Ozzie Knezovich
A candidate for Sheriff, Spokane County in the 2010 Washington General Election
Party: Republican
Age: 62
City: Western Spokane County, Wash.
Occupation: Spokane County sheriff
OZZIE KNEZOVICH
Education: Graduated from Rock Springs High School in Wyoming. Graduated from Weber State College with an integrated studies bachelor’s degree in 1985.
Work experience: Became town marshal in Superior, Wyoming in 1990. Joined Rock Springs, Wyoming police force in 1991. Joined Olympia Police Department in 1995. Joined Spokane County Sheriff’s Office as deputy in 1996. Became sergeant in 2004. Appointed Spokane County sheriff by county commissioners in 2006 and won election to the post in November of that year. Re-elected while unopposed in 2010.
Political experience: Former president of the Spokane County Deputy Sheriff’s Association. Former president of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Named to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Association in 2008. Served as president of that group in 2012.
Military: U.S. Army airborne medical specialist and combat medic, served in Korea, 1987-90.
Family: Married, three grown children.
Related Coverage
Spokane County unveils new alert system
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich plans to keep his bullhorn, but he soon will have a more subtle way to warn Spokane County residents of emergencies. Starting Monday, residents may register their cell phones, voice-over-Internet phones and e-mail addresses to receive emergency messages.
Creach drawing gun when shot, police say
Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Hirzel said he ordered Pastor Wayne Scott Creach to drop his gun multiple times, struck the 74-year-old man in the leg with a police baton and fired only after the property owner began to draw the gun out of his waistband, an investigator said Tuesday in the first detailed account of the Aug. 25 incident that resulted in Creach’s death.
Deputy says he hit pastor with baton
The deputy who shot and killed a Spokane Valley pastor on Aug. 25 told investigators that he used a baton on Wayne Scott Creach and repeatedly ordered him to drop his gun before firing his own pistol, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich confirmed Sunday. Alan Creach, son of Scott Creach, said Sunday that investigators told him about Deputy Brian Hirzel’s statement that he’d struck his father once with a baton, but that investigators had asked him not to disclose that detail to the media. A news release issued Friday by the Spokane Police Department made no mention of the baton.
Deputy says he struck pastor with baton
The deputy who shot and killed a Spokane Valley pastor Aug. 25 told investigators that he used a baton on Wayne Scott Creach, and repeatedly ordered him to drop his gun before firing his own pistol, Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich confirmed Sunday. But the pastor’s family said there was no autopsy evidence of a baton strike on their father.
Doug Clark: Ozzie out of character on this one
I remember the moment I became an Ozzie Knezovich fan. It was June 2006. That’s when Knezovich showed Joseph “Cuppa Joe” Mastel and the citizens of Spokane County what being a real leader is all about.
Sheriff: Ending vacation could taint probe
Sheriff: Ending vacation could taint probe
Officer involved in shooting identified
The deputy who fatally shot a Spokane Valley pastor and business owner last week was identified Monday as Brian Hirzel, a two-year veteran of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office who also has held law enforcement positions in Kootenai County and in Southern California. Hirzel, 41, has agreed to meet Thursday with detectives investigating the shooting death of 74-year-old Wayne Scott Creach, Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich confirmed. The investigation is being conducted by the Spokane Police Department.
Sheriff offers condolences, withholds details in shooting
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich extended condolences Friday to the family of slain pastor Wayne Scott Creach and asked for the community to be patient as investigators determine why he was shot by a Spokane Valley police officer. Knezovich said he wants to assure residents that a “full and complete” investigation will be performed and that all the details will eventually come out. However, he offered no new details and did not name the officer who shot the 74-year-old pastor.
Jail captain says inmates clogged, flushed toilets
Spokane County Jail inmates will start returning today to cells they flooded with toilet water Saturday evening. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich plans to seek felony charges against those who were responsible if an assessment confirms the damage was as costly as county officials expect.
Discipline dispensed after jail death
Penalties against four Spokane County Jail deputies who allowed an inmate’s death to go undetected for eight hours range from dismissal to a reprimand. Workplace charges in the Nov. 11 death of Fredrick James Juhnke were filed in February and March. Video surveillance and interviews revealed that Kenneth Downey, Lloyd Nolan, David Hatton and Jeff Way failed to make required half-hourly checks on inmates’ welfare, but there was no allegation that they caused or could have prevented Juhnke’s death.