| "We lost a real good lady today, and a great cop," he said. "Everybody feels a great sense of loss. We don't just work together, we become law-enforcement family, and we've lost a great member of that family who enjoyed what she did."
Fox, 37, was shot to death Tuesday morning when she pulled over a vehicle on U.S. Highway 50 near Delta. Colleagues and the community alike remembered the wife and mother of two not only for her work ethic and positive attitude, but also her abundance of compassion.
Steve Alexander, a former Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy who now lives in Delta, called Fox "a true public servant."
"This community has lost a gem," he said. "Josie was a true treasure."
Millard County sheriff's Deputy Josie Fox was a five-year veteran
of the force. (Courtesy of Millard County Sheriff's Office) |
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Fox began her law-enforcement career with the Millard County Sheriff's Office more than five years ago. In addition to patrolling the Delta area, she made sure sex offenders in the area were registered with the state registry and worked on gang assignments. She had a teen daughter and son, and Dekker said her ability to connect with youth is what made her such a special member of the force.
"She had an uncanny ability to work with youth. They seemed to trust her. She'd talk to them on and off duty," Dekker said. "She could almost always solve a juvenile crime for us. If she couldn't, it probably wasn't done by local kids."
That relationship led Delta's youth to organize a candlelight vigil for the fallen deputy Tuesday night.
Braden Johnson, one of the vigil's organizers, said he has always known Fox and been close to his family.
"She was awesome to the community," said the 17-year-old Johnson. "It's our time to give back."
Another vigil organizer, Levi Bettis, said Fox arrested him in 2007 for drug possession. She gave Bettis "a talking to," he said, and told him "If you work with me, I'll work with you."
"She got me out of a couple of felonies," Bettis said.
"I feel more or less robbed right now and I think the community does, too," said Bettis, 22.
Robyn Woodbury, 35, had her 16-year-old daughter run away last year. Woodbury said Fox worked more than 32 hours, including time she was supposed to be off-duty, to help find her daughter.
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"So I owe her," Woodbury said.
"That girl has her compassionate merit badge," Alexander said.
Diane Mecham, a relative of Fox, was there for Fox's first day on the force. An all-terrain vehicle overturned and a woman was pinned underneath at the top of Oak City Canyon, near where Mecham and her husband were camping.
Fox responded and, with other police and medical personnel, climbed the canyon's rugged terrain to reach the woman. When the emergency responders placed the woman on a backboard, Mecham said, Fox held her head and repeatedly told her "it's not that much farther. It'll be OK. We're going to get her down."
A helicopter flew the woman to a hospital and she recovered, Mecham said. After the helicopter left, someone asked Fox what she thought of her first day.
"She said, 'Well, it isn't bad when you're helping people like this,'" Mecham said.
"She cared," Mecham said. "Everyone I've talked to today told me she put her heart and soul into her job."
Alexander himself met Fox about five years ago when his wife had a seizure and Fox responded to the call. Alexander said she arrived before medical personnel and stayed with his wife the whole time, even riding to the hospital in the ambulance while holding her hand.
From there, a friendship blossomed.
"The conversations always led into law enforcement," said Alexander, who spent about 30 years as a peace officer. "She picked my brains about how I might respond to this or that."
Alexander, who himself was shot while on duty, said domestic disputes and traffic stops are the most dangerous calls a police officer takes. During a traffic stop "you don't know what's in that car, especially at night," he said.
By early afternoon, the community began to share its condolences for a woman well known throughout the area.
About 1 p.m., Fox's friend David Frandsen was putting up a sign outside his gas station in Lynndyl, a few miles north of Delta, that read: "With our heartfelt sorrow, Josie. You will be missed."
The Millard County sheriff echoed those thoughts.
"She loved her work. She was always smiling. She enjoyed helping and assisting people," Dekker said. "She just gave her all."
Nate Carlisle contributed to this report.
Honoring Deputy Josie Fox
Josie Fox is the 129th Utah police officer to die in the line of duty and the second woman to have been killed. The Utah Peace Officers Association said Fox will be honored at the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Ceremony in May.
Fox's name, on a bronze plaque, will be added to the $1.3 million memorial wall dedicated in 2008.
Aaron Rosen, the chaplain for the Utah Peace Officers Association, advises there are three ways to donate to Fox's survivors.
The association has an endowment to help with funeral expenses and other family needs. The Utah Law Enforcement Memorial, Inc., has a fund for children of deceased officers. Donations to both can be made at 5671 S. Redwood Road, Taylorsville, UT 84123. Or visit upoa.org or utahsfallen.org.
Rosen says the public can also send donations to the Millard County Sheriff's Office, 765 S. Highway 99, Fillmore, UT 84631. Indicate the donations are for Fox's family.
UPDATE:
Suspects in deputy slaying nabbed, asleep in Beaver County shed
Suspected shooter could face death penalty.
by Mark Havnes
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/07/2010
A 37-hour manhunt through several counties ended swiftly and peacefully Wednesday morning when a tip led Beaver County deputies to two men wanted in the death of a Millard County sheriff's deputy.
