A Grays Harbor County judge has filed a federal lawsuit accusing sheriff’s deputies of unlawfully arresting him for driving under the influence despite a breath test showing his blood alcohol level was far below the legal limit.
According to the complaint filed Oct. 7 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Superior Court Judge David Mistachkin alleges that Deputies Dylan Spencer, Jeff Barbo, and Chief Criminal Deputy Jason Wecker violated his Fourth Amendment rights by detaining and arresting him without probable cause.
The lawsuit also names Grays Harbor County as a defendant.
The incident took place on Feb. 12, 2024, when Deputy Spencer stopped behind Mistachkin’s parked vehicle in Montesano while searching for a spot to conduct radar speed checks.
Spencer reportedly found the parked vehicle “suspicious” and approached it, where he encountered Mistachkin, who told the deputy he had pulled over to compose himself during an emotional moment.
Spencer later called for backup and told his supervisor that Mistachkin’s eyes appeared “bloodshot and watery” and that he smelled a “faint odor of intoxicants,” according to the lawsuit.
Deputy Barbo arrived soon after, and both deputies contacted Chief Wecker.
The three decided to arrest Mistachkin based on those observations.
Mistachkin was handcuffed, read his rights, and taken to jail, where a State Trooper-administered breath test showed a blood alcohol level of 0.017, well below Washington’s legal limit of 0.08.
Spencer initially misread the result as 0.17 and tried to book the judge into jail before realizing the mistake, the filing states.
The complaint alleges that the deputies never established probable cause for the arrest and that the event caused “economic and emotional harm.”
It also notes that the sheriff’s office notified the prosecutor’s office of the arrest, and news of it later became public.
On the same day as the filing deadline for judicial candidates, Deputy Prosecutor Steven Jackson entered the race against Mistachkin.
Jackson went on to win the election in November 2024 and now serves as a Superior Court judge.
Mistachkin’s lawsuit seeks damages, attorney’s fees, and a jury trial.
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