Chris Johansen, a deputy with the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department, asked his commanding officer, Lieutenant Larry Goff, for permission to investigate the [animal cruelty] on his own time as a private citizen. Goff granted his request as long as Johansen didn’t trespass or represent himself as a sheriff’s deputy.
After conducting his private investigation, then Deputy Johansen concluded in his statement that “Most of these horses were lean with hips and ribs showing. About twenty were in a severe malnourished condition.” The report went on to state that the horses “appeared sick and several are unable to stand on their feet for very long” said Johansen, “there was a water tub that was full of ice with several inches of snow on top.”
In May 2015, Sheriff Darrell Crandell, called Deputy Johansen into his office and gave him an ultimatum: resign or be fired. Crandell also conveniently displayed a search warrant for Johansen's home, which would be executed in the event things didn’t go smoothly. Johansen couldn’t believe what he just heard, considering he had obtained permission from his superior beforehand and was in full compliance with the conditions set forth by his lieutenant. Shortly thereafter, Johansen made the difficult decision to resign, stating in his resignation letter “If I were to back away from this issue just to keep my job, I would be bowing to the same pressure as you” continuing to say, “left with the choice of willfully disobeying an order or resigning, I will, effective today, resign from my position as an Aroostook County Deputy Sheriff.”
Full story here
http://www.examiner.com/article/sheriff-deputy-fired-blackmailed-for-investigating-animal-cruelty?no_cache=1435513562
