Duty Death: Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox - [Delta]
Deseret News
DELTA, Utah — A Millard County sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed early Tuesday by a man who had sold drugs to the deputy’s brother just minutes before, investigators say.
Deputy Josie Greathouse Fox was shot, apparently without warning, during a traffic stop about 1 a.m. She was the second female officer in Utah history to be killed in the line of duty.
The shooting sparked a massive manhunt over several counties for at least two people wanted in connection with the slaying.
Roberto Miramontes Roman, 37, was charged just 10 hours after the shooting with aggravated murder, a capital felony, and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Before the shooting, Fox and Sgt. Rhett Kimball spotted two suspicious vehicles about one mile east of Delta, where there had been a recent string of home burglaries and trailer thefts, said Millard County Sheriff Robert A. Dekker.
One of the vehicles belonged to Ryan Greathouse, Fox’s brother, according to charges filed in 4th District Court.
As both cars drove away in different directions, Kimball told Fox to stop the other vehicle as it headed toward Delta on U.S. 50 while he followed Greathouse’s vehicle, Dekker said. Fox stopped the Cadillac DeVille about 1 a.m. and called in the license plate number to dispatchers. The vehicle was registered to Ruben Chavez Reyes, the charges state.
Kimball then drove to Fox’s location.
“He found deputy Fox lying in the road. The suspect vehicle was gone,” Dekker said.
Fox, 37, still had her flashlight in her hand. Her gun was still in its holster. A single bullet had entered above her protective vest, just above her badge, he said.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
“She was a great deputy,” said the sheriff, who described Fox as a “Delta gal” and a “real peach.”
“She’s done us a good job. She had the ability to talk to the youth in our community.”
Fox leaves behind a husband and two children. She had been with the Millard County Sheriff’s Office for more than five years. Her husband, an oil field worker, was out of town in Vernal when he was informed about the shooting.
“We’re a small agency. We’ve lost a loved one and a close friend,” Dekker said, adding that Fox was “nonjudgmental and liked by everybody.”
Dekker said he believes his deputy was killed instantly.
“I think the shooting happened as soon as the stop was made, as soon as she made the approach,” he said.
Detectives went to Ryan Greathouse’s house in Leamington and he told them he had just purchased drugs from a man he later identified as Roman who was driving a gray Cadillac, the charges state.
“He’s pretty upset,” Fox’s mother, Cindy Greathouse, told the Associated Press. “We have a lot of good friends and neighbors who have been here today and lots of support.”
Following the shooting, detectives believe Roman drove the Cadillac DeVille to Nephi where he met another person with an orange Corvette, presumably Reyes. There, investigators believe Roman removed the rear license plate from the Cadillac and placed it on the Corvette. The Cadillac was later located in Nephi and was processed by Utah County sheriff’s deputies.
Using GPS tracking on Roman’s cell phone, investigators developed information that Roman was in the Poplar Grove neighborhood of Salt Lake City Tuesday morning. The orange Corvette was located near Franklin Elementary, 1115 W. 300 South.
Between 30 and 50 officers, including SWAT teams from three departments, closed off an area on 1000 West from 200 South to 400 South and on 300 South between 1000 West and 1150 West. Residents were told to stay inside their homes. Nearby Franklin Elementary was closed for the day as well as Guadalupe charter school.
Detectives determined Roman had several relatives who lived in the area and SWAT teams started searching those houses.
Andres Pedra said police mistakenly believed that Roman’s grandmother lived in his house near 400 South and 1100 West.
“We said no, we had nothing to do with that,” Pedra told the Deseret News.
SWAT teams searched the house anyway and found nothing. Pedra said he didn’t mind the slight inconvenience. “It was fine,” he said, noting that he understood the officers are trying to keep the community safe.
About 10 a.m., law enforcers focused on a shed and trailer near 500 South and 1050 West where the Corvette was found. About an hour later, officers fired tear gas into the shed and a trailer. No one was found inside.
Officers continued to search the house on the property but found nothing. The neighborhood containment was lifted about 1 p.m. Police said they found no evidence, other than the car, that Roman had been there Tuesday.
Court documents, however, indicate that police saw a man matching Roman’s description running from a house in the area to an outbuilding on the property.
Firefighters and the health department were called back to that house a few hours later when the family suffered respiratory problems and itchy eyes because of the lingering tear gas. The house was “closed to occupancy” by the health department and the family was put up in a hotel room for the evening.
Sylvia Miramontes was crying outside her house after firefighters arrived as her three daughters tried to console her. She said police came to her door Tuesday morning and said they were looking for her husband’s cousin, Roman.
“They thought he was inside the house,” Miramontes said, “They came in and broke my house. We didn’t even know the car was parked in front of our house. I don’t know where he’s at.”
She said the last time she saw Roman at the house was New Year’s Eve. Miramontes said if she had known Roman was on his way there, she would have taken her kids out of the house and called police.
Guillermo Miramontes, Sylvia’s son, said the police initially took his family from the house to their nearby command post and told them about Roman.
“I was just like, I can’t believe he just did something like this, and this poor officer, and I would never think he would do something like that,” he said. “I was real shocked about it.”
Melinda Mahana lives across the street from the house that was searched and watched, along with her children, as SWAT teams acted.
“I’ve seen the guy. I know who he is. He’s been over there before,” she said.
Mahana said she did not see Roman at the house on Tuesday. She said the Corvette was not parked in front of the house Monday night, but she noticed it about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Roman is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Investigators would not confirm some reports that Roman may be carrying an AK-47 assault rifle, but they say he should be considered armed and dangerous and anyone who sees him should call 911 immediately.
Police issued a photo of Reyes, 36, Tuesday to the media. Dekker said Reyes — also known as Vicente Fernandez Garcia — owns both the Cadillac and Corvette and is a friend of Roman.
Reyes is believed to have “information on possibly where our primary suspect is,” said Department of Public Safety spokesman Jeff Nigbur. “We are investigating whether he may have either helped or assisted (Roman).”
Fox is the 129th Utah officer killed in the line of duty and only the second woman. The first female officer was Esther Todecheene, with the Navajo Department of Safety, who was killed June 8, 1998, when her car rolled when she lost control on a corner while responding to a call from another officer.
Clarke Christensen, director of the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Association, presented a check for $2,000 to Fox’s family Tuesday.
“We do this for every family of a fallen officer. It’s amazing how many costs build up immediately,” he said.
Gov. Gary Herbert and his wife offered their deepest condolences and ordered all flags to fly at half staff until sunset today.
“Millard County and the entire state of Utah suffered a devastating loss with this tragic, early morning shooting. By all accounts, deputy Fox was an officer who loved her job and was proud to serve her community. She was an asset to her community and a true hero to the state of Utah,” Herbert said.
Roman’s criminal history in Utah has been largely drug-related. He pleaded guilty to a charge of distribution of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor, in 1992, and to charges of possession with the intent to distribute and use, and/or possession of drug paraphernalia and carrying a concealed dangerous weapon in 1997.
Roman was arrested four times in the past by the Millard County Sheriff’s Office and had been deported at least once, but had come back to Utah, Dekker said.
Dekker said the last deputy killed in Millard County was Floyd Rose in 1922. Rose was a car salesman who was a volunteer deputy. He was shot while attempting to apprehend an inmate who had escaped from the jail. Rose, also, was killed in Delta.
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