PORT ANGELES — Three independent investigations into alleged misconduct at the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department have resulted in a deputy being fired, a sergeant resigning and the remaining captain being reprimanded.
In addition, a day before the investigative reports were released, Undersheriff Steve Snover retired abruptly after only six months in the post.
And the sheriff’s personal administrative assistant has been placed on leave pending an ongoing investigation.
The final reports of the three investigations were released Wednesday morning during a courthouse news conference led by Sheriff Joe Martin.
The investigations, conducted by a Portland, Ore., lawyer at the request of the department, centered on:
* Allegations that former Sgt. David J. Fontenot took a pair of aviator goggles seized during the search of a storage facility in January and left them in his county vehicle for several months without checking them into evidence.
The same investigation looked into allegations that Fontenot intentionally falsified a date on a legal document.
* Another investigation focusing on whether Fontenot sexually harassed female co-workers.
* Allegations that former Deputy Dwane Hayden conducted an extramarital affair on county time, using his Sheriff’s Department cell phone to hold long conversations.
All of the allegations were found to be true, concluded Jill Dinse, a Portland-based lawyer hired by the department.
Hayden, 37, a six-year veteran of the department, was notified Tuesday of his termination.
Fontenot was placed on paid administrative leave Sept. 16, and he resigned within days.
Snover left the department Monday, stepping down from his position as the day-to-day overseer of department functions. He is currently using vacation time and will officially retire Jan. 5.
And Capt. Ron Cameron, the sole unelected commanding officer left in the department, was reprimanded by Martin for failing to punish Fontenot more severely after looking into the original allegations.
Fontenot was alleged to have taken the antique pair of aviator glasses from a search of a Port Angeles warehouse in January and then did not log it into evidence.
The complaint also alleged Fontenot falsely stated on a legal document that he served a seizure notice on a day that he did not.
For his part, Fontenot admits he made mistakes, but denies that his “shortcut” and other offense mean that he is responsible for all the department’s problems.
“All I want to do is put bad guys away,” Fontenot told the Peninsula Daily News late Wednesday.
“I’m a good person and I’m a good cop.”
