SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Northern Utah sheriff’s deputies repeatedly warned a former lieutenant now running for sheriff that an evidence room technician he supervised appeared high on methamphetamine at work, newspaper reports said Friday.
The technician in the Weber County Sheriff’s Office evidence room showed classic signs of drug use, deputies told then-Lt. Kevin Burns according to documents obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Among other signs, white residue pooled in the corner of her mouth. She rambled and picked at her face. All her hair had been chopped off and replaced with a cheap wig.
She was fired after overdosing on methamphetamine in December but even then Burns suggested to deputies that the technician’s behavior might be because of medical reasons rather than drugs, the documents said. A sheriff’s sergeant told investigators that he felt pressured by Burns to agree.
“Every once and awhile, a leader gets something wrong,” Burns told the Tribune Friday. “That should not define my entire career.”
He told the Standard-Examiner, which also obtained documents about the misconduct, that he suspected the technician was using drugs but needed to catch her intoxicated before he could act.
After being forced to retire in April, Burns is now running for Weber County Sheriff.
He said the evidence against the technician was unclear, but he was being singled out to “crush” his political campaign.
Investigators believe that extensive damage has resulted from the worker’s tenure in the evidence room.
In January, an investigator found multiple sexual assault kits, some of them months old, piled on the evidence room floor. State law required them to be sent to the state’s crime lab within 30 days.
The evidence room’s lock had been broken. The technician had apparently lost her key and, rather than asking for a new one, broken in.
“I basically became addicted to meth in the evidence room,” the technician told investigators. She said she became a daily user.
Burns, who was promoted to chief deputy overseeing the jail before he left the office, allegedly found a torn-open bag of meth evidence in December but did not report it to other senior officials.
He will square off against Sgt. David MacInnes and Perry Police Chief Ryan Arbon in the Republican Party primary for sheriff June 26.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
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