Sheriff Reichert's supervision questioned in bizarre arson

[flamingyouth]

Reichert loves to tout his law-enforcement career pretty much non-stop, so this is a pretty "interesting" story about his fabulous leadership while he was a major.

Dave Reichert knew for weeks in 1996 that a sergeant under his command was meddling in a felony arson investigation, but kept him on the job despite a policy that would have allowed Reichert to remove him, according to interviews and court documents.

It was a bizarre case. The sergeant, Matt Bachmeier, had burned down his own Renton home to collect insurance, then a month later implicated an innocent man before killing him.

From almost the beginning, Bachmeier made suspicious claims about the incident, but Reichert decided against informing Renton police investigators about them, one of his then-subordinates says.

The never-reported allegations involving Reichert's supervision are revealed in a long-since archived federal lawsuit brought in 1998 by the parents of Bachmeier's murder victim, James Bradley Wren.

More. Lots more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287797_reichertsideweb06.html

[Fenris]

1. Best line:

Glenn's case notes from the time also show he tried to call Reichert in early August but Reichert was on vacation.

Mayes sure comes off as an asshole in that article.