Roberto Miramontes Roman and Ruben Chavez Reyes were sleeping in a shed in northern Beaver about 8:15 a.m. when SWAT officers rushed in and arrested the pair.
"I believe in the element of surprise," said Beaver County Sheriff Cameron Noel. "We're happy they're in custody and no one was hurt."
Roberto Miramontes Roman |
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Ruben Chavez Reyes |
Roman, 37, is suspected of fatally shooting Millard County sheriff's Deputy Josie Fox after she stopped his vehicle at 1 a.m. Tuesday on U.S. Highway 50 in Delta.
Roman has been charged with capital murder and tampering with evidence and could face the death penalty if convicted. He was taken to the Millard County jail in anticipation of an arraignment today in Fillmore's 4th District Court.
Noel said a homeowner called at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday from a mobile home park in northern Beaver saying there were two men sleeping in his shed. Ten deputies, some trained as SWAT officers, entered the shed and quickly handcuffed the pair.
Gertha Streeter, who lives near the shed in the mobile home park, said she went out to start her car to take her children to school when she noticed not all was right.
"There were police everywhere and one of them told me to get back in my house," said Streeter.
She said during the ordeal, her boyfriend looked out the window and saw the police with shotguns and what looked like automatic weapons moving around outside.
"I was terrified," said Streeter. "I have little kids."
Noel said it is unknown how the men arrived in Beaver, as no vehicles linked to them have been found.
Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker said Chavez Reyes would be interviewed but did not know if any charges would be sought against him. He said police are looking for others who may have aided Roman.
Chavez Reyes, 36, was in custody on an immigration hold, according to Lindsay Mitchell, public information officer for the Millard County Sheriff's Office. Both men are Mexican nationals.
The Utah County Sheriff's Office, which is leading the investigation for Millard County, checked the shed for evidence, but Noel did not know if any weapons or drugs were found. Federal agents were also on scene.
After four hours of interviews, Roman and Chavez Reyes were each taken in a Millard County Sheriff's Office patrol car from Beaver County jail to Millard County jail. They were escorted by a caravan of about a dozen police vehicles from both county departments and the Utah Highway Patrol, all with lights flashing.
Fox, a 37-year-old mother of two, was gunned down about 1 a.m. Tuesday about one mile east of Delta, shortly after she pulled over a 1995 gray Cadillac Deville driven by Roman. Sheriff's investigators say Roman shot and killed her with a bullet that entered her chest just above her protective vest.
Roman's car was one of two vehicles deputies were watching Tuesday in connection with possible thefts and break-ins in the area. The driver of the second car, according to court documents filed Tuesday, was Ryan Greathouse, Fox's brother. The documents say that during the meeting on the dirt road, Greathouse bought drugs from Roman.
The Millard County sheriff said he is not seeking criminal charges against 40-year-old Greathouse, who later gave police Roman's telephone number and said Roman had family on Salt Lake City's west side.
Hours later, Roman's cell phone was recorded by a tower on Interstate 15 in Salt Lake County. About 4 a.m., a state trooper near 1100 West and 300 South in Salt Lake City found an orange Corvette with the license plate that belonged to the Cadillac.
Three SWAT teams deployed in that neighborhood looking for Roman. Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said the teams found Roman's uncle hiding in a shed, but no sign of Roman.
Meanwhile, police found the Cadillac abandoned outside Nephi and received information Roman might be at a nearby home.
Nephi Police Chief Mike Morgan said the woman at the home was uncooperative and a SWAT team was called. The woman eventually left the house and police questioned her, Morgan said. After she consented to a search, police found no one inside the house.
Dekker said police had not had a run-in with Roman since 2005.
Immigration officials said Wednesday that both Roman and Chavez Reyes are Mexican nationals who are in the United States illegally.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Roman was admitted to the United States legally in 1990, but was deported in 1998 to his native country because of criminal convictions.
He was arrested twice after that for illegally re-entering the United States and prosecuted in 2005 in U.S. District Court in Arizona for that offense, according to ICE. Court records show he was sentenced to 150 days in prison.
Utah state court records show that Roman has a significant criminal history, beginning in 1992 with a misdemeanor drug distribution charge to which he pleaded guilty in Fillmore. In 1996 and 1997, Roman was charged in Millard County in two different cases with a handful of felonies, including drug charges, receiving stolen property and a weapons count.
He was sent to prison for up to 15 years after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute and one count of third-degree felony drug possession.
In the 1996 case, an informant told police he had been selling drugs for Roman for about a year, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in 4th District Court. The informant also told police he had traded a Tech 9 mm semi-automatic pistol to Roman for drugs, and that he believed Roman kept the weapon and a cache of illegal drugs in a back bedroom of his Delta area trailer home.
On Sept. 15, 1998, Roman was released from prison into the custody of immigration authorities and deported.
Greathouse was convicted of a misdemeanor drug charge in 1994 and again in 2004, according to court documents. Tuesday's documents do not specify what drug he allegedly bought.
Bob Mims, Nate Carlisle, Stephen Hunt and Pamela Manson contributed to this report.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14132866?source=most_viewedhttp:// |
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