Salt Lake County prosecutors on Friday dismissed charges against a man accused of starting a July 4th grass fire, saying Cottonwood Heights police made significant errors in their investigation of the case.
Richard Otterstrom, 49, had been charged in 3rd District Court with reckless burning, a misdemeanor, for setting off aerial fireworks that started the blaze in a large field near his home.
But while Otterstrom was lighting fireworks on Independence Day, he wasn’t in a restricted zone that bans fireworks, as police had falsely relayed to prosecutors, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday.
In addition, Otterstrom’s defense attorney, Nathan Crane, showed prosecutors that his client wasn’t the only one lighting fireworks that night — and that several parties firing them off were much closer to the field that burned than Otterstrom’s residence.
In addition, Gill said, police failed to include a Unified Fire Authority report that included some “contradictory evidence” — which again cast doubt that Otterstrom was the culprit.
“When we started to look at all this contradictory evidence, which is our job … we realized [the case] couldn’t go forward, and we dismissed it,” Gill said.
“It was a severely deficient investigation by the police,” Crane said Friday, adding the publicity surrounding the case had wrongly harmed his client‘s reputation.
Following the fire, police reported they found several spent fireworks in the gutter in front of Otterstrom’s home, near 3400 E. Enchanted Hills Drive (7510 South), as well as unused fireworks hidden behind a garden planter, according to the charges filed against Otterstrom. He later admitted to police he set off aerial fireworks at his home, but stopped when he realized a field near his home was on fire.
Winds pushed the blaze through about 25 acres in a residential area. It caused more than $1,500 in damage to the field behind Mountain View Memorial Cemetery, along with fences, a play area, a shed, and a home near 3400 E. Bradbury Road, the charging documents said.
Cottonwood Heights police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, however they did send out a tweet Friday afternoon: “The Salt Lake District Attorneys Office just dismissed charges on the 4th of July fire that threatened an entire neighborhood. Ask them why?”
Gill said his office has sent a letter to the department, relaying why the charges were dismissed, and stating that prosecutors would review evidence showing someone else is culpable for the blaze.
This story will be updated.
The Salt Lake District Attorneys Office just dismissed charges on the 4th of July fire that threatened an entire neighborhood. Ask them why? pic.twitter.com/680fwyH1MI
— CH Police (@CHPolice) September 15, 2017