fortney said the suspect, Peters, was under the influence of alcohol or drugs during the incident and posed a danger to other drivers on the road, using his truck to purposefully ram patrol vehicles after leading deputies in a pursuit at speeds over 100 mph. Authorities say Wallin fired twice through the windshield at Peters after his car crashed.

“Deputy Wallin’s decision to use deadly force was within policy because he was protecting his partner and the community from an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury,” Fortney said. “In my judgment, Deputy Wallin put his life on the line to protect both his partner and his community.”

Wallin’s reinstatement as a fully commissioned deputy sheriff K-9 handler took effect Friday.

Peters’ family filed a $5 million lawsuit against Snohomish County after the shooting. Earlier this month, the county reached a $1 million settlement with the family.

The county admitted no wrongdoing and the family agreed to drop all claims against the county as part of the settlement.

Snohomish County sheriff reinstates deputy who was fired after deadly shooting

^{Q13 News Staff AND AJ Janavel, Q13 Fox – January 21, 2020}

Newly elected Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney has reinstated a deputy who was fired by the previous sheriff last year after a deadly police shooting.

Prosecutors declined to charge Deputy Arthur Wallin and said he was justified in the October 2018 shooting death of 24-year-old Nickolas Michael Peters. Wallin was terminated even after prosecutors said he was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Fortney, a political newcomer who took office Dec. 30 after defeating incumbent Ty Trenary, said he told the former deputy he would review the case, but made no promises that he would be rehired.

“I felt obligated to do so since the facts that I knew at the time of the incident did not seem to warrant termination,” Fortney said. “After carefully reviewing the information, I found the termination of Deputy Wallin was not justified and that his actions were reasonable under the circumstances the suspect chose to put him in that night.”

When prosecutors declined charges, they said at the time that Peters had engaged in reckless behavior and failed to respond to commands to show his hands.

Authorities say Wallin fired twice through the windshield at Peters after his car crashed. Peters’ parents filed a federal lawsuit against Wallin and the sheriff’s office. The county settled the lawsuit for $1 million.

According to The Seattle Times, Wallin had previous disciplinary issues, and the department’s internal investigation concluded that he used unnecessary force when he shot Peters.

Jeff Campiche, the attorney representing the Peters family, says they are both disappointed and concerned with the decision to reinstate Wallin.

“We’re just hoping that it doesn’t lead to somebody else’s death, but what it does do is it tells every other officer that if they shoot somebody, they’ll be protected in that department. That there will be no fair review of their behavior.”

There is no date on when Wallin will return to work, but Fortney says he will receive back pay.

New sheriff reinstates deputy who fatally shot Edmonds man, calling the firing unjustified

^{My Edmonds News – January 21, 2020}

Newly-elected Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney announced Tuesday that he has reinstated a deputy sheriff who had been fired last October in connection with a 2018 high-speed pursuit near Bothell that culminated in the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old Edmonds man.

Deputy Art Wallin had been fired by former Sheriff Ty Trenary, whom Forney defeated during the November 2019 general election. In reporting on Wallin’s firing last fall, our online news partner The Seattle Times noted that the decision differed sharply from the one made nearly three months ago, when the Snohomish County prosecutor decided not to file criminal charges against Wallin, concluding a jury would have found the shooting justified.

In a nine-page letter dated Oct. 3, Trenary determined Wallin violated sheriff’s office policies when he initiated a vehicle pursuit on Oct. 23, 2018, then used unauthorized force when he twice fired into the windshield of the stopped pickup, killing Nickolas Peters of Edmonds

The county also settled a federal lawsuit with Peters’ parents for $1 million.

But in a statement issued Tuesday, Fortney – who served as a long-time Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office sergeant before he was elected — said that he was among many sheriff’s office employees who were “shocked” by Wallin’s termination.

After he was elected, Fortney said that he “made no promises to Deputy Wallin other than I would give the case a second look.” After reading the entire case file, including additional information that he did not have prior to taking office, Fortney said he determined that Wallin’s termination “was not justified and that his actions were reasonable under the circumstances the suspect chose to put him in that night.”

These circumstances included the fact that Peters was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, posing a danger to other drivers on the road, and that the suspect was using his truck as a weapon to ram patrol vehicles.

“The bottom line is, Deputy Wallin never should have been terminated in the first place,” Fortney said. “Deputy sheriffs are expected to make split second decisions in situations which are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving. The incident the former administration terminated him for would fall under this category. Deputy Wallin believed his partner’s life was in danger when he chose to use force. I believe Deputy Wallin’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances in which they occurred.”

