TO:

Snohomish County Deputy Sheriff’s Association

FROM:

Sheriff Adam Fortney

DATE:

January 21, 2020

RE:

Resolution of Grievance Regarding the Discipline of Dep. Arthur Wallin

The purpose of this memorandum is to memorialize my decision to grant the grievance filed on
behalf of former Deputy Arthur Wallin by the Snohomish County Deputy Sheriff’s Association
(“SCDSA”). The effect of this action is to overturn the discipline given to Mr. Wallin by the prior
Sheriff, as announced in the Results of Pre-Disciplinary Hearing Letter given to Mr. Wallin on
October 3, 2019, and to reinstate him to his former position as a Snohomish County Sheriff’s
Deputy.
I.

The Facts Relevant to This Matter

The discipline at-issue arose from a vehicle pursuit that culminated in Mr. Wallin shooting and
killing a suspect while he was on patrol on October 23, 2018.
Mr. Wallin’s initial traffic stop and decision to engage in a vehicle pursuit. On the evening in
question, shortly after 2200 hours, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched
to a report of a disturbance at 19521 61th Dr. SE. Dep. Wallin was among the deputies who
responded to this call. While on his way to this disturbance, he encountered a Ford F-150 that he
observed was driving with erratic speed (upwards of 100 mph at times) and was all over the road,
sometimes crossing double-yellow lines into opposing traffic. Mr. Wallin later stated he believed
the driver was likely impaired, based on his erratic speed, inability to maintain a single lane of
travel, jerky turning, and slow reaction to clear and visible road signs and turns. It was later
discovered the driver of this vehicle was a man named Nickolas Peters. After the truck nearly
struck an oncoming vehicle, requiring the oncoming vehicle to swerve, Dep. Wallin attempted to
initiate a traffic stop.
The truck turned into a dead-end housing development, performed a U-turn and momentarily
appeared to stop, albeit facing Dep. Wallin’s vehicle “nose to nose.” Dep. Wallin stated he
observed the driver reaching around the passenger compartment, searching for something. Mr.
Peters then backed the truck up, despite Dep. Wallin having then activated his siren. When Mr.
Peters momentarily stopped the truck, Dep. Wallin exited his vehicle, shouting commands to “put
M/S #606  3000 Rockefeller Ave. 

Everett, WA 98201  Phone: (425) 388-3393 
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Fax: (425) 388-3805 

 your hands up,” and “show me your hands.” Dep. Wallin stated that Mr. Peters did not comply,
but continued searching around the passenger area of the truck. Dep. Wallin stated that, based on
his training and experience, he believed Mr. Peters was searching for a weapon. At that time, the
truck backed away from Dep. Wallin’s vehicle, drove over a curb (appearing to strike a retaining
wall in the process) and accelerated forward past Dep. Wallin and his vehicle. Dep. Wallin quickly
got back in his vehicle and gave chase.
The vehicle pursuit. The pursuit of Mr. Peters’ vehicle lasted over two minutes. During the
pursuit, Dep. Wallin provided dispatch with the direction of travel, details about the truck,
occupants, and reasons for his attempt to stop the truck and the subsequent actions of the driver.
He stated the suspect was traveling upwards of 80 mph, was “all over the road” across the lanes of
travel and was fishtailing.
At one point, Mr. Peters’ truck narrowly missed colliding with a vehicle that was turning left in
front of him. Dep. Wallin then attempted a PIT maneuver that stopped Mr. Peters’ truck, but did
not disable it. The pursuit was then joined by Dep. Stich. However, Mr. Peters accelerated again,
ramming into both Dep. Wallin’s and Dep. Stich’s patrol vehicles, before driving away wildly
again in flight.
The driver quickly lost control again in a nearby intersection, with the truck spinning out and
ending up stopped on a curbed median. Dep. Wallin positioned his vehile to block the truck.
Again, Mr. Peters accelerated forward and forcibly collided with Dep. Wallin’s vehicle on the rear
driver’s side, spinning Dep. Wallin’s car around in the process. Mr. Peters’ sped off, with Dep.
Stich in pursuit and Dep. Wallin following. Dep. Stich then attempted another PIT maneuver,
which was only partly successful. Mr. Peters continued through the PIT maneuver, but lost control
of his truck shortly thereafter, spinning out onto a sidewalk and adjacent wooded foliage on North
Damson Road, south of SR-524.
Dep. Wallin stopped his vehicle in front and to the passenger side of the truck. According to Dep.
Stich, Mr. Peters appeared to be trying to get the vehicle started to flee again. Dep. Stich then
struck the front of the truck with his patrol vehicle, attempting to pin it in place. After this collision,
the truck was pushed backward, separating from Dep. Stich's patrol vehicle. Dep. Stich drove his
patrol vehicle forward again, making contact with front of the truck to push it against the foliage.
After the second collision, the front of Dep. Stich’s patrol vehicle remained in contact with Mr.
Peters’ truck. The back of the truck was against bushes and small trees in the “woods” or greenbelt
adjacent to the sidewalk on North Damson Road.
Actions after Mr. Peters’ vehicle is stopped. At that point, Dep. Wallin got out of his patrol
vehicle and positioned himself at the front passenger fender of the truck. Dep. Stich exited his
M/S #606  3000 Rockefeller Ave. 

