More charges for former Mantua police chief

Shane Jacob Zilles | Cache County Jail

SALT LAKE CITY — The former police chief of Mantua, Box Elder County, who was arrested twice in February on drug- and alcohol-related offenses, was formally charged in his prescription drug case on Thursday.

Shane Jacob Zilles, 50, of Wellsville, was charged in 1st District Court with five counts of falsifying, altering or forging prescription drugs, a class A misdemeanor.

The case was investigated by the Cache-Rich Drug Task Force. The investigation began in January when task force agents were notified that Zilles had altered the date on his prescription to receive medication four days earlier than he was supposed to, according to a search warrant affidavit filed earlier this month in 1st District Court.

“Your affiant observed several indicators on the prescription which was turned into (the) pharmacy, which indicated it may be a forged prescription. The ink on the signature had several symmetrical lines through it, no bleeding or smearing of the ink, and had no impressions which would normally be observed with a hand-signed signature. The microprint signature line on the prescription turned in by Shane was also illegible,” the task force agent wrote in the warrant.

According to court records, investigators discovered at least five forged prescriptions dating back to Nov. 2, 2019. He was arrested in the prescription forgery investigation on Feb. 14.

The arrest came just a week after Zilles was arrested on Feb. 6 for investigation of DUI. According to court records, he was arrested at 5:36 p.m. near Lincoln Elementary School, 90 S. Center, in Hyrum. On Feb. 21, he was formally charged in Hyrum Justice Court with DUI, a class B misdemeanor, and driving on a suspended license, a class C misdemeanor.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in that case on Tuesday, according to court records.

Zilles was also arrested Aug. 12, in Logan for suspicion of driving under the influence and was later charged with DUI, a class B misdemeanor, in Logan Justice Court. A trial in that case is scheduled for March 20.

All of these charges and arrests come on the heels of the former police chief pleading guilty to impaired driving in 2019 after Utah Highway Patrol troopers stopped Zilles, who was still police chief, driving recklessly near the mouth of Sardine Canyon while in his police patrol car.

Zilles was fired as chief of the small Utah town shortly after his arrest.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3ahGGXz