All eyes were on Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer on Thursday, as he took the stand in his own criminal trial. Troyer is accused of falsely reporting a Black newspaper carrier threatened to kill him.
According to Sheriff Troyer on the morning of Jan. 27, 2021, he heard a loud noise outside his Tacoma home, prompting him to look out the window.
“I looked down and saw a car without headlights on,” said Troyer. “Going in and out of neighbors driveways.”
“He was screaming at me, I heard words like, ‘I’ll take you out,’” said Troyer. “He puts his hands on the car and he was just swinging at me.”
After watching for a bit, Troyer says he decided to follow the suspicious looking car. After tailing it for a few blocks, Sedrick Altheimer pulled over, got out of the car and a confrontation ensued.
Troyer claims at no point did Altheimer identify himself as a newspaper carrier.
“Why didn’t he tell me he was a newspaper carrier?” said Troyer. “He had plenty of chances to do it.”
During his testimony on Tuesday, Altheimer did admit he never identified himself as a newspaper carrier.
However, he vehemently defends he never made a single threat toward Sheriff Troyer.