Puyallup police officer charged with rape makes first court appearance

PUYALLUP, Wash. — The Puyallup Police Department announced Thursday night that one of its officers was arrested by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of third-degree rape.

Niamkey Amichia began working for PPD in August of 2022.

“It is just something that all of us find just tremendous disappointment in,” Puyallup Police Chief Scott Engle said.

Prior to that he worked as an officer at the Bellevue Police Department from June of 2021 through July 5, 2022. Bellevue PD told KIRO 7 that Amichia resigned because he could not pass the training program.

“His background actually really spoke to those as his strength and character from those we spoke to about him, nothing of a red flag, nothing of a clue in either background investigation,” Engle said.

Court documents say that the alleged rape happened in October of 2022. The victim told investigators that she met Amichia on an online dating app and agreed to have sex with him for money.

Documents say that Amichia picked her up and then drove the two of them to 146th Street Court East. According to documents, the victim changed her mind and did not give consent. That’s when investigators say Amichia got more aggressive and raped her in the backseat.

“As soon as we had enough probable cause to make an arrest, we notified the Puyallup Police Department and coordinated with them to detain the suspect,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Darren Moss in a news release. “We placed him under arrest immediately before he was able to work his next shift.”

Immediately after being arrested, the 32-year-old officer was fired from the police department.

Police said the officer was hired on Aug. 8, 2022. Since he was still in training at the time of his arrest, he had never worked alone as a police officer.

Investigators say that Amichia’s DNA from this case also matches DNA in an unrelated rape case from 2016 in Connecticut.

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