Richland City Council candidate files police report against prosecutor

Richland City Council candidate Lisa Rector Thomas met with Richland Police Thursday night to file a complaint against long-time Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller.

In her complaint, Thomas accuses Miller of entering her home without her permission last year, touring her home uninvited, then forcing her onto a couch where he attempted to kiss her.

The Richland resident and city council candidate has been in the news recently in connection with allegations against Benton County Sheriff Jerry Hatcher, accused of being involved in an extra-marital affair with Hatcher. It was that alleged affair that led Hatcher's wife to confront him, and reportedly led to accusations that Hatcher assaulted his wife.

Newsradio 610 KONA reporter Jenna Kochenauer had reached out to Thomas on Monday through a facebook message asking her to confirm or deny the allegations made in the Petition for an Order of Protection. Thomas didn't respond to the messages until Thursday night, when she said "I’m going to RPD to file a complaint if you want to talk with me there. This is regarding Andy Miller only."

Kochenauer was surprised when Thomas suggested that she join her in the Richland Police Department (RPD) lobby, along with Thomas's two daughters. While waiting for an officer to arrive, Kochenauer avoided asking Thomas questions about the alleged affair, not wanting to discuss a sensitive topic in front of the woman's daughters.

"We had met shortly before that at a SARC breakfast fundraiser, and he insisted on taking a picture with me," Thomas told the officer of her relationship with Miller. "My kids even commented that it was weird the way he was acting."

The two connected on social media, and there was some interaction, and at some point they exchanged phone numbers, and then Miller started driving past her house.

"He would text me and say he was just driving by my house, and I had never told him where I lived. He would mention that he saw my croquet set and different things as he drove past my house."

Thomas alleges that Miller sent her a text message on the evening of June 5, 2018, saying he was near her home and wanted to stop by for some water.

"It was my understanding that Andy Miller was going to drive past my house and that I would be outside with a bottle of water. I was in my kitchen getting a bottle of water when I heard my front door open. I went into my living room and Andy Miller was standing in my house. I did not ask him in, I did not invite him in," Thomas wrote in a statement to police.

Thomas showed Kochenauer the messages from her phone. The first message between her and Miller was time stamped June 6, 2018, 7:48pm. However, Miller provided Newsradio 610 KONA with the June 5, 2018 texts exchanged immediately leading up to the visit.

She says Miller proceeded to walk through her home on a "self-guided tour," going into her bedroom, her daughters' bedrooms, and then ultimately sitting on her couch.

At some point, Thomas says, Miller sat on the couch and pulled her down on the couch with him, forcing her to lay down beside him and putting her arm around him because he wanted to take pictures of the two of them.

"I remember his hands on my bare inner thighs because I had shorts on," Thomas said in the written statement. She was laughing nervously, and says she was very uncomfortable, and didn't know how to react to Miller's behavior. "He's taking pictures, and he said 'Turn your head on the count of 3.' I turned my head away from him, and he kissed my left cheek. I did not know that was his plan, I did not want this either. It was unbelievably uncomfortable, and all I could really do is laugh because I did not know what to do."

"Can you imagine a county prosecutor walking into your house?" Thomas asked the Richland Police officer as she explained why it took her 16 months to come forward with the allegations. She said that seeing Miller in the news recently, "manipulating other vulnerable women" prompted her to come forward.

Thomas is referring to allegations from Sheriff Hatcher that Miller met with his estranged wife prior to her filing a petition for an order of protection last week.

Miller admits visiting with Thomas in her home on June 5th, "for ten or fifteen minutes" after riding his bike and visiting his ailing mother who lived nearby.

When confronted with Thomas's allegations that he had made unwanted advances, Miller said, "Nothing like that happened. I don't understand how she can say this."

He admits that some of the texts between him and Thomas were flirtatious in nature, but they mostly discussed and debated politics and community service opportunities.

"I sent her some photos after I had worked out, and she sent me photos after she had worked out," Miller said. "It was all pretty plutonic."

Miller provided dozens of screen shots of texts and facebook messages, detailing a somewhat friendly, personal relationship with Thomas, adding to his confusion about why she would make the claims.

"It doesn't make any sense," he said.

Thomas was scheduled to meet with detectives at the Richland Police Department, along with her attorney, Friday afternoon, but did not provide Newsradio 610 KONA with the results of that meeting. When Thomas provided her written statement to RPD, officers suggested that the case would likely be forwarded to the Washington State Patrol for investigation because of the high profile nature of the case, but KONA was not able to confirm by 5pm Friday whether that was done.