WEST BOUNTIFUL -- West Bountiful police have arrested a former Davis County Sheriff's deputy and charged him with multiple counts of selling heroin and cocaine.
Christopher Kenneth Sorensen, 35, of Centerville, was charged Wednesday in 2nd District Court in Farmington with three counts of second- degree felony possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, three counts of second-degree felony distribution of a controlled substance, two counts of third- felony endangerment of a child, and one count of a class A misdemeanor tampering with evidence.
Sorensen, who is being held without bail in Davis County Jail, was arrested Tuesday by West Bountiful police at a North Salt Lake park following a monthlong investigation, said West Bountiful Police Sgt. Corie Hamilton.
Sorensen had his 3-year-old son with him when he was arrested.
Sorensen had been with the sheriff's office for eight years until he was terminated following an arrest in 2007.
He pleaded guilty in 2nd District Court on Feb. 5, 2008, to a second-degree felony illegal possession of a controlled substance, which was reduced to a class A misdemeanor after he completed drug court March 2 of this year.
Sorensen's recent arrest came after West Bountiful Police Problem Oriented Unit, headed by Officer Jesse Whitear, received a tip about bad heroin being distributed in the city, Hamilton said.
Hamilton said because "of the sensitive nature of the case, we contacted the Weber Metro Narcotics Strike Force to help us investigate the case."
Officers also received information that Sorensen had "been ripping off other drug dealers by acting as an officer," Hamilton said.
Police were told Sorensen stole the drugs and money by saying "I'm a police officer, you're busted."
West Bountiful police seized all of Sorensen's badges and officer identification, along with drug paraphernalia. They also seized 26 balloons of cocaine and heroin, worth about $300.
During the investigation, officers did controlled buys "where we had people buy from (Sorensen) and they were successful," Hamilton said.
On Tuesday officers followed Sorensen to Salt Lake City and watched him make a drug purchase "with his 3-year-old son in the car," she said.
"We were so disgusted," Hamilton said.
They then followed Sorensen to a park in North Salt Lake and "observed him doing things with the drugs and were concerned he was going to possibly inject himself with heroin, so we stepped in and took him into custody so he wouldn't do that in front of the child," she said.
Officers contacted Sorensen's parents, who took custody of the toddler.
"They were so broken-hearted (Sorensen) would do this," she said.
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