Ex-Cascade Police chief accused of keeping city guns after leaving police force

The former police chief for the city of Cascade has been charged with two counts of felony grand theft after an audit of the former Cascade Police Department determined that five guns owned by the city for police use were missing.

The charges filed Oct. 3 against Ryan Redmon allege that he kept his police-issued Glock pistol and encouraged four other officers to keep their pistols upon their retirement. Redmon resigned from the Cascade Police Department in March 2013 to take a job with the Garden City Police Department. He’d been with the Cascade police force since 2000, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Garden City Police said Redmon hasn’t worked for their department since April 2014.

The missing guns were identified when city of Cascade closed its police department in September 2017 to cut costs and contract with the Valley County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services. At that time, an audit was performed on the Cascade Police Department’s funds and equipment. That’s when the five guns were identified as missing.

Eric Littlejohn was serving as interm police chief when the department closed. Littlejohn told investigators that Redmon had said officers could keep their service pistols when they retired because the pistols were donated to the city by a resident.

Authorities allegedly found that Littlejohn and former officers Randy Freeman, Greg Pomeroy, David Putman and Redmon each had a city-owned firearm in their possession. Authorities have since collected all of the firearms, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by an Idaho Attorney General’s investigator.

Investigators interviewed former Cascade Mayor Dick Carter, because Redmon claimed Carter said the officers could keep the “donated” pistols. Carter was mayor when Redmon was chief.

Carter disputed Redmon’s claim, saying the city would never release city-owned firearms because it would be a liability and the firearms in question were not donated. And, if they were to release a firearm, that action would have required a City Council vote. No such vote took place.

The city did receive a monetary donation of about $4,300 from a private donor in 2010 who supported law enforcement, and the city used that money to purchase firearms.

Investigators interviewed the donor, according to the probable cause affidavit, and the donor confirmed that he never donated firearms as gifts, but did provide a monetary donation.

An attorney general’s investigator wrote that the other police officers honestly believed they could keep the guns because they were told the guns were donated by a resident.

“It appears Redmon fabricated this information to acquire a firearm for his own gain,” the investigator wrote.

On Oct. 10, Redmon’s attorney, Matthew Williams, appeared in court on his behalf, pleaded not guilty and demanded and jury trial.

Redmon’s next court date is set for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 23 in Valley County.

None of the former officers, except for Redmon, have been criminally charged for possessing the guns. The Idaho Attorney General’s Office is responsible for prosecuting Redmon, not Valley County.

Cascade Mayor Julie Crosby told the Idaho Statesman that the Valley County Sheriff’s Office took over law enforcement services in Cascade on Oct. 1, 2017. They extended the service agreement again through a $228,774 contract for fiscal year 2018-19. The city no longer employs police officers.

This story was originally published October 15, 2018 at 2:03 PM.