Garfield County Deputy David Jones
Deputy
Slain in Garfield county
Man charged in Garfield County deputy slaying Garfield County may seek the death penalty
By Pat Reavy and Laura Hancock
Deseret News staff writers
Prosecutors in Garfield County are discussing the possibility of seeking the death penalty against a man accused of shooting and killing a sheriff's deputy during a routine traffic stop outside of Escalante. Earl Leston Barnes, 53, was charged late Monday district court in Garfield with aggravated murder.
It was also reported Monday that the entire incident was caught on audiotape.
Garfield County Sheriff's deputy David C. Jones, 44, was killed Sunday after pulling over a car driven by a man he suspected of drinking and driving. Jones placed the driver in handcuffs and put him in the back of his squad car, sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Bronson said. That's when the passenger of the vehicle pulled a gun and shot Jones, she said. Jones was able to return fire and hit Barnes in the chest and arm. The passenger of Colorado was listed in serious condition Monday morning at a hospital in Flagstaff, Ariz. Both men worked at a sawmill in Escalante. As of deadline, the Garfield County Sheriff's Office was unable to release the official arrest charges for the driver. The Deseret News does not print the names of people arrested unless accompanied by a booking charge.
By late morning Monday, a search warrant was being executed at the Escalante apartment the men rented. Investigators were looking for "Rhino" bullets, commonly referred to as "cop killer" bullets, according to the warrant. The bullet that killed Jones penetrated his bullet proof vest, the warrant stated.
The shooting cast a cloud over the Garfield County Sheriff's Office in Panguitch Monday. "You can feel the shock in the air," Bronson said. Each one of the deputies has a look on his face like he can't believe it, she said. "And I don't think they can."
The incident began about 3:30 p.m. Sunday when Jones spotted a man drinking and driving on an unpaved road about five miles south of Escalante, Bronson said. The driver of Salina has a history of DUI, she said. After stopping the vehicle, Jones called the police dispatcher to report the license plate number and information on the driver. He requested backup, which is routine in DUI investigations, and called a tow truck company, Bronson said. When the tow truck driver arrived five minutes later, he found the Jones lying on his back in front of his patrol car. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. An emergency helicopter from Page, Ariz. spotted the suspects' car between Escalante and Big Water on the same road where the officer was shot. Officers arrested him without incident about 7 p.m.
Barnes had a bullet lodged in his right lung, Bronson said. He was flown to Arizona for treatment. The driver was transferred from the Garfield to the Iron County Jail late Sunday night. A bullet was also found lodged in the back of the man's vehicle, Bronson said. Garfield County Attorney Wallace Lee said he would confer with the Utah Attorney General's Office on whether he can file a charge of aggravated murder and if so "will likely seek the death penalty," said Bronson.
Jones had been with the sheriff's office for only 16 months. He is survived by his wife and five children ranging in age from 6 to 22. Jones was the lone deputy assigned to Escalante. Friends say becoming a police officer and living in a small Utah town was Jones' dream. Until he took Police Officers Standards and Training courses at Salt Lake Community College to become a certified peace officer, Jones had been in the U.S. Army full time. He moved to Escalante 16 months ago.
Previously, Jones worked for Wackenhut Corp. providing security for UTA's light-rail system for six months. He lived in West Jordan, where his wife was a full-time school bus driver for the Jordan District. Jones also did some part-time bus driving for the district, spokeswoman Melinda Colton said. Carolyn Jones works part time at Escalante Elementary School as a bus driver and physical education aide. She also works part time at a local gas station. KSL Radio reported Monday Carolyn Jones was the one who called the sheriff's office reporting the two men who had bought beer from her store.
A spokeswoman for the sheriff's office said that information had not been confirmed as of Monday morning. David Jones previously lived in Alabama and Louisiana before moving to Utah. "He was a very family oriented guy," said Mike Terrell, who went through the academy with Jones. "He was very easy going, not your typical hard-nosed police officer. He treated people as friendly as he could." Terrell said Jones had just bought a house in Escalante and was thrilled about working in a small-town atmosphere. He loved being the person the townspeople called upon when they needed help, no matter how big or small. "He liked to help people. That's why he fit in so well down there," Terrell said. "That's the last place in the world you'd expect a deputy to be assaulted like that and killed. Everybody knows everybody."
Garfield Deputy Shot Dead
BY MARK HAVNES THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
PANGUITCH -- A Garfield County sheriff's deputy was killed in an apparent shootout Sunday afternoon on a dirt road five miles south of Escalante.
