Sheriff’s sergeant on leave amid assault investigation

A Spokane County sheriff’s sergeant has been placed on paid leave pending the filing of a misdemeanor assault charge in connection with a domestic violence dispute. David Fray was placed on administrative leave late last month after investigators concluded they had probable cause to arrest him on suspicion of assaulting his college-age daughter during a visit in September, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Spokane City Council members agreed Monday to hire a private attorney, Marletta Giles-Ward, to prosecute the case, which was investigated by the Spokane Police Department. Fray, who has not been arrested and couldn’t be reached for comment, had been reassigned to desk duty since the Sept. 13 incident, said Sgt. Dave Reagan, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman. The dispute began after Fray picked up his daughter from Washington State University for the weekend. The two began arguing in a car and Fray slapped her and pulled her hair, according to a police report. The woman, whose name is redacted in a report provided by police, was treated for her injuries at Valley Hospital & Medical Center “but told hospital staff not to call the police because” her father “was a cop,” according to the report. She later took a written statement to the police station and filed a police report. Police photographed her injuries, including a swollen lip and a red, swollen cheek. A friend of Fray’s daughter told detectives she’d heard screaming and crying over the phone when the woman called asking for help. She told police she didn’t want to report the incident but feared the dispute would escalate. In interviews with police, Fray detailed an ongoing family dispute and said he and his daughter had a “kind of rocky” relationship they were working to improve, according to the report. They were arguing in the car when she threw a cup of soda on him and “he instinctively responded by throwing a backhand,” the report said. His daughter acted like she was going to hit him with her purse, Fray said, so he grabbed her hair to stop her. Fray told detectives he suffered a cut and swollen lip in the fight. Fray, who’s paid about $83,000 a year, has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1976.