Reporting Tuesday on Fortney’s decision, The Seattle Times said that records indicated Fortney was Wallin’s supervisor the night of the incident and permitted the chase to continue when higher-ups, including then-Sheriff Trenary, believed the pursuit should have been called off. Fortney, a 23-year sheriff’s office veteran, was disciplined for his actions that night, documents say, though they don’t detail how, the Times added.

The Times story said that Fortney was a sergeant in the department when he ran against and defeated Trenary in November. Wallin’s firing had become a campaign issue; Wallin supported Fortney for sheriff and there were allegations that his termination was retaliation.

The Times also reported that Jeffery Campiche, one of the attorneys for Nikolas Peters’ parents said the family is “disappointed and concerned” by Wallin’s reinstatement. “The family’s concern is that Deputy Wallin has demonstrated a willingness to unnecessarily use deadly force in situations that don’t justify it,” Campiche said. He pointed to the internal investigation summary, which concluded there was “No statement, information or evidence to show that Nickolas Peters was known or believed to be armed with a firearm or deadly weapon at the time of the encounter, or that he displayed a weapon or threatened deadly force on the either deputy or his passenger. His vehicle was effectively pinned and disabled.”

Snohomish County sheriff reinstates deputy fired after fatal shooting

^{The Lewiston Tribune – January 21, 2020}

New Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney has reinstated a deputy who was fired by Fortney’s predecessor over a fatal shooting.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the sheriff said Deputy Arthur Wallin never should have been fired in the first place.

Wallin shot and killed 24-year-old Nickolas Peters following a chase by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies in October 2018. At the time of the shooting, deputies had pinned Peters’ truck against some bushes, and Fortney’s partner had jumped on the hood of Peters’ truck.

Investigators found that Wallin and his partner shouted conflicting commands — to turn off the truck, and to put his hands up — outside Peters’ vehicle before Wallin shot him twice. Peters’ girlfriend was also in the truck at the time and said Peters had put his hands up when he was shot.

Then-Sheriff Ty Trenary fired Wallin following an internal investigation, saying the deputy had broken policy by pursuing Peters and by shooting him. The Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office declined to file charges, but earlier this month the county settled a federal lawsuit brought by Peters’ family for $1 million.

Fortney was a sergeant before challenging and defeating his old boss in the November election. He said that after taking office he conducted a review of the case. He found that Wallin’s pursuit of the suspect was within policy because the suspect was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and had rammed patrol cars, and the shooting was within policy because Wallin was protecting his partner from an imminent threat.

“I believe I speak for many sheriff’s office employees that we were shocked when the former administration decided to terminate him even after he was cleared of criminal charges by the Snohomish County prosecuting attorney,” Fortney wrote. “The bottom line is, Deputy Wallin never should have been terminated in the first place. Deputy sheriffs are expected to make split second decisions in situations which are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving.”

Snohomish County reaches deal over man killed by police

^{Q13 Fox – January 7, 2020}

A Washington state county approved a $1 million settlement with the family of a man who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.

The Snohomish County Council and the family reached the settlement last week and the council voted to approve the agreement Monday, The Daily Herald reports.

The county admitted no wrongdoing and the family agreed to drop all claims against the county as part of the settlement.

Nickolas Peters, 24, was shot and killed following a chase by Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies in October 2018, authorities said.

Peters’ family filed a lawsuit last summer seeking $20 million in damages through a jury trial.

Deputies pinned Peters’ truck against bushes following a brief, high-speed chase east of Lynnwood, 16 miles north of Seattle, authorities said.

Investigators found deputies shouted conflicting commands outside Peters’ vehicle before Deputy Art Wallin shot him twice.

The sheriff’s office fired Wallin in October following an internal investigation. In a decision letter, then-Sheriff Ty Trenary determined Wallin broke policy by pursuing Peters and by shooting him.

Prosecutor Adam Cornell declined to pursue charges against the deputy after reviewing an investigation conducted by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team.

New sheriff in Snohomish County rehires deputy fired for ‘unjustified’ shooting that resulted in $1 million settlement

^{Mike Carter, The Seattle Times – January 21, 2020}

Three weeks after taking office, newly elected Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney has rehired a deputy fired last year for shooting a man after a chase, despite findings by an internal investigation that the shooting was unjustified and a $1 million payout by the county to the man’s family.

