WASATCH COUNTY, Utah — Dozens of people packed the room at the Wasatch County Council meeting on Wednesday to raise concerns with Sheriff Jared Rigby and Undersheriff Josh Probst.
Despite time being set aside, the county said it must remove the item from the agenda to protect a criminal investigation that Rigby himself asked for.
Todd Bonner served as Wasatch County Sheriff from 2009 to 2019. The council originally put the item on its agenda at his prompting. He is now accusing the county of using the criminal investigation to prevent the public from speaking up.
“I don’t think we’ve been heard,” Bonner said. “I don’t think you care.”
A handful of officers have recently left the department. Some of them attended the council meeting to hand in copies of their resignations.
County Manager Dustin Grabau stated the council is taking all complaints seriously.
“I think that there is a potential for some of the accusations to be criminal in nature,” Grabau confirmed.
Grabau also confirmed Rigby himself reached out to the Cache County Sheriff’s Office to initiate the investigation.
He said he was not aware who the subject(s) of the investigation might be.
“Presumably the sheriff wouldn’t ask for himself to be investigated?” asked FOX 13 News investigative reporter Adam Herbets.
“I don’t know,” Grabau responded. “I can’t speak to the reasons why it was referred the way that it was.”
Retired deputies thought the timing was suspicious. They have asked for an FBI investigation.
“My opinion is another sheriff’s office in the state of Utah should not be investigating another sheriff,” Bonner said. “Things are too close.”
Not all of the allegations against Rigby or Probst are criminal in nature. For those reasons, the county promised to hire a neutral third party to conduct an internal investigation.
“We’re looking at employing a retired judge that comes highly recommended, has no connections to Wasatch County, and can operate independently, so they can provide an unbiased review of any potential policy or other violations,” Grabau said.
Some of the officers who have left the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office cited bullying and intimidation by Rigby or Probst.
It’s not the first time Rigby has faced such accusations.
In 2022, Governor Spencer Cox chose Rigby to be one of Utah’s most powerful law enforcement officers – the director of Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST).
Rigby’s swearing-in ceremony was canceled once the governor discovered a video of Rigby published by FOX 13 News.
The video from September 2021 shows Rigby accused of bullying and intimidating Lucas McTaggart, an officer with the Heber City Police Department.
Rigby interviewed McTaggart as part of an internal affairs investigation into Heber City PD Chief Dave Booth.
McTaggart and others accused Booth of excessive use of force. Bodycam video shows Booth placing his hand around the neck of a man in handcuffs.
Records from that investigation show Rigby never interviewed Booth, instead choosing to argue with McTaggart.
“There is no excessive use of force, and so your perception is wrong,” Rigby says.
A review of the full video shows several portions of the interview where Rigby discusses McTaggart’s potential lack of a future with the department.
- Rigby says he was given the authority to make statements on behalf of Heber City, and the city would “honor it.” (37:48)
- McTaggart: "What you’re saying is not changing my perspective of what I saw. Nothing’s going to change that. That’s why we’re here, right?"
- Rigby: "Well, Lucas, it really comes down to the future - your future in the police department. So you can dig in your heels and say, 'This is how I feel and no one’s going to change,' and okay, that’s your decision. You just won’t get any trusted positions having to do with (defensive tactics), and use of force, and sergeant, and those kinds of things, because you’re not willing to learn and be open minded to it.” (57:30)
- Rigby: "This is the determination. You’re gonna have to wrap your mind around it, and then from here on out move in that direction, at least if you’re going to work for Heber." (1:15:45)
- Rigby: "The only way that you can get in trouble here is if you don't do what we asked you to do." (1:18:42)
Commissioner Jess Anderson with the Department of Public Safety said he was concerned with Rigby’s statements after reviewing the video.
"Why would you allow yourself to go down a certain path of what appears to be, and has been represented, as threatening?" Anderson said in 2023. "Certainly, I have an obligation to look into that further."
FOX 13 News asked the county if it is particularly concerned now that similar accusations are being made against Rigby.
“The more that you hear it, the more seriously that I think it applies in all these circumstances,” Grabau said. “It doesn’t have to be a lot of people for us to look at something. We do our best to address any complaints that are raised to us.”
When he retired in 2019, Bonner endorsed Rigby to take over as sheriff.
It’s a decision Bonner says he now regrets.
“I think what really upsets me more than anything is – those that I was able to serve with? Worked with side by side? Seeing how they’ve been getting treated.”
Bonner said he did not know about the McTaggart video until he watched the FOX 13 News investigation.
“In my opinion, (Rigby) hasn’t learned anything,” Bonner said. “I don’t think there’s really a whole lot of difference. The bullying’s (still) going on. The intimidation factor is real. It’s happening. It’s happening throughout that whole office.”
Rigby resigned as Wasatch County Sheriff in 2022 when he thought he would be getting the Utah POST Director position. When he ended up not getting the role, the Wasatch County Council allowed him to take back that resignation.
Rigby did not attend Wednesday’s meeting. He has not responded to FOX 13 News requests for comment.