OFF THE WIRE
CASEY MCNERTHNEY
seattlepi.com
Detective also received an awarded in 2009 for his work...
A Seattle police detective who shot a Hells Angel during a controversial 2008 confrontation at a South Dakota bar was elected to serve on the Seattle Police Officers Guild executive board as secretary-treasurer.
Since the shooting, Detective Ron Smith earned praise for his work on an undercover stolen goods operation.
The shooting happened about 1 a.m. on Aug. 9, 2008, at the Loud American Roadhouse, a crowded bar in Sturgis, S.D. Smith was there as a member of the Iron Pigs motorcycle club. Smith has said several Hells Angels jumped him and that he fired in self-defense after being beaten.
He was there off duty with four other members of the law enforcement-oriented motorcycle club -- a second Seattle police officer, two U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and a U.S. Defense Department firefighter.
Smith initially faced two felony charges of assault and perjury. In September 2008, Meade County State's Attorney Jesse Sondreal dismissed the assault charge, saying a cumulative review of the evidence showed that he was "defending himself from a violent premeditated attack, and he responded in a manner which was neither excessive nor unreasonable."
Smith, who was on administrative leave in 2008, was cleared of a perjury charge a week before being cleared of the assault charge. That charge stemmed from a mix-up over which gun Smith was carrying.
In November 2008, a South Dakota judge dismissed misdemeanor gun charges against Smith and another Seattle officer involved in the shooting. Read more about the September 2008 gun charges here.
Last April, Smith files a lawsuit against the City of Seattle, saying the department maligned him in the days following the shooting when investigators erroneously claimed he was armed with a department-issued pistol at the time of the shooting. Smith also took issue with comments by then-Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske shortly after the incident.
During a community event, Kerlikowske is alleged to have called Smith an "embarrassment" to the department and claimed the detective would "not be working with (him) much longer," according to the lawsuit. Other officers reported the statements to Smith, who returned to full duty in January 2009.
In response to the suit, the city asserted the police statements were protected under a state law protecting communications with government. King County Superior Court Judge Michael Hayden agreed in July and dismissed Smith's suit outright.
Smith is also the editor of The Guardian, the Seattle Police Officer's Guild newspaper. Earlier this month, the Stranger wrote about controversial articles in the Guardian, prompting Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn to discuss the newspaper with Police Chief John Diaz. Smith was not included in the Stranger article.
"When you see what we see in the Guardian -- that training designed to improve how police work with minorities is inherently wrong and that the people who promote that training are 'the enemy' -- it would tend to confirm those concerns of the minority community and others that the police department is guilty of giving unequal treatment based on who they are," McGinn told the Stranger.
Smith was among eight detectives, a sergeant and an officer who received an impact award at the 2009 awards banquet sponsored by the Seattle Police Foundation. The award came for an investigation of a cigar store that investigators say trafficked in stolen goods.
Also elected to the Seattle Police Officers Guild is Ben Hughey, who in 2009 won an impact award as a Gang Unit detective. Another officer elected to the executive board is Officer John Abraham, who received a 2010 award of excellence from the Seattle Police Foundation for his work on the department's Hospital Response Team.
Others elected to the executive board include Sgt. Deb Nicholson, Officer Ernie DeBella, Officer Ryan Gallagher and Sgt. Tony Baily. They serve two-year terms.
Seattle Police Officers Guild President Rich O'Neill was re-elected to a third term with more than 78 percent of the membership vote. He and Smith have three-year terms.
"I am humbled by the overwhelming vote of confidence from the membership to lead their organization at this time," O'Neill said in a statement. "My first two terms as president have been very demanding but also very fulfilling." The Seattle Police Officers' Guild is the largest police labor union in the northwest with more than 1,250 people, representing all sworn Seattle police officers and sergeants.
Casey McNerthney can be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com. Follow Casey on Twitter at twitter.com/mcnerthney.
