Police Officials Named In Probe Of Tavern Brawl -- During Ocean Shores Meeting

TACOMA - Two police chiefs and a high-ranking sheriff's officer have been named in police reports on a barroom brawl during a law-enforcement convention in Ocean Shores.

Lakewood Police Chief Larry Saunders and University Place Police Chief Peter Carder, Pierce County sheriff's deputies who head the precincts in the two Tacoma suburbs, said yesterday they have apologized to their superiors and to Ocean Shores police for their part in a ruckus at the Legend Inn in the early-morning hours of Nov. 17.

The report said some of those attending the convention of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs exchanged insults and in one case apparently traded punches with other drinkers.

Pierce County Sheriff Mark French said he was "surprised and disappointed." He said a decision on any internal action would be made in about two weeks.

King County sheriff's Maj. Frank Kinney, also named in the Ocean Shores police report, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Ocean Shores police have asked that their city attorney decide on whether to file charges by Friday.

King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said his agency would begin an internal investigation after the Ocean Shores police investigation is completed.

Saunders said he normally limits himself to two or three beers but downed 10 or 11 that night. "I used bad judgment," he said. "I am deeply sorry for being in a situation that has potential to generate embarrassment to the city of Lakewood."

Saunders said his memory is somewhat fuzzy on the details but added, "I was not involved in any assaultive behavior to the best of my recollection."

Carder said he also had been drinking but denied having too much alcohol. "I regret that we, the chiefs, got pulled into a situation that every one of us, especially in our positions, should have known to avoid," Carder said.

Others drinking with Saunders, Carder and Kinney were described in the Ocean Shores report as the police chiefs of Buckley, Dupont and Fircrest and a lieutenant from Bonney Lake in Pierce County, the chief in Montesano in Grays Harbor County, and a deputy chief and a detective sergeant from Everett.

Buckley Police Chief Art McGehee said yesterday that local drinkers made "snide comments" as soon as the police group entered.

"They obviously knew when we walked in there we were police officers," McGehee said. "We picked the wrong place to go into."

Montesano Chief Ray Sowers told investigators the group he was with was "rambunctious" but that he had been drinking only diet cola and left because of concern about the rising tension, advising others to do the same.

Dupont Chief Michael Pohl told police he and Fircrest Chief John Cheesman also decided to leave, but Cheesman later returned.

At one point, Ocean Shores Detective David McManus wrote, Kinney said he had approached a drinker at the bar and patted the man on the back and shoulder.

The other man complained that he felt he had been frisked, and the bartender told investigators there was a lot of "pushing and shoving" as visiting officers quickly surrounded the complaining man.

At that point, McGehee said he and the Bonney Lake lieutenant decided to leave and the Everett officers made their exit.

The bartender said he asked another patron to call 911 but one of the visiting police drinkers threatened to "crush" the bartender if he called. He also accused Carder of grabbing him by the arm and collar and trying to push him out the door.

Carder denied touching the bartender. Carder told police he and two others were leaving when a local drinker pushed him from behind.

The man and Carder apparently wound up punching each other on the floor until others in the police group broke it up.