Man accuses ex-employee of theft. Police arrive at the home of the victim, where he then assaults the deputy

| by Travis Uresk | March 6^th, 2026 |

(Duchesne County) Deputy Robinson responded to a call for a theft in the area of 12000 W 6000 N in Duchesne County.

The complainant was 59-year-old Bruce Edward Jenkins.

The deputy called Bruce, and during their phone call, he explained that some property had been stolen. He told the deputy he had an employee, 48-year-old Elton E. Rojas, who had worked for him. Bruce told Deputy Robinson he believed Elton had taken the property that was located inside a cargo trailer.

When the deputy arrived at Bruce's residence, he gave him a witness statement to fill out, listing all items and their values. Bruce went on to say that the property included the trailer parked at a residence being remodeled, which had a bedroom set valued at $15,000, as well as other items.

He went on to explain that Elton assisted with moving the items to the cargo trailer and that he originally offered to sell the bedroom set to Elton for $5,000, but no payment was made.

Bruce told Deputy Robinson that he had been trying to contact Elton since he was laid off from work, but Elton had not returned any of his calls.

On 2/28/2026 at approximately 8:00 AM, the deputy retrieved the witness statement that Bruce had completed. At around 10:00 AM, Cpl. Green and Deputy Robinson met with Elton at his residence in Myton.

Elton told the deputies that he and Bruce had agreed that Bruce would take money out of his paychecks to pay for the bed set. However, they had not agreed on a price, and then Elton had been laid off work.

While on scene, one of the deputies called Bruce to verify Elton's story, and stayed on the phone with the deputy during the interview with Elton. The deputies advised Elton to call Bruce, and he did, showing that he had been ignoring Bruce's attempts to reach him.

While on the phone, Bruce denied that they had agreed to withdraw the money from Elton’s checks. When Elton was asked where the bedroom set was, he said it was in his trailer and pointed towards his residence located on the property. He showed law enforcement some of the bedroom set in the trailer, and the verbal description matched the set stolen from Bruce.

Elton and Bruce agreed on the items taken, the value with $1,000 added for interest, and that Elton would begin payments today and pay a monthly payment until paid in full.

Both parties agreed to this, so the deputies left the scene and cleared the call. Elton was informed that, under their agreement, he needed to follow through; failure to do so would result in a felony theft charge, as he was exercising authority over someone else's property valued at approximately $9,000.

Elton contacted the police later that day and stated that he would not follow through on the civil agreement he had agreed to.

On 3/1/2026 at approximately 9:30 AM, Elton Rojas met up with deputies at his residence. Bruce also came to verify that the items were his, including the bedroom set. Elton was placed in handcuffs, double-locked and checked for tightness, taken into custody, transported to the Duchesne County Jail, and booked for theft.

At approximately 9:47 AM, Deputy Green was conducting a follow-up investigation into an active report of stolen property and was attempting to assist in recovering and returning the property to Bruce Jenkins.

During this interaction, Bruce began showing disorderly behavior and became increasingly aggressive while stepping into the deputy's face and saying, "I'm in your face!"

Deputy Green issued verbal commands directing him to stop and to back away, and placed his hand on Bruce's chest to apply controlled pressure to create distance and maintain safety, which Bruce complied with.

Shortly thereafter, Bruce re-approached me, and his behavior escalated further as he cursed at the deputy, telling him, "That is how this is gonna go," and "I don't give a fuck who you are."

Deputy Green again issued verbal commands for Bruce to stop and to turn around, and warned him that if he continued to behave in this manner, he would be arrested. At that time, he backed away while flailing his hands toward Deputy Green, striking the deputy in the head, launching my earpiece, and then attempting to push him backward.

In response to the physical assault, Deputy Green utilized department-approved arrest and control tactics, including a trained take-down maneuver (inside leg sweep), to regain control and place Bruce under arrest, and placed him in handcuffs.

Once Bruce was in custody, he was searched and escorted to a patrol vehicle, where he was secured. While there, Bruce continued his profane statements and disorderly conduct for some time. No injuries were observed sustained by Bruce at the time of securing him into the patrol vehicle.

Bruce was transported to the Uintah Basin Medical Center for medical assessment and, once cleared, was transported to the Duchesne County Jail.