Lawsuits accuse Valley County officer of using fake name to discredit sheriff candidates
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Valley County is facing three lawsuits accusing a sheriff’s captain of releasing other people’s personal information online while using a fake name and threatening to assault a now-former deputy.
In separate lawsuits filed last week in Valley County’s 4th District Court, three men — James Cole, Jason Speer and Ed Parker — accused Sheriff’s Captain David Stambaugh of impropriety. All three suits were filed by Joseph Filicetti, a Boise attorney who frequently represents police officers.
The suits also name Valley County as a defendant. The three also accuse Valley County Sheriff Patti Bolen of negligent hiring and retention of Stambaugh. The lawsuits accuse Bolen of not adequately screening Stambaugh during the hiring process.
Cole alleged that Stambaugh made false statements about him that prevented Cole’s employment with the Valley sheriff’s office and the McCall Police Department. Cole said in the lawsuit that the information disclosed was only known due to his application to the Valley County Sheriff’s Office.
In late 2019, Cole announced that he would run against Bolen for sheriff in the fall 2020 election. During the campaign, someone using the name “Darby Yost” reportedly wrote false messages about Cole on Facebook and allegedly disclosed information to the The Star-News in McCall that “intended to cause damage” to Cole’s campaign, according to the lawsuit.
Cole also claimed that in March 2020, other deputies in the sheriff’s office became aware that Stambaugh used a “throw-down” Facebook account under the name Darby Yost.
Like Cole, Speer also alleged Stambaugh harassed him during his candidacy for Valley County Sheriff. Speer started work for the sheriff’s office in October 2000 and worked as the undersheriff before he resigned in August 2019. He later entered his name into the race for sheriff.
Speer accuses Stambaugh of using the fake name of Darby Yost in a Star News letter to the editor that included confidential information about Speer. Speer believed the letter meant to paint him in a false light, as the letter “intentionally misrepresents the situation surrounding (Speer’s) resignation” from the sheriff’s office, according to the lawsuit.
According to Filicetti, Speer left the sheriff’s office after he was accused of lying about his training hours. The sheriff’s office began an internal investigation. Idaho’s Peace Officer Standards & Training also started investigating shortly after Speer left, and POST placed a hold on Speer’s certification as a law enforcement officer. Filicetti told the Statesman that POST finished its investigation earlier this month and reinstated Speer’s certification.
Speer, who got a job with UPS in August 2020, was in a UPS supervisor’s vehicle when the supervisor delivered a package to Stambaugh’s address. Speer did not leave the car, and he told his supervisor it would be best if he did not deliver packages to Stambaugh’s home. Speer said Stambaugh threatened him with legal action if he stepped foot on the property.
Parker, who is 76 years old and is a former police chief in Garden City and McCall, started work at the sheriff’s office as a seasonal marine deputy in 2008.
Parker said in his lawsuit that in May 2020 he was told by a supervisor that another deputy was going to be let go from the sheriff’s office, because the deputy had contributed money to Speer’s 2020 sheriff campaign. The supervisor allegedly told Parker that the other deputy was being disloyal to Bolen.
Parker told the fellow deputy four days later that the deputy was going to be dismissed. The supervisor later told Parker that he had “misinterpreted” the supervisor’s message. Stambaugh later went to Parker’s home and threatened that Speer would be liable for any fallout if the deputy’s threatened termination ended up in court, according to the lawsuit.
Parker then mentioned that he had contacted a Boise attorney, which caused Stambaugh to yell and threaten to assault Parker and the attorney, the lawsuit alleged. Stambaugh assaulted Parker as well, according to a news release from Filicetti. Parker later resigned from the sheriff’s office.
Parker and Speer filed separate tort claims with Valley County and the sheriff’s office on June 17, 2020. Their lawsuits say the county and sheriff’s office have yet to respond to either tort claim.
When reached for comment Tuesday, a Valley County public information officer told the Statesman that the county cannot comment on pending litigation. Messages to Stambaugh seeking comment were not returned. Neither Stambaugh nor the sheriff’s office had filed formal responses to any of the lawsuits as of Monday, and hearing dates had not been set.
Each suit asks for over $10,000 in monetary damages.
