In a contentious election year, the Summit County Sheriff’s Department is still getting occasional reports of harassment over campaign signs or flags.
Other recent incidents include vandalism at a Factory Outlet Mall store.
Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright said that last week, a deputy contacted a Jeremy Ranch resident who got an anonymous letter after he displayed a Trump flag on his back deck that can be seen from some of the major roads in the area.
Officers were notified when the resident wrote a post on social media.
Lt. Wright summarized the contents of the letter delivered in the mail.
“The letter was fairly short. It was very vulgar the way it was written, lots of cuss words, including the F word quite a few times. Basically says, “Doesn’t the flag say it all about you, your family and your character.” The person went on to say, “My kids won’t be trick or treating at your house, even if you were to hand out solid gold bars.” They went on to tell the individuals to shove the Trump flag up their rears, but using quite a bit of profanities, and says, “Go back to where you came from—California, was it?”
The family did move here from California two or three months ago.
Deputies put the property on a watch log, which they have done in recent similar cases.
Starting in late August, a Wanship resident complained that her Joe Biden signs had been stolen or taken down on multiple occasions.
In late September, a Coalville man said that some juveniles had stolen Biden signs from his yard. On an least one occasion, three young males dressed in black were seen taking away a sign.
And in early October, a Marion resident said that a Trump flag and a Blue Line flag, supporting police, were stolen from the front of her residence.
Meanwhile, on some other cases, a scuffle broke out at a local gas station over collecting used oil.
The complainant was a 55-year-old South Ogden resident employed by a company that collects the material. After pumping the oil from a bin at the back of the station, he told the station employee that there was a new payment process for the collections. The worker became upset and refused to sign the documents.
The complainant went around to pump the oil back into the bin, with the employee, identified as a 45-year-old Coalville man, following him, recording on his phone.
A towel holding the pump in place slipped, and the pump hit the station employee in the chest. The two men ended up wrestling on the ground.
The case is being screened by the County Attorney’s office for charges.
Finally, early Sunday morning the 18th, before 5:30, deputies responded to the Outlet Mall and found indications that a vehicle had crashed into the Polo Store. The front doors and entry way were smashed in.
Officers also found a silver Dodge pickup with damage, high-centered on the retaining wall separating the parking lot and a sidewalk along Kilby Road.
Lt. Wright said no suspects were found and at this point, there’s no indication items were stolen from the store.
A trace found that the vehicle’s owner was a Spanish Fork woman, who had reported it stolen on October 12th to officers in North Salt Lake. It had been involved in previous crimes, including juveniles snatching beer from a convenience store in West Valley City. Summit County deputies found an unopened beer pack in the truck
