The mayor of Seattle fires former police chief Adrian Diaz, citing an affair

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has officially fired former Police Chief Adrian Diaz, according to an email obtained by KUOW on Tuesday morning.

In a letter to the Seattle City Council, Harrell wrote that Diaz had “an intimate or romantic relationship” with a former employee and that he had hired and directly supervised that employee. The letter also said the employee wrote a handwritten card to Diaz “indicating that a romantic or intimate relationship occurred.” Diaz also spoke to colleagues about “intimate interactions” with the employee.

Diaz’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Diaz was demoted in May. In June, Diaz told KTTH’s Jason Rantz that he was “a gay Latino man.” Diaz was placed on paid administrative leave in October.

Diaz hired the woman in May 2023 after rumors about their relationship began circulating. Through his personal attorney Ted Buck, Diaz vehemently denied the affair rumors to KUOW.

“Are they romantic friends?” No, they’re not,” Buck said. “Did Adrian help her put dimmer switches on some of her outlets because that’s what he does? Yes, that’s the kind of friendship they have.”

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Harrell told the city council that the handwritten letter “discussed their intimacy.” The letter was found in the car by a member of his protection team.

“A handwriting expert concluded that the letter was most likely written by the employee.”

The employee was placed on leave at the same time as Diaz in October after she submitted a fake handwriting sample.

Harrell said Diaz violated police policies regarding dishonesty, professionalism, avoidance and disclosure of conflicts of interest and inappropriate personal relationships.

He said an investigator found that Diaz “openly discussed this sexual relationship with subordinate employees” and made “crass and extremely personal statements” about the employee.

Acting Police Chief Sue Rahr told police via email that the mayor had informed the City Council that he had terminated Diaz, effective Tuesday.

“I am not authorized to share any further information at this time,” Rahr wrote.

This is a developing story.