SEATTLE — A longtime Everett firefighter was behind bars Thursday after he allegedly showed up in Seattle for a rendezvous with a 15-year-old prostitute, who turned out to be an undercover detective.
David P. Vier, 60, has no criminal convictions in Washington, but he has been the focus of previous investigations for domestic violence, according to police and court records.
Vier also was demoted from a higher post of division chief at the fire department earlier this year, according to public records.
He was placed on paid administrative leave from his $87,000-a-year city job shortly after his arrest Wednesday.
A King County District Court judge set bail at $50,000 Thursday after finding probable cause for his arrest.
Vier is accused of commercial sex abuse of a minor and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes during an online sting targeting men looking for sex with underage girls. Both offenses are felonies.
Police posing undercover posted a personals ad on a fetish website last week, according to the arrest report.
A few days later, they received an email, allegedly from the suspect. The name on the email reportedly was “Fire Medic Pete Vier.”
An officer posing as the fictional girl’s father negotiated with the suspect online. The suspect allegedly agreed to pay $150 for sex with the man’s daughter.
A meeting was set up in Seattle. Surveillance officers ran the license plate on the suspect’s car, which came back as belonging to Vier.
Uniformed officers then arrived. They found $160 in his wallet as well as a supply of condoms, sex toys, male-enhancement medication and personal lubricants.
They also found a receipt from an Everett sex shop for similar items that were purchased about an hour before the bust.
The investigation was done by the Seattle Police Department’s Vice High Risk Victims Unit.
Vier, who also is a paramedic, has worked for the city of Everett since 1991, city spokeswoman Meghan Pembroke said. He was not on duty at the time of his arrest.
Vier volunteered to be demoted in July for reasons that have not yet been made public. He also agreed to a pay cut from his previous salary. The pay cut amounted to roughly $24,000 a year, according to documents obtained by The Herald under state public records laws.
Vier has no previous records of trouble with the Everett Police Department or the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, officials said Thursday.
However, he has been the focus of multiple investigations by the Island County Sheriff’s Office dating back to the early 2000s. At least one of those cases was referred to prosecutors with recommendations of felony charges, though none were filed.
Court papers released Thursday list Vier’s address in rural Arlington, but he previously lived in the Coupeville area, records show.
In 2005 Vier was arrested and booked in Island County for investigation of domestic-violence assault, a felony offense because it allegedly involved the violation of a protection order, sheriff’s detective Ed Wallace said Thursday.
Vier also had been investigated for domestic violence a few years before.
More recently, in spring 2010 and again in September of this year, Vier was investigated for burglaries at his former wife’s home in Island County, Wallace said. In both cases, police took reports but there was not enough evidence to seek criminal charges.
On Thursday, Paul Gagnon, president of the Everett firefighters union, said it was too early to comment on the allegations out of Seattle.
“Local 46 is mindful both of the legal rights of its members, and of the fact that the local’s members have a responsibility to adhere to high standards in their personal behavior as representatives of the community,” Gagnon said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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