Spokane police decline to discipline officer accused of sexual assault for lack of evidence

The Spokane Police Department declined to discipline an officer after finishing their internal investigation into an alleged sexual assault, according to police internal affairs documents.

On May 5, Spokane police Chief Craig Meidl, whose last day on the job was Friday, signed a case finding notice indicating there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove that Andrew Richmond, a former deputy and current Spokane police officer, sexually assaulted a female deputy in 2019.

The sheriff’s office received an anonymous note on July 27, 2022, from “deputy anon” raising concerns about the alleged assault and inquiring if the department could “formally create a way for safe reporting.” Richmond chose to remain silent during the criminal investigation, throughout which time he was placed on leave.

Lincoln County Prosecutor Adam Walser declined to charge Richmond because the statute of limitations had run out. However, Walser concluded there was still enough probable cause to accuse Richmond of unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation.

The department’s Administrative Review Panel also found there was no “clear and convincing” evidence a breach of policy had occurred, which is a higher standard than probable cause, the panel wrote in a letter.

Following Meidl’s finding, Richmond returned from administrative leave to full work status on May 8.

Meidl reviewed Richmond’s statements to internal affairs, reports from Pullman Police – who investigated the allegation due to a conflict of interest – and the prosecutor’s findings to come to his conclusion. According to the investigative documents, multiple people declined to speak about it, and some friends and coworkers did not remember any conversations about a sexual assault, only a kiss.

“We can’t assume something unless they’re willing to tell us,” Meidl said, adding that it’s hard to know what impact the statements would have had if they had chosen to be interviewed.

The deputy, who is unnamed in the records, initially told Pullman police that she, Richmond and mutual friends planned to go out for drinks to celebrate Richmond leaving the sheriff’s office to go to the Spokane Police Department. The mutual friends ended up staying home, so Richmond and the deputy went out for drinks at the Park Inn and Jack and Dan’s, and ended up stopping at Safeway to buy more alcohol before going back to her house.

The deputy said Richmond went up to the deputy’s bedroom uninvited. Not long after, she went upstairs to see what he was doing. Richmond then handcuffed her to a handle on her police laptop, she said. She also said Richmond aggressively came on to her and tried to unbutton her pants, and that she resisted. Eventually she freed herself from the handcuffs and kicked Richmond out of her home, she said, and never reported the incident.

Richmond, in his statement to internal affairs, said he was getting a tour of her home and they jokingly were playing around with the handcuffs in her room. They fell to the floor laughing and ended up face to face, he said, and kissed. The two went downstairs and kissed again, he said. Afterwards, they discussed what had happened and decided it wouldn’t happen again, since the two were both in relationships. That’s when Richmond went home.

The deputy and Richmond texted the next day. She asked him for an explanation about his actions and he texted back that “under normal circumstances” he would have “never been that way.” The deputy texted back, “You realize how many times I told you to stop, right?” Richmond then responded, “I would NEVER force myself on anyone.” He explained an investigation into an accusation like that could change his life.

The deputy texted him the next day she didn’t think he was assaulting her but that “making moves” doesn’t look good, and she thought he was just drunk.

“I’m not going to ruin your family or your life. You know me better than that. Or at least you should by now,” the text said.

Before the sexual assault allegation, Richmond provided investigators with files related to the multiple lawsuits surrounding former sheriff’s Sgt. Jeffrey Thurman and former Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich to “give context to the whole situation.”

Richmond, who is Black, said he overheard former Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeffrey Thurman use a racial epithet in a phone conversation in December 2016 with another sheriff’s deputy. He reported the incident to the sheriff’s office, and Thurman was later fired by Knezovich. Thurman then sued Knezovich and the sheriff’s office for defamation and was awarded $19.5 million.

Richmond claimed in his internal affairs interview that this “wasn’t an isolated incident that came out of nowhere.”

“I’ve been fighting accusations from these people since this happened in 2019 and yeah, I just… I felt that it was necessary that everything was known at least,” he was recorded saying in the documents.

Spokane Police Guild President David Dunkin spoke up on the Guild’s behalf during Richmond’s interview, saying that the accusations the deputy made in the text messages were only to “salvage her relationship” with her partner at the time, who also works in emergency services.

“It’s not unreasonable to think that his information … somehow gets back to Thurman, and here we are years later, this suddenly is used against Officer Richmond,” Dunkin said.

The deputy who accused Richmond of assault declined to speak with the Spokane Police Department about the alleged incident, records say. The department did interview Thurman, who said the deputy called him crying and said Richmond “started kissing on her,” and that she kissed him back to distract him.

Sgt. Craig Hamilton wrote in the investigation documents that Richmond had an “emotional speech” while being interviewed. He said he had been accused of having sex on duty, beating his wife and “everything you can imagine” since the Thurman lawsuit, as well as his own. Richmond sued the sheriff’s office in 2021 for retaliation from reporting Thurman’s comment. He said he was subjected to discrimination, retaliation and ultimately forced out of his job with the sheriff’s office.

“The Black officer’s County employer failed to protect him against workplace discrimination and retaliation in violation of state and federal laws,” the lawsuit alleges.

Heather Barden, Richmond’s attorney, previously wrote in the complaint that ever since he reported the slur, “he has had a target on his back.” Barden could not be reached for comment on Friday. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in June, meaning the suit cannot be brought up again in a court of law.

The female deputy later told the Administrative Review Panel she was being called an offensive slur at parties she had attended. She also told multiple male officers what had happened, but none ever reported it, the panel wrote.

Ultimately, following the internal investigation, Meidl found that “without more evidence, we’re not able to prove whether it occurred or not,” he said Friday.

Reporters Emry Dinman and Emma Epperly contributed to this story.