CROSBY, N.D.-A northwest North Dakota man who claims that Divide County Sheriff Lauren Throntveit was intoxicated while investigating a shooting earlier this year has filed a complaint against him.
Douglas James of Crosby, who also claims the sheriff drinks on the job, submitted a formal complaint to the North Dakota Peace Officers Standards and Training Board last week. The board will hold a hearing on the complaint in Bismarck on Feb. 7, Duane Stanley, the POST board's executive secretary, said.
James alleges that Throntveit was drunk when he arrived at the scene of a shooting just after midnight on Oct. 31 to meet with witnesses and others inside Nooners Bar after rounds were fired toward a group of people standing outside.
James claims that Throntveit's condition was obvious, and that he dropped his patrol rifle on the floor of the bar.
"He was (visibly) impaired, slurring his speech and had bloodshot watery eyes," James wrote in his complaint.
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As a result of the earlier gunfire, one man was injured and two others, including James, 57, were arrested.
Police say James shot a man in the shoulder and Shannon Fish, 45, of Noonan, fired toward the crowd but did not hit anyone.
James was arrested for attempted murder and is scheduled for trial on April 2. Fish was charged with reckless endangerment in mid-November, and is due in court on Feb. 9 for a preliminary hearing.
According to James, Throntveit was still intoxicated hours later when he and another deputy arrested him in Noonan. The two did not have a warrant, he said, and he was put in handcuffs that were "intentionally ratcheted down as tight as they could possibly go without being double-locked," he wrote in the complaint.
James, a former Colorado law enforcement officer, said he feels a complaint is in order despite his alleged role in the case.
"I'm involved in something right now, but that doesn't diminish the fact that I have rights," he said on Thursday. "And to have an intoxicated person to come to investigate... When you show up and I can smell alcohol on your breath..."
James accuses Throntveit of conduct unbecoming an officer, being intoxicated while performing the duties of sheriff, abuse of power, malfeasance and abuse of process.
He claims that Throntveit has been visibly impaired on numerous calls, drinks while on duty, keeps items that are used as evidence in criminal cases, and considers himself exempt from rules in the department's policy manual.
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Throntveit has served as Divide County Sheriff since 2003, and will be up for re-election next year, according to the county's auditor's office. He did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.
Both Throntveit and James will have the chance to speak and present evidence at the February hearing, although neither is required to appear, Stanley said.
If the nine-member board accepts the complaint for consideration, it will vote on whether it merits discipline.
"Based on that proceeding the board makes a decision on whether a peace officer code of conduct violation is made," Stanley said.
Violations can result in probation or the suspension, revocation or non-renewal of a peace officer license, he added.
The board's findings can be appealed to an administrative law judge, whose ruling can be appealed in district court.
According to the POST board's records, Throntveit's license is valid through the end of 2019.
James said his inquiries about filing a complaint were turned down by a number of agencies, including the North Dakota Attorney General's Office and the Divide County State's Attorney's Office. Other offices told him that his complaint should be filed at the sheriff's office, although employees there said there was no such process in place, he claims.
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"We're in America, we're not in Russia," James said. "The tactics I've run into are very scary."
