Joel Anderson, a longtime King County sheriff’s deputy on Vashon, will be out of a job as of August 1 after being fired for sleeping while on duty and leaving his post early without permission.

Anderson reportedly has a history of sleeping on the job that goes back a decade, according to the termination letter he received from Sheriff John Urquhart that was posted online by KING 5 News.

The letter details a disciplinary action of 5 days without pay in 2007, for incidents dating back to 2005. However, the investigation that ultimately led to Anderson’s firing was spurred by two recent occurrences: On January 16 of this year, Anderson was caught sleeping in his patrol car by a Sergeant and on December 23 of last year, Anderson left the island without permission before his shift was over, leaving his partner without backup on a dangerous call.

This story is still developing. See the August 5th issue of The Beachcomber for more details.