Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Pinal County Deputy Fired Following Interview With Phoenix New Times

Posted By on Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 1:52 PM

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has fired Louie Puroll, the deputy who was shot in the desert last April and later said some nutty things to Phoenix New Times reporter Paul Rubin, who questioned Puroll's account of being shot by drug smugglers.

New Times reports:

In an e-mail from PCSO spokesman Tim Gaffney, the Sheriff's Office says it found Puroll to have violated 10 rules of conduct, including the PCSO's policies on truthfulness, media and public information, and performance of duty. The investigation by the PCSO's Professional Standards Unit also found Puroll guilty of incompetence, and having violated the PCSO's codes of ethics and conduct.

In other words, Puroll lied.

The firing stems from comments Puroll made to Rubin published in Rubin's story Whitewash. Puroll told Rubin a few details about some encounters he's had with members of a Mexican drug cartel.

More details here.