West Seattle-residing sheriff’s deputy charged with 3 felonies

The King County Sheriff’s Office deputy jailed and charged Thursday with three felonies is a West Seattle resident. That’s according to the lengthy document charging 49-year-old Darrion Holiwell with promoting prostitution, theft, and a drug violation. The charges filed against him Thursday have been widely reported in regional media; we obtained the charging papers, which cite a Puget Ridge address for Holiwell, identified as a SWAT team member and as KCSO’s lead firearms instructor, as well as owner of a private business that “specializes in firearms training, tactical training, and the sale of tactical equipment.” That business, the charging documents say, took Holiwell and his wife to Las Vegas for a trade show in 2012, leading to a discussion of her possibly working there as an exotic dancer, something she had done elsewhere before. That in turn eventually led to her working from a South King County condo as an “escort,” it is alleged, even as the Holiwells’ marriage faltered, and that is what he is charged with helping facilitate, as a form of domestic violence against her. Some of the evidence on that charge came from Holiwell’s iPhone, seized when his Puget Ridge home was searched in mid-April as part of the investigation, the court documents say, while simultaneously another warrant was served at the KCSO gun range in Ravensdale, where he was at work.

Other items police say they found at his house in the April search included drugs, mostly steroids and substances used in conjunction with them. And the charging documents make note of what was not found during the search of Holiwell’s house: A “large gun safe” was empty, though that is where unnamed “witnesses” told police he stores his “high-quality personal firearms,” and searchers didn’t find a single gun or round of ammunition anywhere in the house. The theft charge, meantime, involves allegations that Holiwell sold KCSO ammunition and other property, mostly to create an unauthorized “slush fund” of sorts. You can read more about the case in this report from our partners at The Seattle Times, who covered Sheriff John Urquhart‘s Thursday afternoon briefing about this case and an investigation of whether others might be involved. Holiwell has been on leave since mid-April and is jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail, scheduled to answer the charges next month. He was taken into custody Thursday morning at the King County Courthouse downtown, according to the arrest report.

13 Replies to "West Seattle-residing sheriff's deputy charged with 3 felonies"

  • Maggie June 20, 2014 (4:22 am)

    Sad. Life is too short to get caught up in such foolish behavior.

  • lost confidence June 20, 2014 (7:56 am)

    To serve and protect…his selfish interests. If we don’t hold these guys to a higher standard, do we trust that they will be here for us in times of crisis, using good judgement? I think not. Urquhart has his work cut out for him cleaning up this mess.

  • Dale June 20, 2014 (9:22 am)

    I can honestly say I don’t know an officer that I would have any doubts about. They are held to a higher standard then the rest of us, both by the public and professionally. (I recall a Bellevue Senior Officer and subordinate being demoted for a relationship he did not disclose). I know of no firm locally that would require you to disclose a relationship like that. I may be wrong but there are few occupations I hold in higher esteem…even if I didn’t deserve that speeding ticket in 1996! haha

  • JanS June 20, 2014 (10:48 am)

    according to what I’ve heard/read, there are others that looked away, knowing this was going on? Hope,, too, if that is truly the case, that they get theirs, too.

  • brothersupporter June 20, 2014 (12:14 pm)

    @Dale Thats a real sad thing to say. My brother is a police officer of 25+ years, loyal husband and father of two. My bestfriend same story… I really hope you never find yourself in a situation needing them but if you do, they still will gladly help.

  • READINGCOMPRE June 20, 2014 (12:28 pm)

    Um…brothersupporter…a little work on reading comprehension. Dale was saying that he holds police officers in higher esteem and that in general they are held to higher ethical standards so many “violations” are not things normally reported. What part is sad to you or shows lack of support for police?

  • brothersupporter June 20, 2014 (3:53 pm)

    @READINGCOMPRE…. I was commenting on him stating” I can honestly say I don’t know an officer that I would have any doubts about”… that’s a little rough.. and pretty big umbrella in my book

  • Craig June 20, 2014 (3:57 pm)

    I’M SHOCKED! I cannot believe a police office is accused of wrong doing! They are the best amung us. Pimping, drugs, theft! This is an outrage! I hope they throw him under the jail.

    I kid, I kid. Not suprised whatsoever. The Police is the biggest gang in the Nation. They commit crimes daily and the “Good” ones turn a blind eye to it. A higher standard…please. I’ve been beaten up by these grown punks since I was 12 years old. Grown men beating a young boy. Class acts.

    I do love the cops in West Seattle though. You can tell they enjoy their beat and it shows in their attitudes. GREAT JOB GUYS! Seriously.

  • Livin' the West life June 20, 2014 (4:18 pm)

    If true, how sad. Two officer friends gave their lives to protect and serve, and I support the law enforcement community. That said, the Sheriff will get to the bottom of it, I believe. If it was ex-Sheriff Rahr still in office, need I remind people of a similar situation with a dirty deputy named Dan Ring. His being allowed to ‘retire’ instead of being prosecuted gave the Sheriff’s office a black eye. I don’t think Sheriff Urquhart would allow that to happen on his watch.

  • WSobserver June 20, 2014 (5:20 pm)

    This is really interesting, I wish the details were more specific.

    Starting I think last fall, in the middle of the night anywhere from 12:00 to the 4AM range, a SPD police car parks in front of our place for hours at a time. One of the officers goes inside the apartment building across the street and another one remains in the parked car with the engine running the whole time.

    We noticed this happening rather frequently and thought it very odd. I’m retired and rather a night owl and I’m often on the computer until late. The patrol car has a loud engine and the noise in the quiet of the middle of the night always attracts my attention.

  • Wsince86 June 20, 2014 (5:32 pm)

    WSobsever- it would be interesting to know where this is happening. Might have some insight.

  • K June 20, 2014 (8:13 pm)

    So how does this logic sound? Totally hypothetically speaking… ” A janitor stole things, he pimped out his wife, he did bad things and the people around him did nothing to prevent it. Therefore every janitor is bad and not to be trusted again ever! We hold them to higher standards because they are around our stuff when we are not there. ” I think that this reasoning is short sighted and ridiculous.
    It’s sad and too bad if this is true. But to consider the whole group is bad because of one person’s actions is kind of sad and pathetic… not the best way to live in my opinion.
    And based on my own personal crime survivor experience, I don’t judge or fault any cop for not catching person who did damage to me. If anything, they do the best they can and are obeying orders. Who gives the orders and how the infrastructure works is another matter. I am pretty sure the individual LE people are rock solid, committed and good. Just my opinion. We are all human beings.

  • Dale June 22, 2014 (9:28 am)

    I have many friends who are police officers currently and retired. Again, they are some of the nicest people I know & I have no doubts about them.

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