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The Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declared a conflict of interest in connection with the detective’s Nov. 15 arrest, and the charging decision was left to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim said.
The detective, 34, who had returned from a 15-month Army deployment in Afghanistan in October, was accused of refusing to let his wife out of their bedroom during an argument, court papers state.
Lindquist said in a phone interview Wednesday that his office will not file any criminal charges against the detective in connection with the case because it “cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he restricted her movement.”
Lindquist added that his office had a follow-up conversation with the detective’s wife, and she said that her husband “did not restrain her and she was free to leave” during the argument.
According to court papers, the woman had a different account of what had happened when she spoke to a Lacey police officer who responded to another domestic dispute at her and her husband’s home the night of Nov. 13.
On that date she told the Lacey officer that, during the Nov. 8 argument, her husband had blocked the door, and told her: “You aren’t going anywhere. We are going to figure this out,” court papers state. She added that during the Nov. 8 argument, he had placed a revolver on the bed, according to court papers.
Also according to court papers:
The woman had called police on Nov. 13 to report that her husband had a gun out during a dispute. The detective also called police, and said “his service pistols are on his bed and that his wife was intoxicated and his duty weapon were in his bedroom.” He also reported that his wife hit him.
The detective’s wife later told a Lacey police officer that they had been married for 13 years, but had been verbally arguing “almost every day” lately.
The detective’s attorney, James Dixon, had said in a prior interview that his client was innocent of the allegations against him.
Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said Wednesday that the detective will remain on paid administrative reassignment pending the outcome of the sheriff’s office’s internal investigation into the allegations against the undercover detective.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-544 jpawloski@theolympian.com
