MONROE — Prosecutors declined to charge a former small town police chief accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a former girlfriend in Monroe.
In a memo filed in March 2020 obtained by The Daily Herald, deputy prosecutor Audrey Majkut argued there was insufficient evidence to charge Robert Lindsay, the one-time police chief in the southwestern Washington city of Rainier.
In February 2018, Monroe police arrested Lindsay for investigation of domestic violence rape and assault with sexual motivation.
An Everett District Court judge found the allegations credible. Bail was set at $500,000.
In court, his lawyer told a judge Lindsay had almost two decades of law enforcement experience, The Herald reported at the time.
The former girlfriend allegedly described how Lindsay told her he was part of a special team called “The Family,” which he had worked with as a law enforcement officer. The Family, he reportedly told her, could be called on occasions when police needed to enter a home without a warrant. Somebody purporting to be a representative of The Family, who detectives believed was Lindsay, sent her text messages saying how she should trust Lindsay and that he was a good person.
In early 2018, the woman told police Lindsay had given her “electrolytes” in a drink. But shortly after, she lost feeling. She reported Lindsay then took off her pants and laid on top of her. A few days later, she woke up naked with him laying next to her.
The deputy prosecutor argued these reports weren’t enough to charge Lindsay with second-degree rape.
On the night of the first incident, Lindsay brought the woman a bottle of wine, according to a police report. She could only take a few sips because it was like “chewing on aspirin,” she told investigators. She recalled how she was aware of what was going on but felt “paralyzed,” and could not get up off the floor or into bed by herself.
To prove second-degree assault for the alleged poisoning, prosecutors would need to be able to prove what the substance was. They couldn’t. Some drugs were reportedly found in the woman’s urine, but the results were inconclusive.
Prosecutors also examined whether or not Lindsay could be charged with possession of a controlled substance. The woman found a green bag in her daughter’s playroom with drug paraphernalia inside. Police reported it tested positive for methamphetamine. But prosecutors couldn’t prove Lindsay possessed the bag. It was tested for fingerprints, but none were suitable, according to the memo.
In 2018, a court commissioner approved a one-year protection order for the woman against Lindsay.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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