Sex after arrest: Yakima trooper under criminal investigation resigns
YAKIMA, Wash. -- A Yakima trooper accused of having sex with a woman he arrested last March is now off the job after putting in his letter of resignation.
It took KIMA months after filing our public records request, to get a copy of trooper Travis Lamb's 1,800 page criminal investigation that centered around lies, sex and misconduct on the job.
Investigators say Travis Lamb had sex with a woman he arrested for driving drunk just three hours after booking her into jail.
She told detectives, "Lamb showed up in his patrol car and in his work uniform."
"Was it determined that Trooper Lamb broke the law?" KIMA asked.
"The detectives indicate in their report that they felt he had violated the official misconduct statute," said Washington State Patrol Spokesperson Bob Calkins.
But how did it get to that point? KIMA tracked down one of the people in the report who picked the woman up from jail and saw Lamb talking to her.
"They talked for probably half an hour," said Witness Casey Riggle.
Internal documents indicate the woman claims her friend invited Lamb over to have a threesome.
That didn't happen but the woman states she had sex with Lamb, and that the trooper left her a note on her door the next day, signed with what appeared to be a heart.
"We expect our troopers to maintain an appropriate arm's length relationship with those who may come in contact professionally." said Calkins.
Investigators determined Lamb went off-duty minutes before arriving at the woman's house in uniform.
According to the report, Lamb initially denied everything but eventually admitted having sex with the woman while off-duty.
The report indicates Lamb told the woman, "he had missed several calls during the time they allegedly had sex and that he was on call until 8 am."
Both sides indicate the sex was consensual but it wasn't an appropriate choice for a WSP Trooper.
"This behavior is not representative of the other 2,300 men and women of the State Patrol," said Calkins.
To get all sides, KIMA contacted Travis Lamb directly but he didn't want to talk on camera.
Lamb told Action News he resigned over the way the investigation was handled and that this was his dream job.
He called walking away the toughest thing he's ever done.
The investigation was turned over to Yakima County prosecutors. KIMA got in touch with prosecutor Ken Ramm who said he reviewed the case, but no charges were ever filed.
Lamb told detectives the woman acted out of jealousy after telling her he wasn't interested in a relationship.
Detectives concluded the woman's story was more credible; and since Lamb resigned, there's nowhere else for this tale of bad behavior to go.
Prosecutors never returned our calls to explain why they never filed charges. Because Lamb resigned, Washington State Patrol said it never conducted an internal investigation into the alleged misconduct.
The woman in this case did not want to be identified so we couldn't speak to her.
Investigators don't believe her DUI case was impacted in anyway by their sexual relationship.
How could the woman's DUI case not have been impacted by their sexual conduct? Trooper Lamb's testimony immediately became impeachable [a legal term] once he had sexual contact with the woman, and then didn't want a relationship with her.
KIMA, you should try to find out the outcome of the woman's DUI case - it should be fairly easy to do.
As an aside, this Trooper exercised extremely poor judgment - he should have tried a dating site instead of risking his career. His "misconduct" is probably also criminal - "Tampering With a Witness"!Â
@Michael L. Amended to reckless driving. Its in the report.
@YakimaJusticeForAll   Thank you for the info [it would take me about 1/2 hour to upload the report so i wasn't able to view it]. Does the report indicate what the woman blew re BAC?
Sounds like the woman got a good deal - most likely recognition from the prosecutor that they had a serious problem with their case because of Trooper Lamb's post-arrest conduct. He would have not only been impeachable if the case went to trial, but would have been an embarrassment in front of a jury to boot.Â
@Michael L. Didn't Mr. Hagarty blow around that, AND he hit someone?
And he got a better deal, but also a reckless.
@YakimaJusticeForAll   i decided to be patient and upload the whole report and see that the woman blew a .121 blood alcohol level.
i also see that she pled guilty to reckless driving before the Trooper's sexual contact with her came to light officially. That being said, Yakima is a small community and rumors and gossip often fly until they are officially recognized. So i continue to believe this woman got a sweet deal because the prosecutor heard that the Trooper had inappropriate contact [sex] with her.
What is also shaming, other than him cheating on his girlfriend, is that he arrests a woman that is too drunk to drive, and then says she was sober enough to really consent? He also blamed HER, because she was enticing him by flirting with him, and so it wasn't his fault that he gave in to her?
Your report is missing pages near the beginning.
And of course he is not being prosecuted! Mr. Hagart does NOT prosecute police.
@yakima22 speaking of Hildebrand, we have an officer forced out of the WSP for being dishonest, lying to his superiors, having sex with suspects. I think Lamb will be the next leader of the Gang Unit for YPD. They should send him and Urlacher to paid training at Hooters together.
If Lamb did not like the way the investigation was being handled, he should have fought it. I wonder what he is trying to hide. Because he must be guilty, right?
Keep it classy WSP, my guess is this will be another Eric Hildebrand case and be forgotten about. Sad Sad Sad.Â