Fortney said Tuesday that he has reinstated Deputy Arthur Wallin, who was fired last month after an internal investigation determined that he violated department policy when he shot and killed 24-year-old Nickolas Michael Peters after a high-speed chase near Bothell in October 2018.

Records show Fortney was Wallin’s supervisor that night and permitted the chase to continue when higher-ups, including then-Sheriff Ty Trenary, believed the pursuit should have been called off. Fortney, a 23-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, was disciplined for his actions that night, documents say, though they don’t detail how. He was a sergeant in the department when he ran against and defeated Trenary in November. Wallin’s firing had become a campaign issue; Wallin supported Fortney for sheriff and there were allegations that his termination was retaliation.

Fortney said in a prepared statement Tuesday that he and others in the Sheriff’s Office had been “shocked” when Trenary terminated Wallin in January, particularly after Snohomish County Prosecutor Adam Cornell had determined no criminal charges would be filed against the deputy. Fortney said he had promised to revisit the decision after he was elected and said he did so with an open mind and no promises.

He concluded that “Deputy Wallin never should have been terminated in the first place.”

“Deputy sheriffs are expected to make split-second decisions in situations which are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving. The incident the former administration terminated him for would fall under this category,” Fortney said. “Deputy Wallin believed his partner’s life was in danger when he chose to use force. I believe Deputy Wallin’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances in which they occurred. … In my judgment, Deputy Wallin put his life on the line to protect both his partner and his community.”

Wallin, a 13-year department veteran with prior disciplinary issues, was fired by Trenary last October, just a month before the election, after an internal investigation found that Wallin had violated department policies involving improper use of deadly force and negligence. Trenary said he was skeptical of Wallin’s assertion that his “Spidey sense” told him Peters was armed, even though no weapon was seen. After the shooting, a handgun was found in a closed case beneath the folded-down center console of Peters’ Ford F-150 pickup, the letter says.

According to documents obtained by The Seattle Times through a public-disclosure request, comprising nearly 900 pages of internal-investigation and Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART) reports and interviews, Fortney was the sergeant supervising the chase initiated by Wallin to try to stop a speeding Ford pickup driven by Peters. Trenary and other high-ranking sheriff’s officials determined the chase should have been called off by Fortney.

Jeffery Campiche, one of the attorneys for Carl and Jayni Peters, the parents of the dead man, said the family is “disappointed and concerned” by Wallin’s reinstatement.

“The family’s concern is that Deputy Wallin has demonstrated a willingness to unnecessarily use deadly force in situations that don’t justify it,” Campiche said. He pointed to the internal investigation summary, which concluded there was “No statement, information or evidence to show that Nickolas Peters was known or believed to be armed with a firearm or deadly weapon at the time of the encounter, or that he displayed a weapon or threatened deadly force on either the deputy or his passenger. His vehicle was effectively pinned and disabled.”

“Sheriff Fortney’s decision to disregard his own office’s investigation and … give a gun and badge back to an unstable officer who has demonstrated his willingness use unnecessary deadly force on citizens should be reconsidered,” Campiche wrote.

According to reports, Wallin, 38, chased Peters’ truck while responding to a domestic disturbance call in the 19500 block of Sixth Drive Southeast in the Lynnwood area in the early-morning hours of Oct. 23, 2018. Wallin said Peters was driving erratically and fled when he turned on his emergency lights. Speeds reached 100 miles per hour and Wallin reported the truck was “all over the roadway.”

At one point, Wallin stated over the police radio that “We have to take this guy out, he’s going to kill someone,” according to documents. The truck eventually spun out and was pinned between a sheriff’s car and some trees, and was immobilized. Peters, whose girlfriend was in the passenger seat, revved the engine, but the investigation concluded the vehicle was pinned. While the other deputy leaped on the hood of the truck and ordered Peters and his girlfriend out of the vehicle, Wallin fired two rounds through the windshield, mortally wounding Peters.

The Snohomish County prosecutor determined the shooting was justified under the law, and declined to file charges. However, an internal investigation determined Wallin had violated department policy and that the shooting was “intentional and unjustified.” Peters’ family filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Wallin and the Sheriff’s Office last year. The county settled the lawsuit for $1 million earlier this month.

The case was an issue during the campaign, with Fortney claiming that Wallin was a supporter who was being punished by Trenary.

