Fired King County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Dearth told KIRO 7 he made a mistake but he should not be fired for it.
"I didn't commit a crime," said Dearth, 28. "What happened had nothing to do with work."
Dearth was terminated May 1 for what the King County sheriff says was behavior that was "unbecoming."
“That's exactly right," said Sheriff John Urquhart. "That's not what I expect from my deputies."
Dearth, a decorated deputy, was assigned to SeaTac with what seemed to be a bright future.
But that meant little when he was caught off duty last January, drunk and passed out in his 10 1/2-foot boat in Tacoma. And when he came to, officers said, he was belligerent.
"He's grabbing at the officers," said Urquhart. "He's grabbing their vests; he's pushing them."
According to Tacoma police, Dearth's wallet with his King County identification and his personal handgun were found by a passer-by. That passer-by took them to a nearby bait shop. The woman there called 9-1-1.
When Tacoma police arrived, they could see Dearth was unconscious, alone in his boat, adrift at the Narrows Marina. Tacoma firefighters brought him ashore.
They said he was intoxicated but otherwise OK. But they did take his gun for "safekeeping."
Tacoma police told us they never saw Dearth operating the boat, so they did not arrest him.
But Urquhart said that was reason enough to take him into custody. And it has now cost him his job.
"There are certain things that a person does, a mistake that you make, that you can't take back," said Urquhart. "That you can't walk away from, especially as a police officer."
Dearth says the sheriff is in a difficult spot "because it's not a good time to be a police officer."
But he insists he should be disciplined, not fired.
"I made a mistake," he said.
And he predicted he will wear a King County sheriff's uniform again.
KIRO
