Heber City police officers told FOX 13 they have faced retaliation after accusing their chief of choking a handcuffed man earlier this year as he was being placed into the back of a police car.
The accusations center around a March 31 call, when Chief Dave Booth was on scene as officers responded to reports of an intoxicated man near 1000 South 400 West, FOX 13 reported.
Upon arrival, officers said the man, Jessie James Rodriguez, tried to fight them and grab one of their guns.
Body camera footage obtained by FOX 13 shows Rodriguez struggling against officers and making threats to harm them before he was handcuffed and treated by paramedics.
Booth grabbed Rodriguez and walked him to a patrol car with another officer. Everything officers on scene saw up to that point was appropriate, they said. Then they watched Booth repeatedly grab Rodriguez’s throat with his right hand as he struggled to get Rodriguez into the patrol car.
A veteran Heber City police officer, who said he left the department in part due to the chief’s conduct, agreed to speak with FOX 13 on the condition of anonymity. Although he is not one of the officers who reported the chief, he said he agrees with those who did, especially after reviewing body camera video obtained by FOX 13.
“I couldn’t hear or tell if the suspect was breathing,” the officer told FOX 13. “I couldn’t hear or tell. I did see that it was a grab and there was pressure placed on the trachea.”
“We have an obligation to police ourselves,” he continued. “Nobody’s above the law. Nobody’s allowed to do whatever they want. I don’t care if you’re the chief of police. You can’t do that to somebody that’s handcuffed in the back of a police car. You can’t do that.”
Sgt. Jason Jarvie, who was not at the scene, reviewed the body camera footage and listened to statements from at least one concerned officer who witnessed the struggle to put Rodriguez in the patrol car. He decided to file a formal complaint.
The officers said they felt they were required to report the use of force, per department policy. Booth did not file a use of force report, FOX 13 reported.
Retaliation accusations
Jarvie said his supervisors encouraged him to take a demotion after reporting the chief. He has since left the department “solely due to the city’s retaliatory actions,” he told FOX 13. Jarvie provided FOX 13 with a copy of his personnel file, which shows he has never been disciplined.
Heber City violated Utah’s public employee whistleblower law, Cameron Platt, the attorney representing Jarvie, told FOX 13. The law protects public employees who make good faith complaints.
“The way that the city treated (the complaint) and reacted is much more important (than the use of force), and much worse,” Platt told FOX 13. “If it was such a minor use of force, why so much effort to cover it up?”
Chris Burbank, who used to be chief of the Salt Lake City Police Department, agreed to review the case with FOX 13.
“Absolutely it’s a case that should be reviewed,” Burbank said. “Especially in light of the position that the department took shortly before this happened regarding any sort of neck or choke restraint.”
Burbank was referring to an email that Heber City’s use of force sergeant sent months prior to the incident, FOX 13 reported. According to the email, the sergeant reminded officers that “any type of chocking (sic) technique” is not allowed.
Booth should not have touched the suspect with so many other uniformed officers at the scene, Burbank said.
“As the administrator, I never wanted to put my officers in a position to have to investigate me. That is just a horrible position to be in,” Burbank said.
Heber City placed Booth on administrative leave for more than a month before eventually clearing him of all wrongdoing, FOX 13 reported.
City refused to release records
The city has refused to release body camera video, talk about the case, or explain why Booth was placed on leave, despite multiple completed investigations. FOX 13 obtained all of the body camera video independently.
Detective Tammy Thacker, a spokesperson for the department, has ignored multiple FOX 13 requests for comment. Booth has also declined requests for comment, FOX 13 reported.
FOX 13 found that Booth’s flat denial of the incident contradicts his statements made to state investigators.
“Obviously there was some force used to get him in the car,” said a Department of Public Safety investigator in a recorded interview with Booth. “Would it be surprising to you if there was bodycam or dashcam footage that showed your hand on his neck at one point?”
“No, I don’t think it would be surprising,” Booth responded. “I just viewed it as something I’ve done literally hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of times.”
FOX 13 reported that Heber City Mayor Kelleen Potter sent out an email stating that Booth was returning to work in August — just days after the state cleared him of criminal wrongdoing. The email said that multiple investigations found the complaints to be “not substantiated... found to be baseless and without merit,” though Potter did not specify what the complaints were.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety told FOX 13 he could not explain Potter’s email, because investigators never told Heber City the complaint was “baseless” or “without merit.”
The city called a mandatory police department meeting the day after Potter sent the email, according to multiple officers.
“(Potter) was very upset somebody in our agency had gone to the media...” an officer told FOX 13. “She told us — and I quote her, this is Kelleen Potter from Heber City — that she believes in karma and ‘karma’s a b****.’”
City Attorney Mark Smedley verified the mayor’s comments but said he could not remember the context. Potter has ignored FOX 13 requests for comment.
Internal investigation concerns
Potter placed Jarvie and Booth under an internal investigation conducted by the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office as part of the case. But some Heber City officers said they believe that Sheriff Jared Rigby is incapable of conducting an impartial investigation because he is friends with Booth, FOX 13 reported. The city and county have both refused to provide copies of the completed investigation.
Videos obtained by FOX 13 show Rigby repeatedly speaking on behalf of the city, sometimes lecturing or threatening officers rather than asking questions.
“There is no excessive use of force, and so your perception is wrong,” Rigby told one concerned officer. “What Dave Booth did is not even use of force.”
“It really comes down to the future – your future in the police department,” Rigby continued. “So, you can dig in your heels and say, ‘This is how I feel and no one’s going to change,’ and okay, that’s your decision. You just won’t get any trusted positions having to do with (defensive tactics), and use of force, and sergeant, and those kinds of things, because you’re not willing to learn and be open-minded to it.”
Rigby has ignored FOX 13 requests for comment and continues to refuse to provide a copy of his internal affairs investigation.
Multiple officers have left the Heber City Police Department as a result of the case and others say they are in the process of doing the same.
See more at FOX 13.
Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune and FOX 13 are content-sharing partners.