SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A former UHP Trooper is in trouble with the law.
Charges of misappropriation were filed Tuesday against Martin Luther Turner. Turner retired from UHP.
But prosecutors claim Turner took equipment that belonged to the highway partrol and gave it to another officer.
He's accused of taking a radar gun and a taser gun from Murray's UHP station.
Both showed up at the West Bountiful police deparment unexpectedly.
"It was learned that the items were still suppposed to be at the highway patrol office and they opened an investigation," says police Chief Todd Hixson. "Our officer was cleared of any wrongdoing and items were returned to UHP."
The West Bountiful police officer told his chief that Turner gave him the radar and taser gun at no charge.
"Our investigation identified that that was something that was not in his possession," says Salt Lake District Attorney Sim Gill. "It shouldn't have been in his possession."
According to probable cause statement filed by prosecutors Turner "admitted that he hoarded a large quantity of UHP equipment as the UHP office in Salt Lake County did not keep a good inventory."
A spokesman for the Department of Public Safety says Turner was in charge of equipment kept at Murray's UHP headquarters. But Turner's access to the equipment and his statements to investigators raises questions about oversight at UHP.
"That's not true," says Dwayne Baird of DPS. "When this went missing we were already looking for it. It may be part of his defense (against the charges)."
The charges filed against Turner carry with it a Class A Misdemeanor.
