A Washington sheriff walked back his claim to police that a Black newspaper carrier was stopping at houses on his street and threatened to kill him

• Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer told police that a Black newspaper carrier threatened to kill him.
• A police report, however, said Troyer retracted his claim.
• The Black man, Sedrick Altheimer, denied having threatened to kill him but was detained after his claim.

A white sheriff in Washington told police that a Black man he had tailed on a newspaper route had threatened to kill him. The sheriff then retracted his claim.

Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer is facing calls for his resignation after a January 27 encounter with Sedrick Altheimer, a 24-year-old Black newspaper carrier, according to the Seattle Times.

Troyer had followed Altheimer along his delivery route. Then he called Washington police, telling them repeatedly that Altheimer had threatened to kill him.

"He's in some sort of gray car, and he was in my driveway and in my neighbor's driveway, and he knows who I am and he threatened to kill me and I've got him blocked in," Troyer said during his phone call with the police, a recording of which was obtained by the Seattle Times.

"He looks homeless in his car," Troyer added on the call. "He was in my driveway and I got in my car and he was in my neighbor's driveway and tried to get in my garage."

"I'm trying to be polite to him, but he says I'm a racist and wants to kill me, so."

Since then, a police report indicates that Troyer went back on the claim that Altheimer threatened to kill him, according to the Seattle Times. Altheimer "never threatened him," the reports says.

Troyer continues to give mixed messages on the matter.

When reached for comment by the Seattle Times, Troyer insisted that he felt a "perceived threat" and that Altheimer had threatened him. But he also said the dispatcher on the call with him "took it wrong."

"Even though there's the argument and a threat - and my perceived threat was there - I didn't want to take it any further," Troyer said.

"That's what I was telling police," he added. "I think [the officer] took it wrong."

Later, Troyer released a statement in which he said he stands "by my original recorded statement to dispatch, where I reported that there were verbal threats made."

Altheimer has repeatedly denied Troyer's claim, but he's been detained.

The Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance, a nonprofit police reform coalition, demanded on Friday that Troyer immediately face suspension, the Seattle Times reported.

The group also called for an "independent, thorough and transparent investigation," arguing that he "abused the public trust, and abused, misused and weaponized his standing in law enforcement to harm Black and Brown Lives."

Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier condemned Altheimer's detention in a tweet Friday.

"We already know that Black people are disproportionately involved with law enforcement in our community," Dammeier said. "This situation highlights why I am prioritizing criminal justice reform."

-Bruce Dammeier (@brucedammeier) March 19, 2021

The Tacoma Police Department did not immediately return a request for comment.