Everett, WA 98201  Phone: (425) 388-3393 
www.sheriff.snoco.org

Fax: (425) 388-3805 

 patrol vehicle and joined him. Both Dep. Wallin and Dep. Stich had their firearms drawn and both
gave commands to Mr. Peters to show his hands and turn off his vehicle. Dep. Wallin and Dep.
Stich also stated that Mr. Peters’ was not complying with commands to raise his hands, and refused
to make eye contact. Further, both indicated Mr. Peters did not immediately turn off the truck, and
that the engine continued to rev. An audio recording from a nearby home security system
corroborates their accounts. It shows that although Mr. Peters eventually turned off the vehicle,
he indeed did not do so immediately. There are several seconds after the initial stop where the
truck can be heard revving, before it finally stops.
Next, Dep. Stich observed that Mr. Peters was trying to open the driver's door with his left hand
and believed he was attempting to flee on foot. While the truck was still revving, Dep. Stich
attempted to move over the hoods of his patrol vehicle and Mr. Peters’ truck in order to prevent
Mr. Peters from fleeing. During the investigation, Dep. Stich said that he believed climbing over
the two vehicles provided him with the quickest access to prevent the suspect from fleeing on foot.
As he moved, Dep. Stich glanced into the truck cab, but could not see beyond (lower than) Mr.
Peterson’s right elbow.
The shooting. As Deputy Stich was moving over the vehicles, Dep. Wallin stated he began to
fear that Mr. Peters was attempting to re-start his truck. Dep. Wallin reported that he believed he
was manipulating the gear shift of the truck, attempting to get it started by moving the shifter from
“drive” to “park.” Dep. Wallin stated that he believed that if Mr. Peters were able to start the truck,
he was likely to pin Deputy Stich between the truck and his patrol vehicle, or to potentially run
over him if Dep. Stich was able to make it to the other side of his patrol vehicle. Dep. Wallin did
not believe there was adequate room on the passenger side of Dep. Stich’s vehicle to escape Mr.
Peters’ truck. Dep. Wallin also noted that he was concerned about his own escape route if the
truck was restarted, based on his position in relation to his and Dep. Stich’s patrol vehicles. While
Dep. Wallin stated he was unsure if the truck was mechanically capable of starting, he did not
believe the truck was immobilized by virtue of its position between the patrol vehicles and only
light foliage at the rear of the truck. Dep. Wallin gave commands for Mr. Peters to get his hands
up. He did not comply.
At that point, Dep. Wallin stated he heard what he believed was the sound of the truck being
restarted, and observed what appeared to be Mr. Peters again manipulating the gear shift. Dep.
Wallin fired two shots from his firearm. Both shots went through the windshield of Mr. Peters’
truck and struck Mr. Peters.
Shortly after Dep. Wallin fired, backup arrived and assisted in removing Mr. Peters and his
passenger from the F-150. Mr. Peters was later pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center.
M/S #606  3000 Rockefeller Ave. 

Everett, WA 98201  Phone: (425) 388-3393 
www.sheriff.snoco.org

Fax: (425) 388-3805 

 Later, after the truck was impounded, a firearm was found inside a closed soft case beneath the
folded down center console of the F-150.
Investigation and Discipline. This incident, including Dep. Wallin’s actions, were subject to both
an investigation by the SMART team and by the Office of Professional Accountability (OPA No.
19-001).
Sheriff Ty Trenary found that Dep. Wallin’s actions had violated SCSO policy both as to vehicle
pursuits and the use of force. He terminated Dep. Wallin’s employment on October 3, 2019.
The SCDSA filed a grievance challenging this termination under the terms of their collective
bargaining agreement, alleging the discipline was without just cause. The grievance was denied
at the initial stages by the prior SCSO administration, and the SCDSA demanded that the grievance
be subject to arbitration, per the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. As of the date of
this letter, that arbitration has yet to be scheduled and the grievance remains in dispute.
II.

