Eclipse Government

• AF01 - Reckless Operation of an Aircraft (Not guilty)
• GF22 - Breach of Trust (Denied by the court)

• AM01 - Negligent Operation of an Aircraft (Original charge)

Assistant Sheriff Ian Walter wrote:First off, I want to begin this statement with express a deep gratitude to my colleagues in the Los Santos County Sheriff's Department (LSSD) for their unwavering support of me throughout this process, both during the trial and in the months leading up to it. I especially want to thank Sheriff Bobby Kirk for his unwavering support.

I will be frank. This has been a very stressful time of my life. As I have already filed an appeal, I cannot go into any great details about the event itself or any further defenses or legal arguments, other than what was already shared at trial and in the now filed appeal. But, I can provide some overall comments about the process itself.

While I was working for SASG/SAAA, I was doing some work with fixed wing aircraft - as this was a project being worked on at the time (not sure where this at, by the way, as I have not worked for SAAA since shortly after this incident). The LSPD brought (and kept) a pursuit on the runway where I was intending on departing from. Once I believed the runway was clear, I began to take off. As has been discussed in the trial, the runway was not actually clear, but I was already taking off. The LSPD filed a complaint, which was then "investigated" by the SASG Internal Affairs.

The "investigation" itself was not fair. From day 1, I was accused of all these grave things and presumed to be guilty and nothing I said or did would have changed this presumption of guilt. Then I found out the complaint was being concluded and that I was going to be ARRESTED as a result. After hearing this was going to happen, I immediately began to seek an attorney to represent me and I hired Assured Law. However, shortly after paying their retainer fees, they took my money and ran - stopped answering my emails and text messages.

Now thoroughly irritated by this situation, I decided to hit the law books and study for my bar license, which I subsequently obtained. While I never intended to become an attorney, the challenges of hiring another law firm—including exorbitant fees and the risk of being misled again, I decided it was not worth the risk to shell out any more money just to be ghosted again. As the saying goes, "If you want something done right, do it yourself.".

I want to be clear that this case has never been about avoiding accountability. I believe that some form of internal discipline at the SASG level would have been appropriate. However, the decision to arrest me and threaten me with felony charges—when multiple factors and other individuals contributed to the incident—while I was the only one held criminally accountable, is the core issue.

Then the pre-trial and trial... I'll reserve the meat of my comments here for the appeal. But the entire process was very unfair.

So what did I gain out of this situation? I affirmed a great deal of respect for my colleagues at the LSSD, and a bar license. These are the only positive outcomes. While I will always remain professional during my duties, I lost an immense amount of respect for individual members of the LSPD, SASG, JB and really the criminal justice process overall. All I can do now is continue my fight for a fair resolution through the appeal, and use my professional and personal experiences to ensure that my actions in future investigations do not unnecessarily land someone in the criminal justice system.

Sheriff Bobby Kirk wrote:As Sheriff, I want to start by making it clear that the Los Santos County Sheriff’s Department respects the rule of law and the judicial process. We respect the decisions that have been made throughout this appeal process. I also want to point out that I personally carried out the duty of booking Assistant Sheriff Walter into the county jail for the misdemeanor charges that were brought to him from the State Government, which shows that no one in this Department is above the law.

At the same time, there were moments in the case that raised some questions. One example was the attempt to change the indictment to felony charges less than an hour before the trial began. The Judge stepped in and prevented that move, which is commendable, but the timing of it does raise concerns about motive.

I also want to talk about Ian Walter as a person and as a deputy. He is one of the most down-to-earth, approachable, and genuine people you’ll ever meet. Within the Sheriff’s Department, he does incredible work. Not long ago, he moved from an administrative role to a more operational role, and he’s been excelling in that position ever since. His commitment to this Department and to the people of Los Santos County is second to none, despite the ongoing challenges that he has faced for the past couple of months.

The Los Santos County Sheriff’s Department stands with Assistant Sheriff Walter as he goes through this legal process. At the same time, we continue to place full trust in the judicial system and remain confident it will bring about a fair outcome.