A former Kirkland police officer who was fired in 2008 for allegedly using law enforcement databases to spy on his wife, is suing to get his badge back.

Charles Evans Jr. contends in a civil lawsuit filed on June 10 in King County Superior Court, that the state Criminal Justice Training Commission was wrong in unanimously revoking his officer certification May 10. Evan’s attorney, James Cline, is asking that a Superior Court judge review the decision. They contend that the revocation of Evans’ law officer certification was a result of unlawful procedures and was not supported by the evidence as a whole.

Evans allegedly used the databases, not available to the public, to gain information on a man who had been corresponding with his wife. The former officer of 10 years became concerned about his wife’s relationship with the man after noticing a series of late-night phone calls, which were determined to be from a colleague, the report said.

Evans used the Department of Licensing system and the national Law Enforcement Information Exchange database while on duty on Jan. 11, 2008, to research the man, the hearing panel found. The panel also found that Evans was concerned about his wife and believed she was on drugs and was mentally disturbed and did nothing with the information he found on the five databases he used.

The investigation began when Evan’s wife complained about documents she found that her husband accessed through the database and printed out, according to the hearing panel’s report. The Kirkland Police Department terminated Evans on Oct. 17, 2008. An objection by the police union was rejected by an arbitrator in July.

Evans’ wife was convicted of second-degree arson several months after the incident for setting fire to a stranger’s Kent home in November 2008. The fire caused $550,000 in damages to the home, according to court documents.

Prosecutors described Leslie Evans as mentally unstable.