Deputy Greg Pollei, the son of retired St. George Police Chief John Pollei, was charged instead with the lesser offenses of public intoxication and having an open container of alcohol in his car, both Class C misdemeanors. He faces a hearing March 1 in Salt Lake County Justice Court.
According to the probable cause statement, sheriff's Sgt. Kris Ownby confronted Pollei after he drove into the substation on Nov. 19 and seemed "lethargic and inattentive." A subsequent breath test revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.261. The legal limit is 0.08. A search of Pollei's vehicle uncovered a half-empty bottle of vodka and two cups containing alcohol.
Sheriff's Sgt. Rosie Rivera said the District Attorney's Office determines what charges to file after obtaining the information from the arresting officers. A spokesman for the DA's office said it is possible nobody actually saw Pollei in the car until after it was parked, which might explain the lesser charges, but the DA now is re--evaluating the report.
Pollei reportedly has not been on active duty since the incident, but county personnel records show he still is an employee of the Sheriff's Office.
Taxable air? The Washington County flood victims who lost their homes last month must still pay property taxes on the homes, even if they don't exist anymore, according to state law. The law states that property owners are taxed on the value of their property as of Jan. 1 of the taxable year. The property taxes are due the following November.
The floods, which destroyed more than 30 homes and caused more than $100 million in damage to private property, occurred on Jan. 11.
Washington County Assessor Art Partridge is working with Rep. Bradley Last, R-St. George, on legislation that would tax the home for only the time it existed - in this case, just 11 days. The law revision would be retroactive to cover the flood victims.
Slow learners: Despite all the scandals plaguing the news media in recent years - plagiarism, falsified information, fabricated sources - some journalism students haven't figured out yet the ethics of the craft.
A Utah State University journalism student faces expulsion from the department and withdrawal of the degree she supposedly earned after she was caught plagiarizing five stories from a newspaper and wire service in Delaware and publishing them on USU's Web news service for the credit she needed to graduate.
She is the second USU student in three weeks to be caught plagiarizing news stories. The other student also was expelled from the department.
Divine intervention: When special prosecutor Michael Martinez was going over the witness list with former Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman's defense team, one character witness listed for Workman was former Murray Mayor Lynn Pett.
"You can't subpoena Lynn Pett. He's dead," exclaimed Martinez.
Apparently, Pett was sent back from heaven to help Workman get off. He testified - and seemed very much alive.
prolley@sltrib.com
