{"id":63765,"date":"2018-11-27T17:29:03","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T00:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/sheriffs-lieutenant-resigns-after-stealing-food-from-crime-scene\/"},"modified":"2018-11-28T00:29:03","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T00:29:03","slug":"sheriffs-lieutenant-resigns-after-stealing-food-from-crime-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/sheriffs-lieutenant-resigns-after-stealing-food-from-crime-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheriff\u2019s lieutenant resigns after stealing food from crime scene"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office lieutenant will resign after video surfaced showing him stealing food from a crime scene in 2017.<\/span>Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A La Plata County Sheriff\u2019s Office lieutenant who serves as commander of the Southwest Drug Task Force will resign at the end of the month after allegedly stealing food from a crime scene while on a drug bust in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very unfortunate,\u201d said Christian Champagne, 6th Judicial District attorney. \u201cBut the integrity and credibility of law enforcement always has to be above reproach.\u201d<\/p>\n

About a month ago, a homeowner, who was subject to a marijuana cultivation drug bust in 2017, found video from his security camera of Lt. Ryan Engle in his garage stealing three to five granola bars, Champagne said.<\/p>\n

The video prompted an investigation into official misconduct at a crime scene. Because the incident involved a Sheriff\u2019s Office employee, the case was turned over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the Sheriff\u2019s Office conducted an internal investigation, and it subsequently suspended Engle from all law enforcement duties, according to Sheriff Sean Smith.<\/p>\n

As a result of the CBI criminal investigation and the Sheriff\u2019s Office internal investigation, Engle announced earlier this month he would resign.<\/p>\n

\"Champagne\"
Champagne<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Champagne said the District Attorney\u2019s Office stopped pursuing criminal charges after Engle\u2019s decision to resign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt that given his resignation, he basically suffered sufficient consequences and that it wouldn\u2019t be necessary to pursue a criminal case against him,\u201d Champagne said.<\/p>\n

Smith said Engle\u2019s last day will be Friday.<\/p>\n

Engle\u2019s attorney, Ryan Brungard of Duthie Savastano Brungard<\/a>, speaking on Engle\u2019s behalf, said the granola bars were on a table in an open room on the property where the drug task force team was conducting a search warrant and the owners were cooperative.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on the atmosphere of the search and the homeowner\u2019s hospitality, Ryan felt the granola bars were open for anyone to take,\u201d Brungard said. \u201cSo Ryan took a handful for his fellow search team and law enforcement colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brungard said that in Engle\u2019s 20-plus years in law enforcement, his integrity and ethics have never been questioned. Brungard said Engle fully cooperated with the CBI and the Sheriff\u2019s Office investigations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an unfortunate loss to our community, and we\u2019re losing a fantastic law-enforcement officer,\u201d Brungard said. \u201cAnd this situation, as you can imagine, has taken an incredible toll on Ryan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Smith\"
Smith<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Smith said Engle worked at the Sheriff\u2019s Office for more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

While both Champagne and Smith said stealing granola bars from a crime scene may seem minor, the action is inappropriate and cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw enforcement is held to a different standard, and we have to hold ourselves to a different standard,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Champagne said if Engle had remained with the force, it would have been necessary to file a \u201cBrady letter\u201d of disclosure against him, which is essentially a notice to defense attorneys that details the incident and can affect his credibility.<\/p>\n

Champagne said having a Brady letter is \u201creally significant,\u201d and makes it difficult for someone in law enforcement to conduct investigative work. Anytime an officer with a Brady letter is asked to testify, it also comes up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe principal behind it is that it doesn\u2019t make a difference if it\u2019s $5 or $5,000,\u201d Champagne said. \u201cWe expect as a society our officers are going to operate to the highest standards of honesty and integrity, and any slip can\u2019t be looked past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith said having a Brady letter in an officer\u2019s file is often a career-ender.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt becomes very difficult for a law-enforcement officer to continue in their role,\u201d Smith said. \u201cRyan saw that himself, and that\u2019s why he chose to resign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith said he requested Engle stay with the Sheriff\u2019s Office until the end of the month so he can train his replacement. However, Engle will not be allowed to conduct law-enforcement duties, Smith said.<\/p>\n

Engle took over the drug task force in mid-2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very unfortunate because Engle did excellent work for this community and worked in law enforcement for over two decades,\u201d Champagne said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also more important we are completely transparent when it comes to anything related to the credibility, honesty and integrity from law-enforcement officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Law-enforcement officer caught on camera taking granola bars during drug bust<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,1901,52,29,4259,51,2636,3175],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-63765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-sheriff","tag-law-enforcement","tag-newsletter","tag-newsletter-sign-up","tag-police","tag-sean-smith","tag-u-s-district-court"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63765"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=63765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}