Joe Hyer, owner of The Alpine Experience and Olympia Outfitters, arrested in pot bust

Joe Hyer, pro tem mayor of Olympia, Wash., and co-owner of the The Alpine Experience and Olympia Outfitters, was arrested on Feb. 18 by the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force for allegedly selling marijuana, according to a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He was charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, the Seattle paper reported, and one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Hyer, an Olympia native, has been a member of the Olympia City Council since 2004 and is a former board member and president of the Downtown Olympia Association.

In a call to Hyer’s mobile phone Feb. 25, SNEWS® heard the following recorded message:

“If you are calling about certain matters, on the advice of counsel, I cannot speak about pending legal matters. I hope that the public will give me the presumption of innocence that is offered all Americans. I will make no political decisions and will be on personal leave for the next couple of weeks.”

To read the full story in the Post-Intelligencer, as well as the lengthy chat string that is apparently mostly in support of Hyer, click here.

To read the initial story of Hyer’s arrest, “Civic leader’s pot arrest shocks town” published Feb. 11 in the Seattle Times, click here.

–Michael Hodgson