- Salt Lake City officer Jeff Clegg claims he was fired due to bullying culture, but he soon admitted his free pizza scheme
- He said he wouldn’t ticket employees of Sicilia Pizza in exchange for free food
- Clegg and his colleagues would issue warnings or void tickets at the restaurant in exchange for food
- The four officers were fired as soon as the scheme came to light
- Another officer claims the firings were just a way to get rid of unwanted cops
A Salt Lake City police officer and three of his colleagues have been fired from their for taking free pizza from a local restaurant in exchange for not citing the restaurant or its employees for parking tickets.
Officer Jeff Clegg originally called a local news station to report that he was fired from his job due to a bullying culture. However, after an investigation, there was evidence to the contrary, KUTV reported.
Clegg admitted that he and his fellow officers were not citing Sicilia Pizza’s owner or employees for parking violations in exchange for free food. The other three officers fired in the scheme were Malaki Laulu, Edgar Figueroa and Tyler Christensen.
Officer Jeff Clegg admitted that he took free pizza not to write parking tickets after making a deal with a local restaurant
‘If I see a menu of the restaurant,’ said Clegg, ‘in the lower left hand corner of the vehicle, it is either an employee or the owner’s (of the restaurant) vehicle and we are not to cite those vehicles.’
According to Clegg, his supervisor and the restaurant’s owner, Amrol Hararah put the deal in place.
Clegg said that they were on a first name basis with the restaurant’s employees.
He also said that they only gave out warnings, and when tickets were issued, they were often voided.
The ticket amount was reported to be $19,000 over at least two years.
Salt Lake City’s Director of Public Service Lisa Shaffer said that when the pizza deal came to light, the officers were fired.
They also put a stop to the deal, which upset the owner of the restaurant.
Another officer in the scheme said he never took free food not to write tickets – he claims that the police department simply used the situation as a way to fire ‘troublesome employees’.
Clegg said he was on a first name basis with the restaurant’s employees, and issued warnings or voided tickets for the restaurant workers
Sicilia Pizza owner Amrol Hararah wasn’t pleased about his ‘deal’ with the city’s police ending