David Jones stopped a 1994 white Ford pickup truck about 3:30 p.m. to investigate two men on suspicion of driving under the influence, said Becky Bronson, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. After making the stop on the Alvey Wash Road, the deputy called in information on the truck, requested a tow truck and asked for a backup officer, Bronson said. When the tow truck arrived about five minutes later, the driver called the county dispatch center to report an officer down. Jones was pronounced dead at the scene.
Several law-enforcement agencies, including the Utah Highway Patrol and authorities from neighboring Kane County, helped search for the suspects, setting up roadblocks throughout south-central Utah. An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter spotted the suspects' truck parked on the same road, south of the shooting scene and about halfway between Escalante and Big Water in Kane County, authorities said. Bronson said the helicopter dropped off three Arizona state troopers a half-mile in front of the suspect vehicle. The troopers approached the pickup truck on foot and arrested the two occupants without incident about 7 p.m. One of the suspects had suffered gunshot wounds to an arm and chest during an apparent shootout with the deputy, with a bullet lodging in the suspect's right lung.
The wounded man was flown to a hospital in Page, Ariz., and was expected to be transferred to a hospital in Utah, though Bronson could not say which hospital. The other suspect was uninjured and booked into the Garfield County Jail. Bronson said both suspects had a history of driving under the influence. Other details on the suspects were not being released late Sunday.
The 44-year-old deputy had been with the sheriff's office for only 16 months and leaves behind a wife and family, said Bronson. "Being a police officer was his dream and he had just completed training at the [state] academy," she said. The sheriff's office is a closely knit group of seven deputies in addition to Sheriff Than Cooper. They are responsible for patrolling 5,200 square miles. "In such a small force where everyone knows each other really well, the shock is more acute," Bronson said. "There is a sense of shock and disbelief in the office and sadness for the family."
The jailed suspect is expected to be arraigned in court within 48 hours in Panguitch.
The last law-enforcement officer killed in Garfield County was UHP trooper Lynn Pearson, who was gunned down in 1976 on state Route 20 during a routine traffic stop.
Town Remembers Fallen Officer
BY MARK HAVNES
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
ESCALANTE -- About 1,000 people, several hundred of them law-enforcement officers, filled the Escalante LDS Stake Center on Friday to pay final tribute to a Garfield County deputy gunned down on a dirt road south of town. Deputy David C. Jones was eulogized by his family as an honest man who died trying to make the world a better place. "He was a man of immense integrity and bold character," said his son Paul. "He was true, honest, knew what was sacred and was not afraid of death."
Sheriff Than Cooper shared anecdotes about Jones, describing his sense of humor and his passion for the job he was performing Sunday when he was killed, allegedly in a shootout with the passenger of a pickup truck whose driver Jones had arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
Earl L. Barnes, 53, who was wounded in the alleged confrontation, has been charged with aggravated murder in Jones' death. Barnes is recovering at the Flagstaff Medical Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., where he was taken after being arrested several hours after Jones, who was 44, was found dead in the road. The driver of the truck has not been charged with a crime, but is being held in the Garfield County Jail without bail.
Cooper said Jones will be missed by his office, where he was one of seven deputies. "He was a friend, a deputy and a fallen hero," said Cooper, who hired Jones 16 months ago. "It is not how these officers died that makes them heroes, but how they lived," Cooper said, quoting from the inscription on the memorial in Washington, D.C., to officers killed in the line of duty.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff joined law-enforcement officers from across Utah and Arizona to honor a fallen colleague.
Robert Flowers, director of the Utah Department of Public Safety, said before services began that violent crime cannot be thought of as a problem peculiar to urban areas. "Bad things can happen in any nook and cranny of the state," said Flowers, a past St. George police chief. "It's doubly hard when you know [a fallen officer] firsthand. It's a loss for the sheriff's office and the community. A person you go to church with and meet for Cokes. "It's hard to lose a friend."
After the service, officers lined the procession from the church to the hearse led by a Utah Highway Patrol honor guard as Cedar City police Officer David McIntyre played "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes. Residents of Escalante stood in small groups along Main Street as the procession of flashing police lights headed toward Panguitch.
Laura Lisonbee said Escalante lost someone special to the community. "He was the most kindhearted man I've known," said Lisonbee. Kevin Peterson, a member of the town's search and rescue team, said Jones was always willing to go out into the field on a rescue. "It's pretty sad and rough, this is usually a quiet place," said Peterson as he watched the solemn procession. The sentiment of most the town's 1,000 residents was expressed by a hand-painted sign hanging from a fence. It read "We'll miss you, Dave."