A Utah lawmaker dropped a series of atomic bombs by threatening the cops who arrested his convicted thief son, even after gaining special access to see the valid warrant behind the arrest.
Long-Time San Juan County Commissioner Bruce Adams was caught in body camera footage obtained by KUTV angering deputies as he arrived to pick up a car after his son was pulled over and arrested a day later Thanksgiving.
As soon as he arrived, Adams approached the officers and “stated he wanted to see the warrant immediately,” Deputy Wyatt Holyoak wrote in a police report shared by the outlet.
“I told [Adams] I couldn’t show him personal statements on my computer,” the officer wrote.
But the commissioner “replied that I better show him the God damn warrant right away,” the officer wrote.
“It appeared to me that [Adams] was trying to use his influence as a County Commissioner to intimidate me into showing him information that I was not permitted to do,” the officer wrote.
Aware of the irate official’s powerful position, the deputy called his boss and obtained special permission to show him the order on his computer to “help de-escalate the situation,” according to the report.
Adams continued to argue, and shows the body camera, angrily telling the officer, “I want you to let him go.”
He then threatened legal action after the officer said he could not release Adams’ son Kenneth Adams because of the valid warrant he had just shown him.
“Do you want me to sue the county sheriff for arresting my son with a false warrant?” Adams said, and the officer reminded him that “the warrant is there.”
Adams left but then continued his grievances in a telephone call to the Sheriff’s Office lead investigator, Alan Freestone, who called a court clerk at his home to confirm that the warrant was valid.
Three days later, then-Sheriff Jason Torgerson and Freestone met with Adams at his Salt Lake City office to raise concerns about his “lack of professionalism,” KUTV said.
Instead, Adams accused Deputy Holyoak of lying to him but refused to see body camera footage that sheriff’s officials said showed “that wasn’t true,” according to the documents.
However, Adams now admits his behavior was inappropriate.
“It’s shameful. It’s shameful for me to act that way,” he told Kutv last Thursday, two months after the accident.
“I’m sorry for doing that. But I was emotional,” he said.
“To me, I was acting like a father,” he said, admitting now that he should “absolutely” always act like the commissioner he is.
He also argued that at the time he believed his son’s warrant — linked to a 2020 burglary and theft case, in which he pleaded guilty and entered an outstanding plea — was invalid.
However, officials repeatedly told him he was active because his son was missing several documents related to the courses required for his probation.
Kenneth Adams, who was released from prison shortly after his arrest, turned over the missing requested documents, and his warrant was withdrawn, KUTV noted.
Kenneth, who was seen calling the warrant “a joke” when he was pulled over and arrested, also told the outlet that he believed his probation was in order at the time.
“I did everything that I was supposed to do,” he said.
“I think my dad was beyond frustrated,” Kenneth told KUTV of the fight caught on camera.
He also said it was “absolutely ridiculous” to suggest that his father had tried to use his influence to intimidate the officer.
“My father takes his office very seriously, man. Like, very seriously,” he said.