According to Trenary’s nine-page letter of termination, Wallin was disciplined twice in 2018, including for an incident in which he improperly deployed his K-9 partner, and another in which he was suspended for five days for running over a woman’s hand while responding to a call.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, Wallin has been named as a defendant in a federal civil-rights lawsuit filed Jan. 10 by a King County man who claims Wallin and another deputy used excessive force by loosing a police dog on him after he failed to obey the officers, who were investigating an anonymous report of a robbery. The man, identified in the lawsuit as Marlon Smith, suffered serious leg injuries. The deputies never identified a robbery victim or that a crime occurred, according to the lawsuit.

Sheriff reinstates deputy who was fired over fatal shooting

^{Zachariah Bryan, The Herald – January 22, 2020}

Just weeks after taking office, Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney has reinstated a deputy who was fired over the fatal shooting of an Edmonds man.

The previous sheriff Ty Trenary fired deputy Art Wallin in October, concluding he violated policy both in pursuing and in shooting 24-year-old Nickolas Peters. In a termination letter, Trenary explained there was no imminent danger to Wallin at the moment he fired the fatal shots, and he questioned the deputy’s version of events indicating there was.

On Tuesday, Fortney called the former sheriff’s reasoning “completely flawed,” and he wrote he was shocked when the previous administration fired Wallin. He said the facts didn’t seem to warrant the termination. Wallin, who had been with the sheriff’s office for 13 years, was reinstated Friday to his position as a K-9 handler. He will receive backpay dating back to his termination.

“The bottom line is, Deputy Wallin never should have been terminated in the first place,” Fortney wrote. “Deputy sheriffs are expected to make split-second decisions in situations which are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving.”

“In my judgment, Deputy Wallin put his life on the line to protect both his partner and his community,” he wrote.

Peters’ family, who reached a $1 million settlement with the county in a civil lawsuit, said they were “disappointed and concerned” with the decision to rehire Wallin, according to Seattle law firm Campiche Arnold.

“You don’t have to shoot people that have committed a Class C felony, who are now caught and surrendering,” attorney Jeff Campiche said.

Before becoming sheriff, Fortney was a night shift patrol sergeant who worked with Wallin for years in the South Precinct. He was a supervisor on Oct. 23, 2018, when Wallin called over the radio that he was in a pursuit east of Lynnwood. The Ford F-150 was maneuvering erratically, reaching speeds over 100 mph.

Fortney was also reprimanded by Trenary for not calling off the chase, when there was probable cause only for reckless driving. In a subsequent interview with The Daily Herald, Fortney said he chose to trust his deputy, who at one point called out, “We gotta take this guy out, he’s going to kill someone.”

Wallin appeared uncharacteristically agitated, Fortney said in October. Though he couldn’t see what was happening, Fortney said he felt there was more than just reckless driving happening. If nothing else, Fortney said, Peters’ speeding and erratic driving could have indicated he was under the influence. On the radio, Wallin did not mention the possibility of a DUI, according to transcripts.

“If I’ve got a 13-year decorated cop telling me, and I’ve never heard him say this on the radio and I work with him every night, we’ve got to take this guy out he’s going to kill somebody, I better damn well listen to that, and I better take it seriously,” Fortney said in October.

During the chase, the deputies hit Peters’ truck twice in an attempt to stop him. And twice, Peters’ was able to escape, striking the patrol cars in the process, Fortney wrote.

Deputies eventually collided with Peters’ vehicle a third time to make it spin out on Damson Road and pinned it against bushes and small trees. One deputy jumped on the hood of the truck and shined a flashlight through the windshield, while Wallin positioned himself outside the passenger door.

The two deputies shouted conflicting commands of “turn it off” and “hands up,” according to audio collected by investigators.

The deputies reported that they couldn’t see Peters right hand and that he wasn’t complying with orders — a claim disputed by his girlfriend, Britt Jakobsen, who was in the passenger seat. Jakobsen said they raised their hands, but weren’t sure how to follow the commands.

Wallin fired two shots, with both bullets going through Peters’ right arm. One embedded in his ribs, while the other pierced his right lung and landed in his spine. He died from his injuries at a hospital.

In documents obtained by The Daily Herald, an internal investigation concluded that there was “no statement, information, or evidence” that Peters was armed with a deadly weapon during the encounter, or that he threatened to use deadly force on anyone. There was a gun in the truck, but it was in a zippered case in a hard-to-get spot. And the truck apparently had been turned off.