My Findings

I have reviewed the investigatory materials with regard to this matter—including the SMART
report and the materials and reports submitted for consideration in OPA No. 19-001. As noted
above, I cannot agree with the conclusions reached by Sheriff Trenary and his administration with
respect to the discipline meted out to Dep. Wallin in this case.
Vehicle Pursuit. With regard to the findings against Mr. Wallin as to the vehicle pursuit being
outside of policy, I disagree with the prior administration and accordingly rescind this discipline.
Specifically, I find that Dep. Wallin did not base his decision to pursue the vehicle solely on the
potential charge of “Reckless Driving,” which would be contrary to policy. Instead, I believe Dep.
Wallin had more than enough evidence to believe, at a minimum, that the driver of the truck was
under the influence of alcohol or drugs and was a danger to other drivers on the road. After all,
Dep. Wallin had observed tell-tale signs of an impaired driver—erratic speed and lane of travel,
inability to anticipate turns, jerky steering movements, and even a near-collision just before he
pulled Mr. Peters over for the first time. All of this is more than sufficient to believe Mr. Peters
was Driving Under the Influence of alcohol or drugs. DUI, as noted in Dep. Wallin’s disciplinary
letter, is an authorized basis for initiating a vehicle pursuit under SCSO Policy 315.4(a). Further,
the fact that Mr. Peters was using his truck as a weapon, purposefully ramming Dep. Wallin’s and
Dep. Stich’s patrol vehicles in order to get away, indicated he did in fact pose a “credible threat of
death or serious bodily injury to officers or the public” if he was allowed to get away, such that
the pursuit was also justified by SCSO Policy 315.4(c).

M/S #606  3000 Rockefeller Ave. 

Everett, WA 98201  Phone: (425) 388-3393 
www.sheriff.snoco.org

Fax: (425) 388-3805 

 Additionally, I also disagree with the former administration that Dep. Wallin did not relay adequate
information to his superior officers about the justification for the pursuit. Dep. Wallin conveyed
all the elements of a DUI pursuit, even if he never actually used the terms. He stated the suspect
was weaving, driving at erratic and dangerous speeds, and was all over the road. He also conveyed
that the suspect defied his commands to put his hands up during the initial traffic stop and instead
chose to flee. During the immediate pursuit, he noted his observations that the suspect was so
erratic he believed he was going to kill somebody. He nevertheless was able to convey details
about the truck and its occupants, including direction, speed of travel, and license plate
information. Put simply, I believe Dep. Wallin conveyed enough information as was reasonably
possible in the context presented. That context was a rapidly evolving situation, involving an
unpredictable suspect driving aggressively and dangerously with a three-ton truck. I do not believe
second-guessing Dep. Wallin’s reporting in this context is reasonable or correct.
Use of Deadly Force. Similarly, I do not agree with the conclusions reached by the prior
administration as to whether Dep. Wallin’s decision to use deadly force in this case was contrary
to policy. SCSO Policy 300.3(a) states that deadly force is authorized where an officer must
“protect himself/herself from what he/she reasonably believes would be an imminent threat of
death or serious bodily injury.” While Dep. Wallin’s original disciplinary letter correctly recites
this policy, I disagree with the prior administration’s assessment of the risks Dep. Wallin and Dep.
Stich were facing on the night of October 23, 2018.
First, I must note that I take exception to the prior administration’s discounting Dep. Wallin’s
experience in evaluating the likelihood that the suspect possessed a weapon. The former Sheriff
dismissed this as nothing more than Dep. Wallin’s “intuition” that Mr. Peters was attempting to
access a firearm. But I think the evidence shows it was more than that. Specifically, Dep. Wallin
indicated that throughout the pursuit and the stop, Mr. Peters would furtively grasp downward in
his vehicle, attempting to grab something. Dep. Wallin’s training and experience, based on years
of patrol work and dealing with armed suspects in flight, indicated that such furtive movements
are often an attempt at locating a weapon. This is especially likely in the context presented here:
a suspect so desperate to avoid apprehension that he chose to engage in an erratic, reckless and,
frankly, aggressive high speed chase. And of course, in this case, Dep. Wallin’s fears were 100%
justified. Mr. Peters actually had a loaded gun to the right of him, within arm’s reach of his position
in the driver’s seat. That weapon was not inside a console, it was on the bench seat underneath a
fold-down center arm-rest in a small zippered bag. I do not believe this was particularly
inaccessible. When a suspect tries this hard to get away, and then refuses to show his hands, while
defiantly reaching toward an area where guns are commonly located (and, as it turns out, one was
in fact present), I am not one to second-guess the reasonable fear faced by the officer that he was
about to have a gun pointed at him and his fellow officers.

M/S #606  3000 Rockefeller Ave. 

