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BLACKFOOT, Idaho — A technical glitch on the Bingham County Jail roster website caused some confusion over the weekend.
On Sunday, EastIdahoNews.com received several tips about a Bingham County Sheriff’s deputy being booked into jail on drug possession charges. The tipsters had gotten their information from the jail website.
On the site, there was an entry for a Robert Arthur Test. The mugshot associated with the entry showed a white male with short brown hair wearing a sheriff’s deputy shirt. Test was apparently charged with possession of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and an outstanding warrant, according to the entry.
The problem was, other than the jail entry, EastIdahoNews.com couldn’t find any other evidence of the man’s existence.
Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland was able to clear things up. He told EastIdahoNews.com his office had been running a test on the website and confirmed no deputy had been arrested or booked into jail.
KSL's Idaho News Section
Looking for more news about the Gem State? Visit KSL's <a href="https://www.ksl.com/?nid=1418" target="_blank">Idaho news section</a> for more stories about Idaho politics, events, and features.“We upgraded our computer system and needed to run a test,” Rowland said. “That picture was not supposed to show up on the jail roster’s website.”
The fake entry for Robert Arthur Test has since been removed from the Bingham County Jail roster, although a Google search still shows the name and photo have been scraped and listed on several national mugshot databases.
The sheriff said the photo itself was of an actual deputy — whose name isn’t Robert Arthur Test — but EastIdahoNews.com has chosen not to release the deputy’s name here, as mugshot websites may erroneously attach his name to the picture and connect him to crimes he is not being charged with.