According to documents from an internal investigation conducted by the sheriff’s office, Wallin said he had a “spidey sense” and knew Peters had a gun and figured he was reaching for it. He also said Peters was revving his truck in an apparent attempt to run over the deputies. Wallin reportedly claimed he turned off the truck himself after he shot Peters.

Trenary questioned the validity of Wallin’s statements, made in interviews that took place well after the shooting took place. In a letter outlining his decision to reinstate the deputy, Fortney took exception to the discounting of Wallin’s version of events. He said there was a clear threat presented to the deputies.

“On multiple occasions throughout this incident, Mr. Peters used his 3-ton pickup as a battering ram to attack Dep. Wallin and (the other deputy),” Fortney wrote in the reinstatement letter. “The danger of this cannot be understated. This is not a TV show where cops and bad guys emerge from ridiculous collisions with no adverse consequences. In real life, big vehicles cause big damage. They are a real threat to the lives of anyone in their way.”

While patrolling the South Precinct on New Year’s Eve, Fortney showed a Herald reporter the spot where Peters had been killed. There were no trees big enough to effectively trap a pickup truck, he said.

If Peters had time to start the truck, he could have seriously hurt the deputies, he said at a press conference Tuesday. Combined with Wallin’s belief that Peters might have a gun, that constituted a deadly threat in Fortney’s eyes.

“I am not willing to second-guess the reasonableness of the fear Dep. Wallin had that (the other deputy) was likely to be seriously hurt or killed if Mr. Peters was able to start that truck,” he wrote.

Another investigation was conducted by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, a cadre of detectives who investigate police use of lethal force. After reviewing that investigation, Prosecutor Adam Cornell wrote in July he would not pursue charges, explaining a jury would be unlikely to convict him.

In part, that’s because prosecutors would have to prove Wallin acted with malice, or “evil intent,” when he shot Peters. The shooting took place just a couple weeks before Washington state voters passed Initiative 940, making it less challenging for prosecutors to pursue charges when police kill someone.

The firing of Wallin, as well as deputies Matt Boice and Evan Twedt in a separate case of a policy violation, became the subject of an election controversy. All three worked under Fortney and had been strong advocates for his candidacy, he said. Claiming corruption, Fortney called for an independent investigation into the firings.

“It is well known inside the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office that you do not challenge this administration or you will face retribution,” he wrote in a Facebook post, days before ballots were due.

The Peters’ family attorney, Campiche, said it appeared Fortney made the decision to rehire Wallin before taking office, and in doing so ignored the conclusions of a “complete and thorough” internal investigation.

“Sheriff Fortney’s decision to disregard his own office’s investigation and reinstate Deputy Wallin is a clear statement that the new sheriff intends to protect and enable deputies who use excessive force upon his constituents, whether justified or not,” Campiche wrote in a statement. “Sheriff Fortney’s decision to give a gun and badge (and a salary) back to an unstable officer who has demonstrated his willingness to use unnecessary deadly force on citizens should be reconsidered.”

Fortney told reporters he wouldn’t comment on any statements from the family.

“Other than saying my heart breaks for them, I’m gonna leave it at that,” he said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to say anything else.”

Judge won’t dismiss excessive-force lawsuit alleging Snohomish deputy shouldn’t have been hired

^{Mike Carter, The Seattle Times – February 15, 2020}

When Robert John Preston first sued the Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy he says shot him with a Taser, beat and kicked him into a coma in 2014, he was indigent and in prison, and his handwritten complaint is so crammed with details that its tiny script and lack of spacing makes it appear as a nearly solid block of letters.

That was in 2016, just as the two-year statute of limitations for filing a tort claim against the county was about to expire. For the next year, Preston, 50, kept the federal civil-rights lawsuit alive from the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, using the prison’s law library to help him hold off a barrage of challenges from the county’s lawyers. Preston, who was serving time on an unrelated gun-possession charge, filed motions, public disclosure requests and begged the court to appoint a lawyer to help him. While criminal defendants are guaranteed a lawyer by law, appointment of counsel in civil cases is at the court’s discretion and fairly rare.

All the while, Preston continued to gather police reports, interviews, maps and medical documents to support his claim that, during a stolen-bike investigation at a Park-and-Ride lot, Deputy Ryan Boyer shot him with a Taser gun at least twice and then beat him with the gun so badly that it tore his ear in half and punctured the back of his head. Then, he claims, Ryan kicked him twice in the face, splitting both his lips, breaking his nose, leaving a gash in his forehead and a broken tooth lodged in the back of his throat, according to court documents and medical reports in the file. Preston arrived at the hospital emergency room comatose and was hospitalized for a week.

