×
×
homepage logo

County jailer put on leave

By Staff | May 20, 2012

An employee of the Faribault County Sheriff’s Department has been taken off the job until an investigation has been completed.

Part-time dispatcher/jailer Todd Heenan was placed on paid administrative leave on May 3.

“When an allegation is brought forward against one of our employees, I take it very seriously,” says Sheriff Mike Gormley.

“I hope this can be settled quickly,” he adds.

The Register was able to talk with Heenan on Tuesday.

He says, to date, no one has talked with him regarding the matter.

“To be 100 percent honest, I don’t know what the whole scoop is,” Heenan says. “I’m still waiting just like everybody else to get more information.”

Gormley and Chief Deputy Scott Adams became aware of a complaint involving Heenan on May 2.

Neither would comment on the nature of the allegations or say how they were informed.

Adams says the department can do its own internal probe, but decided to have the Martin County Sheriff’s Department conduct the investigation.

“It wouldn’t be proper for us to do it. We want an impartial investigator who will be unbiased,” he says.

Adams calls turning to an outside law enforcement agency for assistance “standard procedure.” Heenan has worked for the sheriff’s department since April 2003. He also serves as the county’s animal control officer.

County authorities and Blue Earth police chief Tom Fletcher would not say whether action taken against Heenan was the result of an April 24 dispatch call he received while on duty.

Fletcher says an assault at Kwik Trip was reported around 7:30 p.m.

“At this point I can’t comment. The incident is still under investigation,” says Fletcher. “It involves juveniles.”

The last day Heenan worked as a dispatcher was April 25 from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Employee time logs show Heenan transported two inmates to prison in St. Cloud and brought back another from Hennepin County on the day he was put on leave.

Heenan says Gormley handed him a letter placing him on administrative leave after he had transported the prisoners.