Ketchikan Police Chief Jeffrey Walls has agreed to retire in exchange for state prosecutors dropping five misdemeanor assault charges against him.
The charges stem from a 2022 altercation at the Salmon Falls Resort north of Ketchikan. During the incident, Walls allegedly shoved a Washington state man headfirst into a wall, leaving him bloodied, and then put him in a chokehold. The man had allegedly bumped or fallen into Walls and his wife twice before the altercation.
The City of Ketchikan had placed Walls on paid administrative leave while it conducted an internal investigation but reinstated him in Sept. 2023 after a felony assault charge against him was dropped.
Walls’ trial had been scheduled for Sept. 10, but in an agreement filed in Ketchikan Superior Court Wednesday, Walls agreed to retire effective Sept. 9 and relinquish his right to work in law enforcement in Alaska or seek law enforcement employment anywhere else in the country.
Walls has maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Ketchikan Police Chief Jeffrey Walls agreed to resign. He agreed to retire.