Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Cache County is investigating the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office amid transparency concerns.
- Two retired officers had sought to discuss public safety issues with the Wasatch County Council, but the agenda item was pulled.
HEBER CITY — Transparency has become a major concern for residents of Wasatch County, after a mysterious item on the County Council agenda set to discuss concerns about public safety was pulled at the last minute.
The county cited concerns about due process with a newly opened investigation, started before those who were scheduled to make allegations had a chance to do so.
The issue started from a council meeting in February. Retired Wasatch County Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Winterton and former Wasatch County Sheriff Todd Bonner publicly asked to be placed on the agenda for Wednesday's council meeting, only saying they wanted to levy concerns about public safety.
Wasatch County Manager Dustin Grabau told KSL.com, "The citizens didn't raise specific accusations but kind of implied accusations," and said he didn't have "any concrete details about what they intend to share either today or at some future point."
"They were contacted to encourage them to share more specifics, that they have not yet done," he said.
County Council Chairman Karl McMillan put the agenda item on the schedule for Wednesday, but a letter from deputy county attorney Jon Woodard was sent to the council and Grabau, and later released to the media, suggesting that the item be pulled, writing, "If you heard this item, you are potentially facilitating interference with an investigation."
Woodard wrote that Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby had requested that the Cache County Sheriff's Office open an investigation on Monday into these complaints, without involving the council or other county departments, despite the complaints not being made yet.
During the public comment period of Wednesday's meeting, Winterton and Bonner did not offer specifics regarding their concerns but also did not look favorably on the council's decision to pull the item from the agenda.
Bonner said, "I don't understand how a sheriff can call another sheriff in the state of Utah and request them to investigate when they don't even know what the allegations are yet. I blame (the council) for that. I think there's a lot of things that a lot of public needs to find out what's going on and hold every one of you accountable for this."
Winterton said, "I'm very concerned with the so-called ongoing investigation. I have no idea what that is."
There had been some apparent talk of the complaints with the council, and the two men did not feel they were adequately considered. "We have brought to you guys, several weeks ago, a lot of concerns in reference to public safety. I don't think that we've been heard. I don't think that you guys have cared," Bonner said, with Winterton echoing similar sentiments.
Grabau told KSL.com that officials still want to hear complaints from residents and are asking for them to be submitted in writing. "We're always open to investigating any claims of wrongdoing or any criticisms that the public wants to share with us," he said.
"We just want to ensure that due process is followed. Given that this is an active investigation, having this type of agenda item presents challenges to those investigations," Grabau said, "and that's why we're pulling it.
"I think honestly it should assure the public that we are handling these things appropriately because if we were to proceed with this agenda item as proposed, it would present challenges to a potential investigation. We would rather be able to address those concerns instead of having procedural issues prevent or interrupt or delay what would ultimately be necessary."
Retaliation accusations
Other concerns about the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office have been levied in recent months. In a letter shared with KSL.com, Lt. Shane Fredrickson accused Undersheriff Josh Probst and Sheriff Jared Rigby of retaliating against him for filing a formal grievance accusing Probst of misconduct.
The letter, sent to the County Council in February, claimed Rigby has a "personal vendetta against Heber City Police Department. These lies seem to have been advanced to further an agenda of limiting or preventing Heber's participation in high-risk engagements and/or critical incidents, which unnecessarily increases risk for the citizens of the county," wrote Fredrickson's lawyer Jeremy Jones.
In the case of Estrella Meza-Ojeda, Jones wrote that "Undersheriff Probst directly influenced (Wasatch County sheriff's) deputies to stop working a missing infant case because of his subjective and unfounded belief that the child was not in danger. When Lt. Fredrickson discovered the undersheriff's actions, he recommended that Heber City continue its own investigation."
Police later discovered Ojeda had deprived her son, who was born premature, of supplemental oxygen he needed to survive, before dumping his body on the side of I-80, according to a police booking affidavit.
Probst was also accused of "wrongfully and unethically" threatening Fredrickson's son, Jake Fredrickson, who was a deputy with the office, relating to the shooting death of Donald Ball in 2023.
Jake Fredrickson resigned from the department later but attended the meeting Wednesday. "I don't want to say anything," he told the council, "but provide basically the reasons for my resignation in writing to you guys." He passed out letters to the council before leaving.
It is not clear whether the concerns being investigated are criminal, civil or administrative in nature. When asked about the investigation, Cache County Sheriff's Lt. Mikelshan Bartschi told KSL.com, "We will only say that we are not commenting on the open investigation at this time."
