A former police officer who was fired in December after pleading no contest to pirating cable TV has appealed his termination to the City Council.
Scott Vaughan, an 11-year veteran with the Bountiful Police Department, was fired Dec. 12, a day after pleading no contest in 2nd Circuit Court to theft of services, a class B misdemeanor.Vaughan's last avenue of appeal - short of a lawsuit in district court - is the City Council, which will hear the matter Wednesday, March 13, at 5 p.m.
Vaughan was terminated for a "combination of incidents," said City Manager Tom Hardy. "Basically, it was for unsatisfactory performance."
After being fired, Vaughan appealed unsuccessfully to his sergeant, his lieutenant, the police chief and the city manager, Hardy said.
Last month, Vaughan was granted a hearing by the city's employee appeals board, which, after an all-day hearing, voted unanimously to uphold the termination, said Mayor Bob Linnell, a member of the appeals board.
Vaughan, a resident of Bountiful, was charged Sept. 26 with illegally tapping into his neighbor's cable TV line between July 20 and 23 while the neighbor was on vacation. The neighbor found the splice when he returned and notified police.In August, Vaughan was placed on "intensive" administrative probation, demoted and suspended for 30 days without pay, Hardy said.
After pleading no contest, which is treated as a guilty plea at sentencing, Vaughan was ordered by Judge Alfred Van Wagenen to pay a $625 fine and complete one year's probation.
Because the matter is still under appeal, Hardy would not discuss all the specifics that led to the officer's termination.
Vaughan had been represented in his appeals by Phillip W. Dyer, an attorney for the Utah Public Employees Association. Dyer said he is not planning to represent Vaughan in the appeal to the City Council and, therefore, would not comment on the merits of the appeal.
The Deseret News was unable to reach Vaughan, who has an unlisted phone number.