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MANTUA — The police chief in a small northern Utah town is on paid leave — and residents are calling for him to be fired — over concerns about his actions during a recent arrest.
Mantua Police Chief Dakota Midkiff was placed on leave on Oct. 7, according to Mantua Mayor Terry Nelson.
The mayor declined to comment on the specifics of the case but confirmed the chief's leave was connected to the arrest just days earlier of 76-year-old Richard Schulze, which some residents have decried as unwarranted and violent.
Chief responds to 911 call
According to a probable cause statement, Midkiff — who has led Mantua's small police department since 2022 — responded to a 911 hang up call near 30 West 200 North just before 11 a.m. on Oct. 5. The situation ended up involving allegations of child abuse.
While he was there, Midkiff wrote that Schulze showed up and said he was related to the family involved.
During the interaction, the chief claimed Schulze became "argumentative," was "yelling," and "refused to comply."
"I decentralized him and he continued to resist. I requested for more units to respond to my location and Richard began to comply," Midkiff wrote in the probable cause statement. "I successfully placed him in handcuffs without further incident."
However multiple residents have alleged on social media that the arrest was unnecessary and excessive. KSL-TV obtained a photo of the incident showing Schulze's face bloodied.
Schulze was booked into jail for investigation of interfering with an officer and released the next day. He told KSL-TV Tuesday he didn't want to comment on the situation yet. As he spoke, his face was heavily bruised.
Multiple Mantua residents said they're shocked by what happened — and who it happened to. Most of them didn't want to speak on the record, but Billie Clawson did. Speaking of Schulze, Clawson said, "I don't feel like he's the kind of person that would be disrespectful in any kind of way."
Now a petition is filling up with signatures calling for Chief Midkiff to be fired.
Reached for comment in response to this story, Midkiff said in an email that he was "not permitted to release any information" since the case is currently under investigation. He added that the town of Mantua anticipates releasing information on the outcome of the investigation on Thursday at its regular council meeting.
History of police issues in Mantua
Mantua has had a turbulent history with police chiefs, going through several in just the last few years. Shane Zilles lost his job as police chief in 2019 after getting arrested for driving under the influence.
Former police chief Michael Castro was dismissed in 2021 after just months on the job amid an uproar over ticket quotas for officers. A source previously told KSL-TV Castro did not support those quotas, and other officers resigned after Castro was dismissed.
The next chief, Craig Hamer, faced troubling questions about his past police work after he was hired, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Hamer later resigned, according to the Box Elder News Journal.
Midkiff was then appointed as Mantua's police chief in 2022. Nelson, the town's mayor, wouldn't say anything else about this case other than that it's currently being reviewed while Midkiff is on leave.
Nelson said while Midkiff is off the job, one full-time officer and one part-time officer continue to patrol the town.
