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While an investigation into Pierce County Major Chad Dickerson continues regarding an arrest for alleged DUI and vehicular assault, Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank joined “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH to discuss reprimanding Dickerson and his own DUI arrest.

成人X站 Newsradio uncovered court records Wednesday that showed Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank, who hired Dickerson to be a part of the command staff as head of criminal investigations, was also arrested for DUI 18 years ago while he was employed as a sergeant with the Seattle Police Department (SPD).

Swank believes the arrest, which happened on February 23, 2007, was mishandled. The incident began when he drove down to Raymond to help out his friend.

“I’m a hunter, in case you didn’t know, and a friend of mine got an elk, and I went down there to give my hand with it,” he said. “Afterwards, we did some celebrating.”

Swank said he had too much to drink, so he decided not to drive his vehicle. Due to it being a cold, rainy February day, he got into his car, where he sat and waited.

“I wasn’t even sleeping. I was just sitting in there, and figured I had to stay there for a while,” he explained. “My car wasn’t running, I didn’t have keys in the ignition, I put them in the back seat, on the floorboard, all the things that we always taught people to do if they had too much to drink, to make sure that if they could sit in the car outside of the elements.”

Washington State Patrol trooper arrests Keith Swank in 2007

A Washington State Patrol (WSP) trooper saw Swank sitting in his car and approached him.

“Probably thought I was going to drive off somewhere,” he said. “I didn’t, and they came over to the car and talked with me. I opened the car door up, and he smelled intoxicants on me, of course, because I had been drinking, and he arrested me for DUI.”

Swank mentioned that even though he explained to the trooper he wasn’t driving and there were no taxis available in rural Raymond, the arrest continued.

“I believe that it was handled improperly,” Swank said. “However, I had to deal with it too, because here I am, a sergeant with the Seattle Police Department. It’s embarrassing for the agency, of course, and people are going to say their own stories about what happened and my behavior and all of that. So I went through the process, agreed, and took the breathalyzer and all that stuff.”

Swank ended up getting an attorney, but said the legal fees were too high.

He noted that during his 15 years as a patrol officer, he would approach people all the time who were intoxicated and sleeping in their cars. However, he would take their keys and have them sober up at the precinct before sending them on their way.

“We didn’t want them driving,” he said. “We wanted them to be safe, but we also didn’t want to just charge them with some crime.”

Pierce County Sheriff says Dickerson will be held accountable

While Swank made the choice not to drive under the influence, Dickerson allegedly did, crashing into an SUV with six people inside, including a pregnant mother. The woman’s 57-year-old mother suffered several broken bones. The other occupants appeared to be uninjured, according to a news release from WSP.

“This is tragic. I feel terrible about the victim’s family, the mother, the children, her husband, the grandmother,” Swank stated. “I heard there are injuries. I don’t know how bad they are. I hope everybody’s fine. It breaks my heart. I don’t want that going on. But at the same time, too, we’re going to hold our own people accountable.”

He added that deputies “don’t get special treatment” and that the sheriff’s office isn’t asking for that.

“It’s a serious deal, and we’re looking at it seriously, and I’m just very sad the whole way around,” he said.

When asked about the report that Dickerson left the scene of the crash, Swank said it is his understanding that Dickerson did not want to leave, but medics and a sergeant at the scene recommended he go to the hospital due to the severity of the collision. Swank said Dickerson still wouldn’t leave, but that his wife arrived and convinced him to go to the hospital.

“There were no other means of transportation, but that’s my understanding,” he shared. “She took him to the hospital, to an urgent care facility.”

Swank added that Dickerson earned the position of major in the sheriff’s office.

“He’s a leader. He’s a great guy. He has detective experience,” Swank said. “He’s a very compassionate, very nice guy. I think the world of him. I think of him as family. But at the same time, if my son were involved in something like this, I would say the same thing: He has to deal with the situation.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

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