The sons of a 54-year-old man stabbed to death by a Clark County sheriff’s deputy in May 2025 have filed a $27 million tort claim against the county.

Marc Fogle was stabbed 17 times in the back in a “breath-test” room by Deputy Bryson Layton, barely an hour after the deputy arrested Fogle for suspected drunk driving.

The sons’ attorneys have alleged Layton and numerous deputies then misused their body-worn cameras to obstruct evidence.

Layton’s camera was off at the time of the incident and a surveillance camera in the room was unmonitored, with no recording available, according to the claim filed Thursday. Deputies who responded to the stabbing muted their cameras on arrival.

“Body cameras have been highly important evidence in use-of-force cases. Video often shows whether a killing was justified or not,” attorney Mark Lindquist wrote in a press statement. “Here, the muting or shutting down of body cameras raises serious questions that need to be answered.”

The claim alleges Layton either failed to realize or ignored that Fogle, a commercial truck driver who faced a drunk driving charge after driving into a parked car, was showing signs of “serious physical impairment” and needed immediate medical care during the arrest.

After the arrest, Layton transported Fogle to a Washington State Patrol facility off of Interstate 5. He took Fogle into a “breath-test” room, according to the claim.

According to a report released in March by the Washington Office of Independent Investigation, Fogle made a statement that noted he and Layton were alone in the room, prompting Layton to tell Fogle to stand up and face away so he could handcuff him again.

When the fight began, according to the investigative report, Layton radioed that Fogle was reaching for his gun. Investigators also wrote that Layton told Fogle he is going to get shot, to which Fogle responds “that’s what I want.”

“After a brief pause, Fogle can be heard saying, ‘I’m not looking to shoot you. I want you to shoot me,’” investigators wrote in the report.

Fogle’s sons characterize the deputy as escalating the situation. They allege he negligently resorted to violence and attempted to conceal what happened.

“Layton’s body camera was turned off immediately before the stabbing and resumed only after Fogle had been stabbed seventeen times, handcuffed, repositioned, and moved partially through a doorway,” the claim alleges.

OPB has not reviewed the body-worn camera footage.

The sons also claim Layton’s holster brand is “specifically engineered to prevent a person other than the officer from drawing the firearm out.”

They say the body-worn camera footage that does exist shows Layton pulling Fogle by the shirt rather than “creating distance” or controlling Fogle’s arms.

After both men fall to the ground, the claim alleges, then the camera shuts off. The sons claim Layton shut it off intentionally. State investigators noted that Fogle’s sweatshirt is covering the camera lens as it deactivates and that timestamps indicate the camera “is turned off manually, intentionally, or due to the pressure on the button,” the report said.

The claim alleges Layton could have used a Taser equipped to his vest to incapacitate Fogle but instead reached for an “unauthorized dagger.” They write that Layton later told investigators his model Taser was not equipped with a close-range stun function, which they also dispute.

After the incident, several responding deputies then hit the mute button on their own cameras upon arrival to the scene, according to the attorneys. The agency’s policies allow deputies to mute or deactivate their cameras in “reasonable” circumstances and should explicitly state on-camera their reasons for ending the recording.

One deputy, according to the letter, muted as soon as he heard over the radio that Layton stabbed Fogle. The deputy is recorded saying, “Oh shit, he stabbed him,” right before he ceases the audio recording.

Muted footage reportedly shows Layton talking to the other deputies after the confrontation with Fogle and “demonstrating aspects of the encounter through hand gestures.”

Tort claims are filed in many states — including Oregon and Washington — to notify a state or local government of an imminent lawsuit. The system gives the parties a chance to resolve the issue, often through a settlement, prior to filing a lawsuit.

Clark County has, in recent years, settled multiple wrongful death claims filed by family members. Those settlements include the families of Jenoah Donald and Kevin Peterson Jr., two Black men shot and killed by Clark County Sheriff’s Office deputies in separate incidents, both of which occurred months after the killing of George Floyd.

A Clark County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told OPB in July that the agency intended to investigate why the body-worn cameras were muted.

This story may be updated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/09/17/marc-fogle-tort-claim-clark-county-washington/