The sheriff of San Juan County, Utah, will keep his job even while facing charges of felony retaliation against a witness and three misdemeanors.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports the San Juan County commissioners have chosen to keep Sheriff Rick Eldredge in his position, along with two deputies who are also facing charges. The commissioners said putting the three officers on paid administrative leave, which would be the normal practice in such a situation, would be too risky because the sheriff’s office only has 11 field officers altogether. Eldredge, Chief Deputy Alan Freestone, and Deputy Robert J. Wilcox were charged Friday by the Utah attorney general’s office with various counts relating to an incident in 2015 in which Eldredge allegedly pointed an unloaded rifle at an employee and pulled the trigger.
