State Patrol settles with Spokane firefighter for $2.4M

Published 1:47 pm Friday, June 1, 2012

SPOKANE — The Washington State Patrol will pay $2.4 million to settle a lawsuit with a Spokane firefighter who was wrongly accused in 2008 of possessing child pornography.

An investigation discovered too late that Todd Chism was a victim of identity theft.

In a statement from the patrol Friday, Risk Manager Donald Sorenson apologized for oversights in the investigation and for damage to Chism’s reputation and distress to his family.

The Spokesman-Review reported that Chism still has a separate $10 million lawsuit pending against the Washington State Patrol over an April 2010 altercation with troopers near his home at Nine Mile Falls.