Crime & Safety
Update: Lakewood Police Officer Blames PTSD For Accident
Adam Leonard resigned earlier this month after police investigations showed he lied about chasing a speeding vehicle. Leonard told the News Tribune that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after four officers were killed at a coffee shop.
A former Lakewood police officer says he was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after four police officers were killed in a Forza coffee shop just outside the city in November 2009, and that disorder caused him to .
Adam Leonard, 34, claimed the driver pointed a shotgun at him before the accident occurred off Perimeter Road, but investigations by the Washington State Patrol and the Lakewood Police Department revealed that the sequence of events during the incident and Leonard's story were inconsistent.
The officer's resignation took effect July 8. Leonard, who previously had worked for the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, had been with the Lakewood Police Department for six years.
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In a story published by The (Tacoma) News Tribune, Leonard says he can't remember what led to the accident and denies lying about the accident, saying the tragic murders in 2009 caused a delusion.
(To learn about PTSD, click here).
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