February 23, 2022 |
The Town of Saratoga has taken no further action against a police officer who was suspended following his arrest on a felony charge of intimidating and impeding a sheriff’s deputy.
The Carbon County Prosecutor filed the charges against Sergeant Justin Brown on January 24th. Brown was booked briefly into the Carbon County Jail on February 9th. He was released after posting a $5,000 bond. Like many of the facts in the case, it’s unclear when the town actually suspended Brown.
The charges against Brown also included three misdemeanors stemming from two separate dog attacks. One biting incident involved his daughter last July and the other his wife in December. Both were bitten by a young dog named Shaw, who Brown may have used on police patrols without authorization. Both incidents occurred at a kennel north of town that specializes in training military and police dogs.
Many of the facts in the case are murky, such as exactly how many dogs was Brown using on his police patrols last year. Only one dog, Hobbs, was under contract with the town. Yet social media posts and even trading cards have surface that portend to show the dog involved in last year’s biting incidents working as a K9 officer for the town.
Seeking clarification, Bigfoot 99 reached out to Justin Brown for an interview, but our call was not returned.
Saratoga Town Council scheduled, then cancelled a special meeting on February 11th to consider further action against the suspended officer, including whether to terminate his employment.
The topic fell off the radar until last week’s council meeting. Police Chief Kenneth Lehr was concluding his regular department report, which included a discussion about why his department had failed to pay 911 fees for more than two years. Councilman Jon Nelson questioned the obvious—whether the Brown matter would be addressed. The discussion began with Mayor Creed James asking the chief if had anything else to report.
Nelson looked to Chief Lehr for a comment, who also said he could not discuss the matter at the request of the town attorney.
Nelson then said he had a question that did not involve a personnel matter about Brown’s employment. The councilman held up a photo of a playing card depicting a K9 officer purporting to belong to the Saratoga Police Department.
The photograph shows what resembles a trading card. On the card’s face is color photograph of what appears to be a young dog that also appears with a uniformed Brown in social media posts. In the upper left corner of the card is a police badge that bears the insignia, “Saratoga Police.” The bottom of the cards bears a banner with the dog’s name, “K9 Shaw.” Underneath the banner is a red bar with the inscription, “Saratoga Police Department.” The back of the card shows Shaw participating in an exercise with two trainers. It also includes and SPD badge and inscription.
Councilman Nelson said the ongoing personnel and legal situation involving the felony charge filed by the county attorney and the issue of the police dog were separate matters.
Bigfoot 99’s reporting earlier this month turned up a social media post from September 14th showing Officer Brown posing next to a Saratoga Police Vehicle. The caption reads, “Good job to Shaw making it through his first night on the streets. Finding drugs was just a bonus.”
The post was made to the Facebook page of the training kennel Brown operates in town. It’s unknown whether a police report was filed about a drug bust involving Shaw, or if the post was a false advertising claim.
Brown is scheduled to appear in court on the felony and misdemeanor charges on March 23rd. In the meantime, Brown remains suspended. Any further action regarding his employment would come at either a regular council meeting or a special meeting. The town has not scheduled either.
Related: Saratoga police sergeant charged with intimidating sheriff’s deputy, dog bites
