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The chief of the Utah Highway Patrol's DUI enforcement unit has been placed on administrative leave, pending results of an investigation into an unspecified complaint.
UHP Sgt. Todd Royce confirmed Wednesday that Lt. Brad Horne was placed on paid leave about three weeks ago, after a private citizen filed the complaint.
Royce could not offer details on the allegations, including whether they involved purported excessive force or misconduct of some other kind. However, Royce did stress that the complaint did not directly involve Horne's duties as head of the DUI unit.
"Out of fairness to Lt. Horne and the investigative process, I cannot go into the nature of the complaint," Royce said. "But I can say it does not have to do with any specific DUI arrest or DUI [unit] procedures."
Royce stressed: "It's important to remember that these are just allegations at this point."
Royce also said the investigation and allegations were not connected to revelations from a recent audit of the unit that resulted in some reorganization earlier this year.
To avoid any perceived conflicts of interest, UHP has asked the Ogden Police Department to investigate the matter. There was no estimate for when the probe will be completed.
Ogden police Lt. Danielle Croyle confirmed detectives were investigating, but she declined to discuss the details of the allegations.
Salt Lake City attorney Gregory Skordas, who is representing Horne, said he was awaiting the outcome of the investigation to decide how to proceed.
Skordas declined, too, to discuss specifics of the case. However, he said that in discussing the matter with Horne, he could not find any wrongdoing had been committed by his client.
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