When he woke up, hospital staff told him that the sheriff’s office said he had injured himself when he fell on his face after he was shot with a stun gun while running away.

Preston won a victory in March 2017 when, after twice refusing Preston’s requests for legal help, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler conceded “there are at least serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the defendant’s actions,” and referred Preston’s case to a list of attorneys willing to take cases for free. Since then, Preston has been represented by a legal team from the prestigious Seattle firm of Perkins Coie, and the complexion of the case has changed dramatically.

Two weeks ago, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour adopted Theiler’s report recommending Preston’s case go to trial with evidence of wrongful hiring and retention of Deputy Boyer by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. Preston’s legal team turned up evidence that the county hired Boyer knowing he had a history of drug use, soliciting a prostitute and involvement in a 2002 bar fight in which he was charged with assault after kicking another man in the head.

Preston’s attorneys have declined to discuss the case while litigation is pending. Attorneys representing Snohomish County and Boyer did not return email or telephone messages seeking comment on the case.

Boyer, who is now a sergeant and supervisor with the sheriff’s office, was initially hired in 2007 by the now-defunct Snohomish City Police Department. When the sheriff’s office took over law enforcement functions for the city in 2012, city officers were given a chance to transfer to the position of deputy in the sheriff’s office providing they passed a preemployment investigation that included a background check, a polygraph and a psychological test, according to pleadings in the case.

Boyer’s application contained information about his past use of marijuana and other drugs, an incident involving a prostitute while he was in the Navy, and a fight at an Arlington bar called “Shotzes,” in which Boyer and another man beat and kicked another patron. Boyer entered a district court diversionary program and the charge was dismissed after Boyer completed a year of probation.

Unredacted portions of court documents filed in the case indicate he passed his psychological examination and was hired despite his past. Documents indicate he has not been in trouble with the law since 2002.

However, Preston’s attorneys have called into question the adequacy of the sheriff’s background check and whether the investigator passed on to his superiors all the details of Boyer’s past.

Coughenour, who acknowledged that at this point of the proceedings he must give Preston’s version of events the benefit of the doubt, said there is enough evidence to send those allegations to a jury.

“The parties do not dispute that Sergeant Boyer’s personal history includes behavior suggesting that he was unfit for a position with law enforcement [and] that the county was aware of this history at the time it hired him,” the judge wrote. Coughenour noted that an expert witness hired by Preston’s defense team — Scott Defoe, a retired decorated 26-year veteran Los Angeles Police Department SWAT sergeant and hostage negotiator — opined that because of his past, Boyer “should have been precluded from being a law enforcement officer anywhere in the United States.”

Defoe’s testimony in another Washington civil rights case — a wrongful-death case filed against Lakewood police by the family of Leonard Thomas, who was shot in front of his young son following a standoff in 2013 — was crucial to a record $15 million federal jury verdict in that case.

Boyer and the county’s defense team have argued that Boyer was justified in using significant force against Preston. While Preston was not armed, they alleged that he towered over the deputy, weighing 240 pounds to Boyer’s 175 — and that he posed a threat to the public as a fleeing felon.

“Sgt. Boyer used reasonable force to apprehend the plaintiff, who was wanted on multiple felony warrants and new felony charges, was aggressively resisting arrest, and attempted to flee toward the interstate, where his flight would have endangered numerous innocent lives,” they wrote in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

According to pleadings and police reports, Boyer had been on patrol July 30, 2014, when he spotted Preston pushing a bicycle that matched a report of a stolen bike. He stopped Preston, who gave the deputy false identification because he was wanted on a Skagit County burglary warrant, according to court records. Preston has 11 prior felony convictions, most for drugs and property crimes such as theft and burglary, court records show.

Suspicious and unable to confirm Preston’s claim that he had borrowed the bike from another man, Boyer handcuffed Preston, placed him in his patrol car and set off for the sheriff’s office. En route, however, Boyer said Preston agreed to make a statement about where he got the bike.

Boyer pulled over at a park-and-ride lot near 112th Street Southeast. He took the handcuffs off and gave Preston a document to fill out. In the meantime, Boyer discovered Preston’s actual identity and the fact that he was wanted on the Skagit County warrant. Preston, he said, became agitated and defensive when he was confronted and refused to go to his knees and allow himself to be handcuffed again.

