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MONTICELLO — San Juan County Sheriff Richard "Rick" Eldredge and two of his deputies were charged Friday with retaliating against a former employee and lying to state investigators to cover up their actions.
The charges all stem from the sheriff pointing an unloaded assault rifle at an employee and pulling the trigger, according to charging documents.
Eldredge, 48, and Chief Deputy Alan Freestone, 57, are both charged in 7th District Court with retaliation against a witness, a third-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor; and official misconduct, a class B misdemeanor.
Eldredge is also charged with reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.
Sgt. Robert Wilcox, 46, faces the same reckless endangerment, obstruction of justice and official misconduct charges.
Friday's filings mark eight Utah police officers who have been charged in just the past week with criminal wrongdoing.
On May 5, the former Daggett County sheriff and four of his deputies were charged with assaulting inmates and other misconduct at the Daggett County Jail that resulted in the jail shutting down.
"It is never pleasant to bring charges against a fellow public servant, but when it is necessary, we will diligently do our jobs to assist the court in holding them accountable,” said Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, whose office filed the charges.
On May 26, 2015, Eldredge was in the parking lot of the San Juan County Sheriff's Office with Wilcox, the firearms range master sergeant, to handle a newly purchased assault rifle for the department.
An employee, only described as a "witness" in charging documents, said he was "walking through the parking lot with his back turned to Eldredge and Wilcox. The witness heard the click of the trigger pull, turned around and saw Eldredge pointing the assault rifle at him and heard Wilcox chuckle," the charges state.
The witness said Eldredge had "previously confronted" him, according to the charges.
When investigators initially began asking about the gun incident, the sheriff "failed to recall the incident." But on Nov. 15, 2016, Eldredge "admitted that he engaged in the conduct directed at the witness," the charges state.
Rather than have an outside agency investigate the claim, Eldredge assigned his chief deputy, Freestone, to conduct an internal investigation. Freestone allegedly told the witness to give a written statement to Wilcox. When the witness told him he didn't feel comfortable doing that, Freestone "noted that the witness refused to cooperate with an official investigation," according to charging documents.
On May 19, 2016, Freestone conducted a recorded interview with the witness. But he did not record interviews with Eldredge or Wilcox and allowed them to hear the witness' comments first before taking their statements, the charges state.
Freestone, "to protect the sheriff, did not conduct a proper investigation," the attorney general's office wrote in the charges.
"Freestone's investigation had incorrect dates, incorrect paperwork, and missing or no audio interviews. On May 26, 2016, Freestone closed his investigation, indicating that the alleged shooting range incident did not happen," according to the charges.
Eldredge and Wilcox are accused of giving false statements last August to a special agent from the attorney general's office investigating the incident.
Then on Jan. 25, Eldredge and Freestone wrongly told the witness "that all investigations were concluded and found to have no merit," the charges state. After being told that, the witness was placed on administrative leave. The witness was then fired from the San Juan County Sheriff's Office in February "in retaliation for reporting a complaint."
If convicted, each of the three men could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Members of the sheriff's office, the county commissioners and the attorney's office in San Juan County declined to comment on the criminal charges Friday.
