Former
Washougal police officer convicted
A Clark County District Court judge Wednesday convicted and
sentenced a former Washougal police officer for attacking a mentally ill man
restrained in the backseat of a police cruiser.
In a bench ruling, Judge Sonya Langsdorf convicted Robert E.
Ritchie, 53, of fourth-degree assault for a July incident in which he twice
punched 26-year-old Tyler Lampman in the face after taking the man into
custody. Fourth-degree assault is a gross misdemeanor.
Langsdorf sentenced Ritchie to two days of house arrest, a
$100 fine and two years of bench probation, during which he’s to have no
contact with Lampman.
In September, Ritchie was fired from the Washougal Police
Department over the incident.
The defense had asked for a lenient sentence because of
Ritchie’s 29-year career as a police officer.
Defense attorney Jaime Goldberg said although he expected a
not guilty verdict, he was content with the judge’s sentence.
“The sentence was a fair one, given who he is,” Goldberg
said. “Sometimes, they just treat people like they’re a piece of meat.”
He said Ritchie didn’t intend to hurt Lampman and was
reacting to a threatening situation. Ritchie restrained himself after realizing
he was going too far, Goldberg said.
Lampman was taken into custody on July 1 on suspicion of
domestic violence against his mother and brother. After being restrained in the
back of Ritchie’s patrol cruiser, Lampman began thrashing around, bashing his
head into the plastic partition and spitting at Ritchie.
In court, Ritchie acknowledged he punched Lampman twice but
said he held back further blows after realizing he had to stop. Witnesses gave
inconsistent testimony on the number of times Ritchie punched Lampman, with
numbers ranging from four to eight.
It also wasn’t the first time Ritchie’s actions had come
under fire for being too extreme.
He was demoted from sergeant in 2004 for shooting Olga Rybak
27 times with a stun gun for failing to comply with dog regulations.
The police department concluded Ritchie had used excessive
force.
The Rybak incident didn’t play a factor in Ritchie’s firing
or sentencing, however.
No comments:
Post a Comment