Pat Maher
The Law Enforcement community in the Seattle area mourns the loss of of Officer Pat Maher of the Federal Way police department, killed in the line of duty this past Saturday, 2 August. Pat served in the Coast Guard for 20 years, as a Boatswainsmate and Special Agent. Pat died a hero when he threw himself between his killer and the intended victim. Those of us fortunate enough to have served with him will remember him for his dedication, professionalism, and wonderfully dry sense of humor. Although new to the Federal Way PD, he had already made an impression, his supervisor passed on that he wished he'd had a hundred like him. The news clips hardly say it all:
KENT, Wash. -- A 28-year-old man waited in Kent's city jail for his first appearance in court as his family members talked with news reporters about his role in the fatal shooting of a Federal Way police officer.
Officer Patrick Maher, 46, died Saturday afternoon after he was shot with his own service weapon. Police said he was shot in the abdomen while scuffling with the suspect.
The suspect was identified as Jason Scott Roberts by family members who spoke to television news reporters. A sergeant at the Kent City Jail confirmed a man named Jason Roberts was in custody on Sunday, but refused to disclose whether that man was being held for investigation of murder.
Roberts' mother and father said they were devastated by the shooting.
Maher, a married father of three, joined the Federal Way Police Department seven months ago, after serving seven years as a police officer in Honolulu. Before that, he served in the Coast Guard for 20 years, retiring as a senior special agent in investigations, Federal Way Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said.
He was shot after responding to a call at a convenience store at 272nd Street South and Pacific Highway, near the boundary between Federal Way and Kent.
Maher broke up a fight among three people, police said, then chased a 28-year-old man who ran off.
The suspect ran across 272nd Street, past a strip mall and tried to scale a wooden fence. Maher hauled him back, and the two tangled.
'Somehow, during the scuffle, the suspect got the officer's gun out of its holster,' Kent police spokesman Paul Petersen said. 'He pointed the gun at his ex-girlfriend and his brother, threatening them.'
Maher jumped in the way and tried to disarm the suspect, who fired one shot that struck the officer in the abdomen, under his bulletproof vest, police said.
08/04/03 Submitted by: Mike White
Pat Maher
I got to know and work with Pat back in 1993 when we prosecuted UCMJ cases together in Hawaii. We became good friends. He retired from the Coast Guard Investigative Service in 1995 and within a year joined the Honolulu Police Department. He was assigned to Waikiki and drove these three-wheeled Cushmans around town all night. I’d ask him if he ever wanted to get back into investigations as a detective or plainclothes officer, and he said he was having too much fun on the street to think about it. When we returned to Hawaii in 2001, Pat was always there to help out on a moment’s notice; didn’t matter if he’d been on patrol all night. Seemed he was always in court testifying because he had so many arrests; he was always in the middle of things. Pat surprised us all this past December when he announced he and his family were moving to Federal Way to take a job with the local police department. He said it was a bedroom community and that he’d already done a ride-along; that they’d had fewer calls all night than he would see in one hour in Waikiki. Said he was ready for a change. This morning I found out that Pat had been killed over the weekend in the line of duty. It doesn’t surprise me that he was trying to protect others; that was Pat. Quiet, competent, and always reliable; he was a wonderful mentor for his kids and the people who worked with him and for him. We will miss him terribly.
08/04/03 Submitted by: f tucher
Pat Maher
Remembering Pat as a great BMC and agent! He was one of the few -if only- enlisted members to get the Legion of Merit WITH 'O' device. This was for an almost single handed development and bust of, at the time, the largest cocaine smuggling effort in a certain area of the US. He could have cared less about the medal, just that he helped keep drugs off the streets. He mastered the balance of being a good leader but a fun guy too. *hand salute*
04/17/08 Submitted by: 
Tony Salimbene
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