Two law enforcement agencies recently investigated separate allegations against Washington State Patrol Trooper Will Finn — that he stole from a business associate and destroyed public records from his former role as Woodland mayor. Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies referred felony charges of first- and second-degree theft against Finn and his wife to the Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review of a filing decision, sheriff’s office Chief Criminal Deputy Troy Brightbill said Thursday. He said the investigation includes allegations of theft from a business associate of the Finns’ who worked in the vacation rental business. Cowlitz County Prosecutor Ryan Jurvakainen said an outside prosecutor’s office will review the investigation, along with a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office investigation surrounding allegations of public records destruction relating to Finn’s former city cellphone. Jurvakainen said he hasn’t yet confirmed which prosecutor’s office will review the investigations and doesn’t yet have a timeline for any charging decision.

When reached by phone Thursday, Finn declined to comment on the criminal investigations. He remains on paid administrative leave from his position with the State Patrol while the prosecutorial review is pending, according to an agency spokesman. Brightbill said the theft allegations occurred in Woodland, but the Woodland Police Department requested the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office conduct the investigation due to a potential conflict of interest given Finn’s previous position as mayor. He was mayor from 2016-2023, and lost his bid for reelection in August 2023. The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office received the case in August, Brightbill said. The business relationship between the Finns and the associate lasted from September 2019 to April 2024, he said. The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office also completed an investigation into criminal allegations against Finn, at the request of the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office, according to a copy of the investigation obtained by The Columbian.

Thurston County deputies said current Woodland Mayor Todd Dinehart reported that Finn had deleted the contents of his city-issued cellphone, destroying public records. Deputies learned the issue came up after a citizen’s public records request for the contents of Finn’s phone, according to the report. Deputies met with City Clerk Amanda Hougan. She said when she returned from vacation after Finn had left office, there were two phones waiting for her. One belonged to Finn and another belonged to another outgoing city official. She turned on Finn’s phone to fulfill the public records request, she said, but noted it had been reset to factory settings, the report states. Deputies said Hougan told them she’d repeatedly asked Finn to connect his city phone to a software that collects data to preserve it for record keeping. She said during Finn’s entire term, he refused to do so until his last day, but by then he had reset his phone, according to the report. Another city official told deputies he’d met with Finn after Finn left office to give him a thank you card. During their meeting, he said Finn said something like, “Ha ha, good luck getting anything off my phone, I did a factory reset,” the report states.

Deputies served a search warrant on the phone and found limited data, most of which was dated after Finn left office, according to the report. Investigators contacted Finn, who allegedly told them he deleted the phone’s data because the mayoral race between himself and Dinehart became “heated” and “nasty.” He said he didn’t trust Dinehart and didn’t know what the city would do with the information from his phone, according to the report. Finn allegedly told deputies he downloaded the data from his phone to his personal computer at home before he erased the phone. He thought he had given permission for the city’s software to download and store data from the phone in real time, he allegedly said. But deputies noted in the report that explanation didn’t match Finn’s statements about erasing the phone because of a lack of trust in city officials. Finn provided investigators with a USB, which he said contained all of the city data he had on his personal computer. Deputies noted in the report that there was no way for them to know if that was all of the data.

Deputies wrote in the report that Finn erasing the data from the phone and concealing it on his personal computer met the elements of violating the “injury to and misappropriation of record” statute. Woodland city officials have also alleged that Finn owes $580 for which he never reimbursed the city. The allegation stems from a state audit’s findings released in December. A Jan. 6 city council meeting agenda included a demand letter to Finn from the city requesting immediate repayment of the funds. “Pursuant to the findings by the Washington State Auditor, the city of Woodland hereby requests the immediate repayment of the outstanding $580 resulting from your misuse of a city credit card,” the letter states.

The audit recommended the city seek repayment and strengthen its controls over spending. Finn sent a response letter to city officials. He said in his response that he learned of the demand letter through social media, which he said was unprofessional and concerning. He said the audit’s account of $580 owed is vague and isn’t backed up with proof. “The lack of communication regarding demand of payment and deception of the community with a false narrative only leads me to believe this public posturing is an attempt to slander my administration once again through a public assassination of character and the city’s lack of policies at the time,” Finn said in his letter. During that January meeting, Dinehart refuted that he was coming after a former political opponent. “I wanted to be clear here, this is not a witch hunt. This is not a Todd Dinehart thing,” he said. “This is an audit that’s required, and I want people to know what we, as a city, and our employees are doing to correct the issues that are out there.”