Deputy Jensen is the only Deputy Sheriff in the history of the Davis County Sheriff's Department who died in the line of Duty. During the early morning hours of May 14, 1971, Deputy Jensen was on patrol traveling southbound on the (old) highway through Farmington when he observed an individual waving him down. Deputy Jensen pulled his patrol vehicle off of the road to the side of and about two car lengths in front of the subjects vehicle which was parked in the shadows. The apparent stranded motorist walked up to the side of Deputy Jensen's patrol vehicle and informed him that he was out of gas. Within a short span of time, Deputy Jensen became suspicious of the man when asked about his vehicle as the vehicle matched the description of an "Attempt to Locate Broadcast" earlier for a stolen vehicle out of the Ogden area. Very shortly and before Deputy Jensen could react, the suspect pulled a .38 caliber handgun from his belt, firing the weapon five times through the side window of the Sheriff's vehicle, killing Deputy Jensen instantly. Shortly after the shots were fired, the suspect's armed accomplice, who had been hiding across the roadway in a construction area ran over to the Sheriff's vehicle, looked in and fired a single .22 caliber round into Deputy Jensen's body. The two suspects left the scene in the stolen Sheriff's vehicle after pulling Deputy Jensen's body out onto the roadway. Other Sheriff's Deputies discovered Deputy Jensen's body a very short time later and after putting together the scenario were able to get "Broadcasts" out to surrounding cites and states which subsequently led to the arrests of the two suspects later that same morning in Wyoming. Both suspects were sentenced to Life Imprisonment in the
Utah State Penitentiary at Draper, Utah. One of the suspects has since
been released on parole, the other is still serving time. |
