Ex-sheriff’s sergeant sentenced for strangling woman

TACOMA, Wash. - A former Pierce County sheriff’s sergeant has been sentenced for strangling a woman and threatening her with a machete.

Robert Carpenter, 52, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Pierce County Superior Court to second-degree domestic-violence assault, The News Tribune reported.

Judge TaTeasha Monique Davis sentenced him to six months in jail, which is at the low end of a standard sentencing range.

Early on Nov. 14, Carpenter returned to his Puyallup home drunk, slapped a woman awake, choked her several times, held a machete near her throat and threatened to kill her and her children, according to court documents.

He eventually surrendered to a SWAT team at his home and has been in custody since then. The woman told law enforcement she thought she would die during the attack, documents said.

Less than a month before, Carpenter had been sentenced to time served after pleading guilty to felony harassment in a 2018 stabbing in Tacoma. He was subsequently fired from the sheriff's department after working there for 25 years.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former Pierce County deputy arrested for domestic violence

Other charges in the November assault including kidnapping, assault and harassment were dropped as part of a plea agreement, prosecuting attorney’s office spokesperson Adam Faber said.

Carpenter's attorney, Bradley Barshis, told the newspaper he thought it was a good resolution and that Carpenter wasn’t someone who needed to stay in jail.

"This is a guy that has essentially served and protected our community for 25 years," Barshis said. "An individual who worked on the SWAT team and made sure our communities were made safe."