OGDEN (AP) -- The Ogden Police Department has fired three veteran officers for allegedly steering business to one towing company over dozens on a rotation list.
Sgt. Tony Huemiller and officers Ron VanBeekum and Kelly Zaugg were fired for their part in a scandal still under investigation by the Weber County Attorney's Office and the state Attorney General's Office.Mayor Matt Godfrey, who said the scandal has come to be known as towgate, said the decision was Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner's to make.
The officers, who had been with the department for 12 to 16 years, were offered a chance to resign before getting notices of their termination, the mayor said.
Defense lawyers said the officers planned to fight their terminations at the city's Civil Service Commission and that the evidence against them was sketchy.
Police towing records for July 1999 to February 2000 show that Ogden Auto Body received 46 percent of the business directed by police. Other towing companies complained, sparking an investigation.