Everett, WA 98201  Phone: (425) 388-3393 
www.sheriff.snoco.org

Fax: (425) 388-3805 

 But even more than this, I take firm exception to the prior administration’s position that Mr. Peters
did not pose a sufficient threat to Dep. Stich or Dep. Wallin with only his truck. As I have noted,
on multiple occasions throughout this incident, Mr. Peters used his 3-ton pickup as a battering ram
to attack Dep. Wallin and Dep. Stich. 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. When Mr. Peterson used his lifted F150 as a weapon to crash into the vehicles driven by
Dep. Wallin and Dep. Stich, he was in fact placing Dep. Wallin and Dep. Stich in imminent danger
of serious bodily injury or death. That danger did not dissipate once the truck spun out along North
Damson Road.
While it is true that Dep. Stich’s vehicle was nose to nose with Mr. Peters’ truck at that point, it is
also true that it could not be assumed Mr. Peters’ F150 could not push the much smaller patrol
vehicle around at will. Nor could it be assumed that a few thin trees and some bushes at the rear
of the truck were sufficient to keep the truck from getting loose again, if Mr. Peters was so inclined.
Again, everything that had occurred up until that point gave the indication that Mr. Peters would
stop at nothing to get away—even putting deputies’ lives at risk. I believe that at that point it was
perfectly reasonable to believe Mr. Peters was not done with his attempts to escape.
This belief is only strengthened by the fact that at this time, by both Dep. Wallin’s and Dep. Stich’s
accounts, Mr. Peters was not complying with commands to show his hands. To the contrary, his
right hand was down below the view of the dashboard, meddling with the gear shift and ignition
in what could only be an attempt to get that truck started again. Being on top of and somewhat in
between the two vehicles at that time, Dep. Stich’s safety really was at the mercy of whether Mr.
Peters was able to get that truck started. From where he was, the likelihood that Dep. Stich could
either be jostled into a position where he could be pinned between the truck and the patrol vehicle,
or that he could be knocked directly into the path of the truck itself, was extremely high. I am not
willing to second-guess the reasonableness of the fear Dep. Wallin had that Deputy Stich was
likely to be seriously hurt or killed if Mr. Peters was able to start that truck.
And ultimately, Dep. Wallin stated that he fired his weapon when he perceived Mr. Peters had in
fact restarted the truck. The prior administration did not credit Dep. Wallin’s perception. I do. In
fact, I believe the available evidence wholly supports it. First, the audio recording of this incident
captures a sound just before Dep. Wallin fired his weapon that was likely the truck being restarted.
Likewise, the OPA investigation into this matter revealed that there is evidence of an ignition
sequence in the truck’s “black box” right around the time Dep. Wallin claimed to hear that the
truck had been restarted. This too supports Dep Wallin’s perception that at the time he fired his
weapon, Mr. Peters was restarting the trunk and putting Dep. Wallin and Dep. Stich in grave
danger.
M/S #606  3000 Rockefeller Ave. 

Everett, WA 98201  Phone: (425) 388-3393 
www.sheriff.snoco.org

Fax: (425) 388-3805 

 The prior Sheriff downplayed this evidence. Instead, he put undue stock in the fact that the truck
was found by investigators with the ignition in the “off” position. He discounted Dep. Wallin’s
explanation that he himself reached inside the truck and turned the ignition off after the shots were
fired. In doing so, he discounted video evidence showing the moment Dep. Wallin did in fact
reach inside the truck, and that at that exact instance the truck’s running lights went off (seeming
to indicate that indeed, the ignition had been shut off at that time). I believe this evidence shows
Dep. Wallin’s account was entirely accurate.
In the end, I have concluded that at the time Dep. Wallin decided to fire his weapon, he did
reasonably perceive Mr. Peters to be creating an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury
to Deputy Stich and potentially even himself. Having restarted the truck, which Mr. Peters had
previously used as a battering ram against his police pursuers, he could have easily pinned or run
over Deputy Stich, given Deputy Stich’s positioning at the time Dep. Wallin decided to fire his
weapon. The prior Sheriff’s position, that he could understand Dep. Wallin’s perception of danger
brewing, but that in his mind the imminent threat had not yet materialized, is not one I can get
behind. While the loss of life is always unfortunate and is to be avoided if possible, I am not going
to split hairs about whether a clearly looming deadly threat was imminent enough to justify the use
of deadly force. It is too high of a burden to ask of our law enforcement officers, who are literally
putting their lives on the line every day. Even more, it is not what the law or SCSO policy requires.
III.

Conclusion

For all of these reasons, I have decided to grant the SCDSA’s grievance, rescind Mr. Wallin’s
disciplinary termination, and reinstate Mr. Wallin to the position of Sheriff’s Deputy.

M/S #606  3000 Rockefeller Ave. 

Everett, WA 98201  Phone: (425) 388-3393 
www.sheriff.snoco.org

Fax: (425) 388-3805 