City council candidate allegedly obstructed Blaine officers

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A candidate for Blaine City Council is charged with obstructing Blaine police officers during a late-night traffic stop in 2017, after the officers impounded his vehicle, which was being driven 111 m.p.h. by an intoxicated driver before it was pulled over.

Steven Tojek, a border patrol agent who is currently running for the Blaine city council ward 2 seat, allegedly became angry and confrontational with Blaine police officers after they proceeded to impound his new Ford Mustang, in which he was the passenger. “You touch my vehicle and I am suing your f---ing a--,” Tojek told the officers. The confrontation allegedly delayed their investigation of the driver, who was later found guilty of reckless driving and driving under the influence.

Tojek is charged with one count of obstructing under RCW 9A.76.020, which states that a person “is guilty of obstructing a law enforcement officer if the person willfully hinders, delays or obstructs any law enforcement officer in the discharge of his or her official powers or duties.” He is facing a trial in Whatcom County District Court on Monday, September 23. A call to the prosecutor’s office about potential penalties was not returned.

On December 2, 2017 at about 2:39 a.m., Tojek, then 46, was a passenger in his own vehicle, which was being driven northbound on I-5 by Shah Khan, Tojek’s 24-year-old tenant at the time. The pair had gone to a nightclub together and were on their way home. As the Mustang approached the exit 274 off-ramp, nearby police officers activated their radar and observed the vehicle traveling 111 m.p.h. in a 70 m.p.h. zone.

Officers followed the Mustang off I-5 onto Peace Portal Drive, where they pulled it over. Khan was told that he was doing 111 m.p.h. on the freeway. He was asked to step out of the vehicle before being placed in handcuffs, placed in the back seat of a patrol vehicle, notified that he was under arrest for reckless driving and read his constitutional rights. 

An officer then walked back to the Mustang, to let the passenger know that they were free to walk home since the driver was being arrested. The officer recognized the passenger as Tojek, with whom he was familiar. The officer asked whether the Mustang belonged to Tojek. After Tojek said that it was his, the officer stated that the vehicle was going to be towed. “I got to take it home, I got to go home,” responded Tojek, according to a transcript of a police body camera audio recording of the encounter.

The officer asked Tojek if he had had anything to drink that night, and Tojek said no. The officer asked Tojek why he was allowing his vehicle to be driven 111 m.p.h. “I told [Khan] to slow down and he did, but at the same time I wasn’t really watching the speedometer,” said Tojek. “I was actually kind of sleeping.”

The officer advised Tojek that he was notifying a border patrol supervisor, because there had been “too many incidences with you specifically or you as a passenger.” Tojek became upset, pleading with the officer and saying, “You want to talk about my supervisor when I am sitting in the passenger seat?”

After Tojek said “I got nothing to say,” the officer discontinued the conversation and returned to his investigation of Khan, while simultaneously telling his fellow officer to watch Tojek. The officer also used his radio to request a border patrol supervisor. “I have one of your agents here that is arguing with me,” the officer said over the radio. “He is the passenger, the owner of the vehicle and this needs to be noted.”

What happened next is described in a memorandum prepared by prosecutors and the police body camera audio transcript.

As the officers attempted to locate Khan’s identification, Tojek exited his Mustang and approached the patrol car, demanding his key. He came right up to the officers and extended his hand. “Step back right now,” said one of the officers. Tojek did not step away and continued to argue. “You can either walk home or you can step away,” said the officer. Tojek did not step away, and told the officers that someone was coming to get his vehicle.

“You are free to walk away, [but] if you stay here you are obstructing,” one of the officers told Tojek, who requested his key again. Tojek eventually took a few steps away, and one of the officers told him that the only way he would get his vehicle was by submitting to a breathalyzer test to make sure he hadn’t been drinking. Tojek refused the breath test, and was again notified that the vehicle was being impounded.

“You ain’t touching my vehicle,” said Tojek, who indicated that he could pass the breath test but did not trust the officers. “The reason I don’t trust you is because you are not trustworthy,” said Tojek. “You are trying to screw me out of my f---ing vehicle. I am getting somebody to get my vehicle right now. You touch my vehicle and I am suing your f---ing a--.”

