This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
State police regulators ended an investigation of the Beaver County sheriff after determining there wasn't enough evidence that the sheriff assaulted a man at a homicide scene.
However, the FBI is investigating Beaver County Sheriff Cameron Noel.
Cody Allen, one of two Beaver County deputies who said they saw Noel wrap his hands around the neck of a man last year and no longer works for the county, confirmed Friday that two FBI agents interviewed him earlier this month.
Allen said the agents asked about Noel's use of county vehicles for personal use and whether Noel had any business interests in Beaver County.
"From what they told me, they're going federal with it," Allen said of the investigation.
Todd Palmer, an agent with the FBI's Salt Lake City field office, said in an email Friday: "I can only confirm the FBI has an ongoing investigation at this time."
A criminal probe of Noel had been transferred to Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings to determine if assault charges were warranted. Rawlings did not return a message seeking comment Friday.
Peter Stirba, an attorney representing Noel and Beaver County, said Thursday he did not know the status of any criminal investigation, but said the finding by Utah's police regulators exonerates the sheriff.
"It establishes — as we have been contending to anyone that is relevant and we need to talk to — that the sheriff didn't do anything wrong," Stirba said.
Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training sent Noel a letter dated Nov. 4 saying "there was not clear and convincing evidence" of assault against 28-year-old Timothy Scott Wilson. POST redacted Wilson's name from the accompanying summary, but previous sheriff's office reports and court documents make clear that the potential assault victim was Wilson.
On May 14, Wilson's mother, Dorothy Louise Searcy, then 44, stabbed and killed her husband, 45-year-old Reginald Searcy at a motel in Beaver. Wilson was in the next room during the stabbing and was handcuffed while deputies and a state trooper sorted out what happened.
A summary of POST's investigation says that as Wilson was being led away, he yelled at another deputy to get his mother's medication. Noel told Wilson to "shut up" and get in the car.
That's when Wilson, according to a deputy's report, yelled at Noel, "F—- you, you fat motherf——-." The POST summary quotes Wilson but omits the word "fat."
Noel took Wilson from the deputy and attempted to put Wilson in the front passenger seat of a patrol car. Noel told POST investigators that Wilson was resisting and not complying, the summary says.
"Sheriff Noel claims while he was attempting to fasten the seat belt on [Wilson], Noel was pushing [Wilson] with his left forearm across [Wilson's] face and [Wilson] was resisting," the summary says.
Noel told the investigators Wilson tried to head butt him and that Wilson bit him on the arm.
"Sheriff Noel then put both of his hands on [Wilson's] neck and pushed him back into the seat," the summary says.
Noel told investigators he removed his right hand and attempted to buckle the seat belt while Wilson continued resisting.
"Sheriff Noel put both hands back on [Wilson's] neck and pushed him against the seat," the summary says.
The episode ended when a deputy on the driver side latched the seat belt.
A deputy drove Wilson to the Beaver County Jail. There, Wilson complained that Noel had choked him, but jail staff did not observe any marks on Wilson's neck, the summary says.
Sheriff's staff at the jail took photographs of Wilson's neck and the summary says the photos do not depict any injuries.
In an interview with law enforcement cited in the summary, Wilson said Noel applied pressure to his neck, but he never lost the ability to breathe.
The Salt Lake Tribune obtained a copy of the letter and investigation summary through a public-records request. POST denied a request to see witness statements and reports used to generate the summary.
The POST summary conflicts with a report Noel wrote after the episode. In that report, Noel made no mention of placing both hands on Wilson's neck.
Instead, Noel said, he used his left arm to push Wilson's head and body into the seat so he could buckle the man's seat belt.
The POST summary also makes no mention of what Allen and Deputy Steven Kline reported. But both said in reports about the homicide and aftermath that they saw Noel put both hands around Wilson's neck.
Allen wrote in his report: "I observed the sheriff's arms tense up and him squeeze as hard as he could."
Allen on Friday expressed bewilderment at POST's finding.
"The only conflicting information was his statement," Allen said of Noel.
Allen was fired in November over allegations that he was drunk at a Halloween party and threatened someone there. Allen believes the termination was retaliation for his report about Noel and Wilson. Allen said he is pursuing a lawsuit against Beaver County.
Kline, 42, has since been charged in 5th District Court in Beaver with a class A misdemeanor count of theft. Court records show he has not yet entered a plea.
Wilson has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Noel. Neither Noel nor the county has responded and no hearings are scheduled in that case.
Noel is the son of Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab.
Twitter: @natecarlisle