Local

WSP trooper retires after 38 years on patrol

SEATTLE — Trooper Ronald Tuggle has been patrolling South King County for the Washington State Patrol since 1984, when was 27 years old. Now he’s 65 and ready to retire.

“You never know what’s going to happen. Every day, every traffic stop is not the same, nothing is routine out here,” said Tuggle.

KIRO-7′s Alison Grande spoke to Tuggle about patrolling South King County for 38 years, the crash that nearly killed him, and what’s next in retirement.

When Tuggle started, he was one of the few Black troopers in the state. Nearly four decades later, Black troopers still only make up about 3% of the force. It is something the state patrol is working to change by hiring a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer to look at the agency’s hiring practices and determine ways to increase minority recruitment.

“I just want to be out there to be a role model for other troopers, I just want to be out there serving the public to help them out,” said Tuggle.

“He is just a great example of what we need in law enforcment and really, in the world,” said Trooper Rick Johnson, who first met Tuggle in 1992, and has been working with him since.

Tuggle was almost killed in 1994, when he was involved in a horrific crash on the Maple Valley Highway.

“You look at those pictures and you think, how could anybody survive?,” he said.

Tuggle was responding to a call when a driver towing a truck pulled out of the way, but the truck he was towing came loose and crashed into Tuggle’s patrol car. It was dark and there were no lights on the truck, so he never saw it coming. He remembers waking up in the back of a medic unit.

He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center, where he spent a week in the ICU with a broken femur and broken hand.

“I didn’t want to go out like that. I wanted to end my career strong. I just wanted to come back to work and prove I can come back and do the job, and that’s what drove me to come back.”

Nine months later he was back, his survival so extraordinary the state patrol had him show what was left of his car at local fairs.

Back on the job, he investigated thousands of accidents and worked through the pandemic.

“They’re driving faster now. I’ve been getting people in the high 80s and high 90s lately,” said Tuggle.

Now, with another 28 years in the rear view mirror, he’s ready to retire on his terms.

“As it gets closer, it’s starting to settle in more and more. I’m sure I’ll be overwhelmed that last day to not go to work the next day. That’s going to be hard to get used to,” said Tuggle.

He’s looking forward to spending more time with his wife and two children.

“Trooper Ron Tuggle exemplifies what public service looks like, and has exemplified the very definition of what our agency motto ‘Service With Humility’ looks like. He’s been a role model not only throughout the WSP and our profession, but within the community,” said Captain Ron W. Mead, District 2 Commander, Washington State Patrol. “For more the 38 years, he has served the citizens of Washington faithfully and professionally, working one of, if not the busiest and most challenging beats in the WSP. Few people have touched and impacted as many people as Ron has, and he will leave shoes that simply can’t be filled. But those that follow him will do so in an agency and profession that are both better for Ron Tuggle’s time in uniform. We wish Ron and his family nothing but the very best as they embark on the next chapter, and thank him for leaving the WSP, and indeed our entire profession, better for him having been a part of both.”