Tojek was reminded that he was obstructing the investigation of Khan, but he again asked for his key. He then returned to the Mustang’s passenger seat. The Blaine police officers waited for backup to arrive before continuing their investigation of Khan. A DUI investigation was commenced after Khan was observed to have bloodshot, watery eyes and the odor of alcohol.

Tojek was eventually taken home by a border patrol supervisor. Meanwhile, Khan refused to submit to a breathalyzer or field sobriety test. Washington State Patrol (WSP) was asked to take over the investigation, and after a WSP trooper arrived on scene, WSP took Khan to the Blaine Police Department where he spoke with a public defender on the phone and again refused a breath test. Khan was placed in a temporary holding cell while WSP applied for a search warrant for his blood.

After a judge granted the warrant, Khan was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham, where blood was drawn. The result of the blood test was a blood alcohol content of 0.097, above the legal limit of 0.08. In subsequent court proceedings, Khan was found guilty of the crimes of DUI and reckless driving in Whatcom County District Court. Khan is currently appealing his conviction and sentence.

Following the December 2, 2017 incident, Tojek was charged with obstruction of a law enforcement officer. His conduct allegedly caused a 28-minute delay in the Khan DUI investigation. Separately, Tojek contested the impoundment of his vehicle in Whatcom County District Court, where it was found that the vehicle was properly impounded. Tojek appealed the decision to Whatcom County Superior Court, where the appeal was dismissed for want of prosecution.

When contacted by The Northern Light, Tojek argued that the December 2, 2017 incident was just another example of how he has been targeted by the Blaine Police Department in the past. “I just know I’ve been targeted multiple times wrongfully by the Blaine Police Department,” he said. “I wasn’t the first person, I wasn’t the second person and I probably won’t be the last person, so this is why I am running for city council.”

Tojek said that prior to the December 2017 incident, Blaine officers falsely accused him of interfering in a traffic stop. On another occasion, he said that a Blaine officer contacted his managers, claiming Tojek had worn his Customs and Border Protection (CBP) uniform to Blaine Municipal Court in order to influence the outcome of a traffic ticket he received. There were additional examples of alleged bias that Tojek said he could not discuss in detail.

On December 2, 2017, Tojek said the Blaine officers were trying to get him fired from CBP and were trying to “hustle” him into taking a breathalyzer test. “[The officer] was going out of his way to try to pull something on me,” said Tojek.

Tojek admitted to having two drinks earlier that evening with Khan. He said they were celebrating the completion of a home renovation project. “But I was stone cold sober because I didn’t drink enough to even make a difference,” he said. He also defended Khan, saying that Khan “was not drunk and he was not drunk driving … From my perspective, he drove perfect. He didn’t make one mistake. He drove flawlessly and perfect except he was speeding.”

Tojek argued that there is a significant difference between speeding and reckless driving, and that there was no evidence of reckless driving that night. He also said that Khan “walked perfect and talked perfect” and that the officers didn’t have any probable cause to investigate Khan for driving under the influence. “Mere odor of alcohol is not an offense,” he said. “They confined him in the back of the patrol car to get the mere odor of alcohol.”

Regarding the alleged obstruction, Tojek denied that he behaved in an inappropriate way. “My conduct was the mere exiting of the vehicle to request, not demand, my key … All I did was exit the vehicle. I can’t obstruct an officer for waiting. All they were doing was waiting. The video evidence will show it and prove it. So for me to stand aside and request my key is not obstruction.”

Tojek said that if he is elected to city council, he will push for more training of Blaine police officers. In the August 6 primaries, the top two candidates for the Blaine city council ward 2 seat were Garth Baldwin with 284 votes and Tojek with 72 votes. They will compete against each other for the ward 2 seat in the November general election.

Asked to respond to Tojek’s claim of bias, Blaine police chief Donnell Tanksley said that citizens’ complaints about the department are investigated equally and impartially. “Our police department strives very hard to maintain the ethics and the oath of office that we’ve taken to treat everyone fairly and equally,” he said. Tanksley also said that he could not comment on the December 2, 2017 incident because it is currently before the courts. “Generally, I don’t speak about cases that are actively going through the criminal justice system due to the fact that I want to respect the entire process,” he said.

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