An altercation between South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote and his wife, Wendy Foote, at a fire station Friday ended with Wendy Foote's arrest.
Wendy Foote, 31, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for investigation of domestic assault, a class A misdemeanor, according to jail records. She was released on her own recognizance Friday night.The Footes have been estranged since Steve Foote, 36, moved out of their Kamas home in November, Wendy Foote said. The couple had been attending counseling sessions but had recently agreed to a divorce. They have been married for four years and met while Wendy Foote was a emergency medical technician working on an ambulance, she said.
The couple had arranged to meet at the South Salt Lake fire station, 2600 S. Main, about 5 p.m. Friday, in order for Wendy Foote to leave her 3-year-old daughter with her father.
An argument ensued, which ended in a physical altercation in which Wendy Foote slapped Steven Foote across the face, causing a scratch. She also pushed and scratched his chest, a South Salt Lake police report states. The report also states that the fire chief spit on his wife.
Wendy Foote admitted to slapping, pushing and even throwing a pair of sunglasses at Steven Foote but said she was acting in response to his shouting expletives at her.
"I was afraid and backing up the entire time. I slapped him to stop him from yelling, that was all," she said Tuesday. "He did what he knew would push my buttons."
The police report indicates Wendy Foote also shouted and swore at her husband. The report also states that Wendy Foote let her daughter out of the car and attempted to leave the fire station without her.
Wendy Foote actually came and went from the station at least twice before being arrested Friday evening, according to the report.
Efforts to reach Steven Foote for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. However, South Salt Lake Police Sgt. Beau Babka said Foote would not comment on the incident. Foote became the city's fire chief in April.
Wendy Foote doesn't deny that Friday's incident was out of hand, but said she thinks her husband "set her up" by having at least one police officer already at the fire station when she arrived. The report indicates at least one police officer was at the station when she arrived.
"He had everything he needed there to make me look like the psychotic wife and him the hero," she said.
On Monday, Steven Foote filed a protective order against his wife in Summit County, according to a Summit County district court clerk. A hearing is set for early July.