Travis Stolley responds to financial history and qualifications

BONNERS FERRY — Boundary County Sheriff candidate Travis Stolley is disputing claims on social media questioning his ability to hold the office due to his past financial history and training on April 26.

The issue of Stolley’s past bankruptcy was disclosed during his interview with Chief Bob Boone before he was hired at Bonners Ferry Police Department.

“He trusted me to overcome this experience and I have always been grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to serve our community,” Stolley said. “It was one of the most humbling situations I have ever gone through.”

While he knew running for sheriff would cause these kinds of issues to come up, Stolley said he was not fully prepared to “undergo the amount of false character assassinations based on half truths  and ‘gotcha’ moments.”

“I’m OK with you making decisions based on fact and totality of the circumstances. We are all a sum of our life experiences and this is part of my life story,” he said.

Stolley said he was running for sheriff because he wants to continue to serve the community, giving back to a place he knows “at its core is full of good people who would do anything to help their neighbors.”

There were claims he mishandled evidence in a case regarding a minor's iPod, which allegedly had inappropriate images of the minor, also false, Stolley said. He declined to go into detail, saying the privacy of the youth and their family are important.

“More important to me than anything else is the privacy of the individual(s) actually involved with this case,” he said. “Their privacy needs to be protected as much as possible. I will not disclose specific details which may disclose personal information.”

Stolley said he’s spoken to the family, who have asked that their privacy be respected. The investigation followed the rules and no crime was found to have been committed. No explicit content was found and the parent removed any content of their child and left with the device.

“There 100% was not a crime committed. I did not confiscate any device because based on the information and facts provided to me at the time, there wasn’t a case to investigate,” he said. “ I had the device in my possession long enough to hand it to a parent of the juvenile. The content of the device was reviewed and no criminal activity was found.”

Also false are claims he did not follow protocol at the scene in the March 2020 fatal shooting of Dr. Brain Drake, said Stolley, who was visible in police body camera footage not wearing gloves as he opened a door to the furnace. 

One of the first on scene, Stolley said law enforcement was acting under an active threat and an active shooter could have been found

“We responded to a shots fired call, we located a deceased male and cleared the entire office building looking for a potential shooter/murder suspect,” he said. “We thought this person could be inside and possibly hiding behind any one of those doors or cabinets. Once we cleared the scene of any potential active threats a perimeter was set and investigators called.”

“The video referenced shows parts of us clearing the initial scene after we entered the building a short time after discovering the body,” he said. “This building was a tactical nightmare to clear.”

All law enforcement who responded to the scene went home “thankful we made it through another day,” he said. “The reality is what happens in real life policing isn’t always like the movies. It’s fluid and often chaotic but we can learn from each experience and focus on professional training to improve. As sheriff, that will be a priority.”

If elected, Stolley said the wellbeing of the community would be at the center of what he does.

 “(I) care about the integrity of investigations and the wellbeing of our community,” he added. “If I am elected, I will focus on creating a professional sheriff’s office capable of meeting the needs of the county and protecting our way of life.”