TOOELE COUNTY, Utah — The former chief of the Stockton Police Department was charged Tuesday after an investigation into his payment for working contracted shifts with the Utah Highway Safety Office.
Travis Stephen Romney, 36, was charged with two counts of theft and one count of communications fraud. All three are 2nd-degree felonies.
Romney resigned last year from his position as chief of police in Stockton, a small town just south of Tooele. He was in the position for six years. He then accepted a job as a detective for the Grantsville Police Department, according to the Tooele Transcript Bulletin.
According to court documents, an agent with the Utah Department of Public Safety heard from a Stockton city official who said they found "irregularities" in Romney's paychecks in February of this year.
"They reached out to us and they had some concerns about some payments made to the former chief of police," said Tyler Kotter, Chief of Investigations with the Utah Department of Public Safety.
An investigation was conducted, and the DPS agent spoke with the former chief. Romney told the agent that during his tenure, he also worked "DUI shifts" for the DPS Highway Safety Office.
According to the contracts for Romney's overtime work on the DUI shifts, the state would reimburse the city for his pay on those shifts.
However, investigators said they found that Romney was paid $228,441 for DUI shift reimbursements between 2016-2022, but Stockton was only reimbursed $109,797.
"The difference between what Romney was paid and the amount of money that Highway Safety reimbursed the Town of Stockton for is $118,644.15," charging documents stated.
The DPS agent said they also determined that he directly over-billed the state by $22,191 for the DUI shifts.
Attorney Nathan Evershed said that in theft cases such as this one, the amount taken matters.
"When you get up into that tens of thousands or hundred of thousands of dollars, that's something the court has more of a concern over that than a level amount that was at a cash register or something," he said.
Investigators also said Romney submitted reports each month that contained the number of DUI arrests made. They looked at records from the county jail, district court and justice court, and said the actual arrest numbers "fell far below the number of DUI arrests reported by Romney throughout the period reported."
A warrant was issued for Romney's arrest, but court records do not indicate that he has been arrested as of Tuesday night. His charging documents also show that Romney himself requested a summons to be issued instead.
Evershed anticipates if Romney is found guilty, his former position as police chief will play a role in his sentenced.
"At this moment in time of course, it's always good to recall that he's innocent until proven guilty," he said, "but should he be proven guilty, typically courts, typically judges, typically prosecutors want to hold public officials up to a higher standard, so there probably would be more of a sanction should he be found guilty."
