March 2, 2022 |
Saratoga Town Council exited an executive session Tuesday afternoon and moved to terminate the employment of former police officer Justin Brown.
The vote to fire Brown was unanimous. Council went into the executive session following a 90-minute public hearing which resembled a trial. Town Attorney Jane France served as prosecutor. France argued that Brown should be terminated because of behavior unbecoming a police officer, including threats made to Carbon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant Ben Opfar, who was trying to serve a warrant regarding one of Brown’s dog on New Year’s Eve. France called Opfar and Police Chief Kenneth Lehr as witnesses. A criminal case against Brown, which includes one felony charge, has not gone to court yet.
Brown’s attorney, Michael Bennett, argued that the officer should be presumed innocent. If anything, Bennett said, Brown should face remedial disciplinary action, including a continued suspension, but not termination. Bennett did not have Brown testify on his own behalf. After the hearing, Bigfoot 99 asked his attorney why Brown did not testify on his own behalf.
Pictured above: K9 Shaw and Sgt. Justin Brown in front of a Saratoga PD vehicle.
The public hearing included a nine minute recording of a phone call between Deputy Opfar, who was outside Brown’s residence, waiting to serve the warrant to confiscate a police dog named Shaw. Brown sounds agitated about the warrant and questions the basis for it. The recording was made with Deputy Opfar’s body cam. It contains numerous expletives. We’ll have more on the public hearing, which Brown requested, tomorrow.
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