The public records
behind the headlines.
Lawsuits, settlements, and the patterns that were built to ignore. The Lake Stevens PD archive is finally on the record. Lean in.
A handcuffed child said, “I can't breathe.” Sgt. Wells responded and called it “wrong answer.”
Sgt. Chad Wells — 11 years on the badge, salaried supervisor, the same Wells the City has retained complaint after complaint — pinned a teenager to the ground, told him "wrong answer" when the child said he couldn't breathe, and let him sit cuffed and vomiting in a patrol car for twenty minutes before calling medics.
Did you know this is your local police department?
What the files say
The archive is organized into two living sections. Click through, download the complaints, and draw your own conclusions.
Notice: This site publishes information drawn from public records, court filings, news reporting, and documents submitted by sources. Where allegations have not been adjudicated, they are clearly identified as such.