A Faribault County Sheriff Department official was surprised to hear an employee’s name was mentioned during the investigation of an assault involving a Blue Earth Area football player.
Dale Hurley, the father of the victim, says his son admitted in a written statement to prosecutors that he and a defendant charged in the beating went to the employee’s home to get alcohol for a party held in October 2017 at a Winnebago residence.
When contacted about Hurley’s claim, Chief Deputy Scott Adams told Tripleanews.com on May 31, “I had not heard that. I will talk to the county attorney’s office.”
Adams didn’t waste any time contacting County Attorney Kathryn Karjala-Curtis in hopes of getting some answers.
“She is digging through the transcripts to get me the information,” Adams says. “We will wait and look at it before deciding if an investigation is needed.”
“We’re not going to tolerate any behavior that’s unlawful or violates personnel policies,” he adds.
The employee also is mentioned in a court document filed in district court prior to a hearing held for one of the four defendants.
According to court papers filed by assistant County Attorney LaMar Piper, the person was working in the Sheriff’s Department in November 2017 when the teens were arrested and charged in the assault.
A court document says a defendant’s mother sent a text message to her husband that the employee warned another mother of a teen involved in the assault that the cops were going to get a warrant for his phone.
In a letter dated June 22, 2018, from the teen’s attorney to Piper, the boy and his parents went away for the weekend on Nov. 17, 2017, and he reportedly lost his phone during the trip.