Boyer said Preston “snarled” and took up an angled “bladed stance,” which the deputy said indicated he was thinking about fighting or fleeing. Boyer said he drew his Taser and again ordered Preston to comply. When he didn’t, Boyer said he fired the electrified darts into Preston’s abdomen. Preston, he said, pulled them out without effect and ran.

Boyer said in his report he reloaded the Taser and chased Preston. He said he shot Preston a second time, this time the darts striking him in the back. The man’s legs “locked up” and he fell face-first to the pavement. Boyer said that’s when the injuries to Preston’s face occurred.

Boyer said in his report that Preston was struggling to rise when Boyer jumped on his back and delivered a series of “compliance blows” to the back of his head with the Taser. He acknowledged that he kicked Preston at least twice in the torso — blows that were witnessed by his captain as he arrived to provide backup.

Preston claims that when he was shot with the Taser the second time, he fell to his knees and that Boyer ran up and kicked him in the back, smashing his face onto the pavement, and then jumped on his back and began to “hammer” his head with the Taser. Preston’s attorneys said the extent, type and severity of his injuries — the torn ear, split lips, broken facial bones, deep forehead gash and broken teeth — could not have been solely caused by a parking-lot fall and that the force used to arrest him outstripped the threat he posed to the officer or public.

Snohomish sheriff errs in reinstating deputy

^{The Seattle Times Editorial Board – January 28, 2020}

Just weeks into his new job, Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney rehired a deputy fired last year for killing an unarmed man. The move shocked many in the community and law enforcement and risks jeopardizing the public’s faith in the department.

The reinstatement of Deputy Arthur Wallin overturns the decision of Sheriff Ty Trenary, the incumbent Fortney ousted in the November election. The move is especially tone deaf at a time of high societal tension over the use of force by law enforcement.

Nearly 60% of voters statewide enacted strong policies governing police use of force in 2018’s Initiative 940 election. Just two weeks before that vote, Wallin shot and killed Nickolas Michael Peters, 24, after a high-speed chase near Bothell. The deputy said afterward that his “Spidey sense” told him that Peters had a gun in his truck. After the shooting, police did find a handgun in a closed case beneath the truck’s center console.

Wallin hadn’t seen that gun. He hadn’t radioed with a specific compelling public-safety reason — such as suspicion of a drunk or drugged driver — to justify the prolonged chase. That night, Fortney was Wallin’s direct supervisor and authorized the pursuit. Fortney himself was later disciplined for his actions in the incident.

Because of this personal involvement, Fortney should have recused himself from later decision-making over Wallin’s fate. Instead, Fortney brought up Wallin’s firing in his campaign, then wrote in the November voters’ pamphlet he would “remove the handcuffs from officers and put them on the criminals.”

In a memo about rehiring Wallin, Fortney’s strained explanation is that he thought Trenary made a bad decision on the facts found in an internal investigation. That investigation found no evidence from the encounter that showed reason to fear Peters was armed or could use his “effectively pinned and disabled” truck as a weapon.

“The prior administration did not credit Dep. Wallin’s perception,” Fortney wrote. “I do.”

The effects of that night were devastating for a family and costly for the county. The county paid Peters’ family a $1 million lawsuit settlement.

Wallin’s use of deadly force in this situation should disqualify him from carrying a badge and a gun. Snohomish County’s 814,000 residents need to know that Sheriff Fortney has their best interests at heart.

Fortney, a 23-year deputy, including five years as a sergeant, lacks prior experience in top-level management of such a complex 700-employee public agency. He acted within a sheriff’s broad legal power to bring Wallin back and will face little accountability until the election of 2023. The timing of the shooting worked to Wallin’s benefit. Prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges against him. Under the law at the time, a charge required proof of “malice” by law enforcement. I-940 changed that.

By reinstating Wallin, Fortney signaled that he is not willing to hold his deputies accountable — to the point of overlooking the conclusions of a credible investigation. Friday, he reinstated two other deputies Trenary fired for dishonesty after a different internal investigation found they covered up a warrantless search.

This calls into question Fortney’s judgment to lead responsibly for the next four years.

No criminal charges against Snohomish County deputy who fatally shot unarmed man

^{Mike Carter, The Seattle Times – July 30, 2019}

Snohomish County prosecutors will not file criminal charges against a sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed an unarmed 24-year-old man after a high-speed chase and crash last October.

Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Adam Cornell on July 23 issued a six-page memorandum that states the use of deadly force against 24-year-old Nickolas Michael Peters was justified under the circumstances and the law that was in place at the time.

“Mr. Peters engaged in intentional, reckless and violent felony conduct during a lengthy pursuit that included extraordinary efforts to escape capture,” Cornell wrote after reviewing evidence and statements gathered during a lengthy investigation by the Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART). The prosecutor said that Peters continued to try to drive off even after his pickup was pinned by a deputy’s cruiser and that he failed to respond to numerous commands to shut off the truck and show his hands.

Cornell concluded that a jury would find that Deputy Arthur Wallin was justified in shooting Peters to end a deadly threat.

Wallin initiated a chase with Peters’ pickup truck while responding to a domestic disturbance call in the 19500 block of Sixth Drive Southeast in the Lynnwood area in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 2018. Wallin said the truck was driving erratically and fled when he turned on his emergency lights. According to reports, speeds reached 100 miles per hour and the truck was driving “all over the roadway.”

At one point, Wallin stated over the police radio that “We have to take this guy out, he’s going to kill someone,” according to the prosecution memo.

The memo states that Wallin attempted to execute a “Pursuit Immobilization Technique” (PIT), forcing the truck into a spin, but that Peters regained control of the vehicle after spinning 180 degrees, and drove off again. Peters’ vehicle sideswiped a sheriff’s cruiser driven by Deputy Mark Stich and narrowly avoided collisions with two other vehicles before Wallin caught up with it again and managed to successfully perform another PIT maneuver, sending the vehicle rear-first into a clump of bushes and trees near Bothell, according to the investigation. Stich arrived and rammed the truck head-on, pinning it against the trees, according to the document.

Wallin left his vehicle and was standing on the passenger side of the truck with his handgun drawn while Stich said he climbed on top of the hood of the truck to prevent Peters from fleeing from the driver’s side. According to reports, the driver’s side door was damaged during one of the collisions and would not open. Both deputies were yelling at Peters to turn off the truck and for Peters and his passenger, 22-year-old Britt Jakobsen, to raise their hands when Wallin fired twice through the windshield. One of the rounds went through Peters’ arm and into his chest, killing him.

Police later found a .45 caliber handgun in a zippered case beneath the truck’s console. Peters’ hands were empty when he was shot, according to witness reports.

Jakobsen, Peters’ fiancée, has said she and Peters were complying with the officers’ commands when Wallin fired. However, Cornell said he discounted her statements after considering audio from a surveillance camera and statements from other witnesses.

“Ms. Jakobsen’s recollections are … at odds with the other testimonial evidence, including that provided by a neutral eyewitness,” the prosecutor wrote. “I believe a neutral and rational fact finder would likely weigh this evidence in favor of the other witnesses, not Ms. Jakobsen.”

Cornell said he was required to consider the case under a Washington statute that required him to find that the police officer acted with “malice” in order to bring criminal charges. That law was among the most stringent in the country governing police shootings and, according to some prosecutors, made it virtually impossible to charge a police officer with a crime for shooting someone.

Peters was shot on Oct. 23, 2018, two weeks before voters passed Initiative 940, which removed the “malice” standard and changed how police shootings are investigated and prosecuted. Cornell said he did not consider whether he could have charged Wallin under the new law. “It would have been an academic exercise,” he said.

Peters’ parents, Jayni and Carl Peters, have filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against Wallin and the sheriff’s office. The lawsuit alleges that, at the time he was shot, Nickolas Peters “was not threatening the deputies” and that they should have resorted to less-than-lethal force, if force was necessary. The parents’ attorneys, Phil Arnold and Jeff Campiche, harshly criticized Cornell’s decision not to file criminal charges against the deputy, who they say has a history of discipline and allegations of use of excessive force.

“The fault lies in the process where prosecutors have an incestuous relationship with the police who act as teammates in the prosecution of suspect,” Campiche said in a written statement. In this case, he said, officers yelled conflicting orders at Peters, who no longer posed a threat because his vehicle was pinned and had nowhere to go. “He should have been arrested, not killed.”

Wallin remains on administrative leave after the shooting, pending an internal investigation by the sheriff’s office, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton. Documents obtained by The Seattle Times indicate that Wallin has refused to discuss the shooting, even after he was compelled to give a statement by Sheriff Ty Trenary under threat of discipline.

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(206) 281-9000

(844) 233-9239

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