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A former Monticello police sergeant, charged in a domestic dispute that has led to disciplinary action against multiple law enforcement officers, faces a new charge of witness tampering.
Jesse Cole Young, 36, was charged Tuesday with 3rd degree felony tampering with a witness, stemming from an alleged offense on Dec. 29, according to court documents.
Details of the allegations were not available Wednesday night.
Young previously was charged with first-degree felony aggravated burglary and misdemeanor assault in a Dec. 2 dispute with his estranged wife and a person who was at her home in Monticello. Young's wife called an emergency dispatcher and said Young attacked the man who was there. She also said Young drove to and from her house while he was drunk.
The dispatcher called Young's chief, another Monticello officer and a San Juan County sheriff's deputy; all three declined to respond immediately to the woman's report, and no one began to investigate until 10 a.m. the next day, according to KUTV.
Young was fired shortly after his arrest, and Monticello Police Chief Kent Adair was fired by the city council this month. San Juan County sheriff's Sgt. Joe Harris has been demoted to deputy and suspended for 30 days for failing to investigate the call immediately. Sue Redd, the dispatcher who called the officers, was placed on leave after she and Adair were heard on a 911 tape, laughing about Young's wife's call as she agreed to leave a note for someone to open the case the next day. According to KUTV, Redd was demoted from a supervisory role and suspended for 30 days.