Volunteer track coach caught twice for breaking into residences, putting on women's clothes

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A Western Washington University spokesperson said the school has disciplined a long-time track and field coach, for not disclosing the arrest of a volunteer when that person broke into women’s residences, stealing their clothing, and putting it on.

The volunteer, Tanner Boyd, is also an alumnus of the school.

Two years after the initial incident, Boyd was arrested again. While the first incident was off-campus, the second was at the Highland Hall dormitory. Because university police responded to the latter call, the school became aware of the issue and barred Boyd from volunteering.

Court documents show that on Nov. 29, 2014, Bellingham police responded to the 500 block of 32^nd Street, where Boyd was found running on the fourth floor of the complex "with no shirt and wearing a woman's bra."

Three women told police he had entered their rooms without permission.

When Boyd pleaded guilty in this incident in November of 2016, he was told to report back on Dec. 7, 2016, to serve 90 days in jail. He was also fined $700.

But the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said that three days after his plea and before reporting for his sentence, Western Washington University police responded to Highland Hall, where residents said he was trying the handles of doors displaying female names.

Emily Gaston, a resident assistant at Highland Hall, said that around 2 a.m. on Nov. 12, she left her door unlocked for five minutes while she walked a friend home.

But Gaston told KIRO 7 that within those few minutes, she received a phone call from her friend, saying ‘don’t come back to your room.’

Court documents show that university police saw “a petite individual wearing a pink skirt and a red hoodie with the hood up.” Police state that the “individual looking through the drawers was a male in women’s clothing.”

Gaston recalls having to identify her own clothing in photographs, showing Boyd wearing them layered on top of each other.

“It did feel very personally violating, I mean to see some strange man who’s close to your age, wearing your clothes in the middle of the night is very unsettling,” Gaston said.

Another resident told police she had woken up to the sound of rummaging in her closet and believed it was her roommate. Instead, she saw Boyd running out of the room.

Gaston told KIRO 7 she feel s Boyd should not have been allowed to volunteer after the first arrest.

A university spokesperson, Paul Cocke, said in an email to KIRO 7:

“Coach Halsell was aware of the 2014 arrest prior to the 2016 arrest. Unfortunately, Coach Halsell did not communicate that to his supervisor, Director of Athletics Steve Card, or to any other senior administrator at Western, until after Boyd’s 2016 arrest on campus. In spite of knowing about the 2014 arrest, Coach Halsell allowed Tanner Boyd to continue to be a volunteer with the track team. As a consequence of his lack of communication and allowing continuation of the volunteer activity by Boyd, Coach Halsell was disciplined by the university.”

Cocke said that he could not go into detail about the nature of the disciplinary action.

Halsell is listed on a university website as being the longest tenured coach in university history, having been there for 30 seasons. Halsell answered KIRO 7’s phone call but did not wish to comment.

Cocke also explained that the university mandates background checks for employees, as well as volunteers who work in ‘security sensitive’ roles.

Those jobs may include work with children, with vulnerable adults, or with access to data or money.

Department heads can decide if they would like background checks on volunteers beyond those positions. Cocke said that the athletic director has mandated background checks for all volunteers in his department.

“I just don’t ever want another female to be put in this situation because of negligence on the university’s hand,” Gaston said.

She told KIRO 7 she feels the background checks should be mandatory for all volunteers; not just those in specific roles or in certain departments.

“They don’t necessarily have to discriminate against people who have committed crimes in the past, but they definitely at least should be aware of what crimes have been committed,” she said.

Cocke said an arrest record does not necessarily preclude someone from volunteering for the school, but that the situation is evaluated case by case.

He said that if the school had known about Boyd’s 2014 arrest, he would have been barred from volunteering after that first incident.

A person who answered the phone for Tanner Boyd said he did not wish to comment on this story.

Cox Media Group