IRON COUNTY, Mo. — The Iron County Sheriff and two deputies have been charged with multiple crimes including street gang activities, misusing 911, stalking, making a false report, looking up criminal records under false pretense and attempted kidnapping.
According to the charging documents, they were helping Rick Gaston, an Iron County resident, with a scheme to kidnap Gaston's children from their mother after a domestic dispute.
The Missouri Highway Patrol is now assisting with policing duties in the county about 95 miles south of St. Louis, and all of men have been booked into the Washington County jail.
Sheriff Jeff Burkett, Deputy Chase Bresnahan, Deputy Matt Cozad and Iron County resident Donald “Rick” Gaston are among those charged.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story identified Gaston as a former member of the Iron County Sheriff's Department. That has since been corrected to indicate that he was not a member of the department and is an Iron County resident.
In a statement, an attorney representing Burkett called the charges "politically motivated."
"There has been an ongoing attempt to remove Sheriff Burkett from office before he even took office," the statement said.
There are about 9,500 people in Iron County, according to the 2020 census.
The Missouri Highway Patrol conducted the investigation, according to court documents.
According to charging documents, the charges stem from a domestic incident between Gaston and the mother of his child on Feb. 8. According to documents, he was "physically aggressive" with the woman.
Court documents allege that between February 10 and 11, Burkett, Gaston, Bresnahan and Cozad tried to help Gaston kidnap his daughter following a domestic incident involving Gaston and the mother of that child.
The men made a fake request for the detention and arrest of the mother of the child to the Washington County 911 dispatch center to help facilitate the kidnapping of the child, according to the documents.
The men are also accused of putting a fake “stop and hold” instruction on the child’s mother’s record, so if any police officer stopped her, she would be detained. The men are also accused of getting the mother and daughter’s real-time location by fraudulently obtaining a ping from their cellphones. Gaston then used that information to go to a location in Jefferson County where they were seeking “refuge” from him, according to the documents.
The sheriff is accused of obtaining criminal history information under false pretense by telling Washington County 911 dispatchers that the child’s mother had kidnapped her daughter, was intoxicated and that the child had been injured.
When trying to locate the child's mother, one of the dispatchers asked Burkett some follow-up questions. Burkett responded by saying it was being done at Gaston's request, and the dispatcher said he could hear another man's voice saying the same thing, "as if the unidentified male was telling Burkett what to say" according to court documents.
The sheriff is also accused of misusing emergency telephone services for making repeated calls to 911 for nonemergency situations, causing operators or equipment to be in use when emergency situations may have needed such operators or equipment, according to the documents.
The sheriff also allegedly caused a false report to be made to Washington County 911 Dispatch that a parental kidnapping had occurred and that the child’s life was in danger because of her mother’s actions, according to court documents.
County residents have mixed reactions to the arrests of the sheriff and other law enforcement officers.
Macie Yount is the sheriff's assistant.
"He's a great guy,” she said. “He wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize him in his job."
But some aren’t so sure.
"Definitely skeptical of the integrity of the place at this point," said resident Summer Prier.
"I hope it steps up and do what they're actually supposed to do at once," Prier added.
Burkett was charged with:
- participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities
- conspiracy to commit Class A/B/C felonies
- first-degree attempted kidnapping
- second-degree stalking
- obtaining criminal history info under false pretenses
- misusing 911
- and making a false report
Bresnahan was charged with
- participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities
- two counts of conspiracy to commit Class A/B/C felonies
- first-degree stalking
- second-degree stalking
- obtaining criminal history info under false pretenses
- and misusing 911
Cozad was charged with:
- participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities
- two counts of conspiracy to commit Class A/B/C felonies
- first-degree stalking
- second-degree stalking
- and misusing 911
Gaston was charged with:
- participating knowingly in criminal street gang activities
- attempted parental kidnapping
- conspiracy to commit Class A/B/C felonies
- first-degree stalking
- second-degree stalking
- making a false report
Burkett is being held on a $500,000 bond, and the three others are being held on $400,000 bonds.
This breaking news story will be updated as more information becomes available.