LOGAN — Former Mantua Police Chief Shane Zilles has pleaded guilty to impaired driving, after he was pulled over by Utah Highway Patrol troopers on US-89/91 near the mouth of Sardine Canyon January 29. He was traveling between 85-90 mph in the 65 mph zone.
Court records show, Zilles appeared in Wellsville District Court April 19. He accepted a plea deal, confessing to one charge of impaired driving, a class B misdemeanor. As part of the agreement, prosecutors dropped a second charge of reckless driving.
Troopers arrested Zilles as he was driving a Mantua City Police patrol vehicle at the high rate of speed. The car did not have its emergency lights or siren activated.
As troopers approached the speeding vehicle, they observed it swerving within its lane of travel and initiated a traffic stop. The single occupant driver was identified as Chief Zilles.
Dash-cam video showed Zilles failing a field sobriety test. His speech was slurred and he struggled to remember what day it was.
Zilles continued to cooperate and was taken to a hospital for a blood draw. Afterwards, he began to experience a “medical condition” and received further treatment. While there, though, he was cited and released to a family member.
According to court records, Judge Terry Moore sentenced Zilles to complete either five-days of community service or two-days in jail. He was also placed on probation for one-year and ordered to pay a $1,300 fine.
While on probation, Zilles will be prohibited from using drugs or alcohol and submit to random testing to verify his sobriety. He is also restricted from driving without valid insurance and drivers license.
Zilles had been chief of police in Mantua since 2016. Prior to his appointment, he served as a deputy for the Cache County Sheriff’s Office, where he was named deputy of the year in 2015.
After his arrest, Mantua Mayor Michael Johnson announced Zilles had been fired.
Johnson said in the statement, “We also hope that Mr. Zilles can work his way through this tough time and find a better path in the future. It appears that prescription meds have claimed another good person’s reputation.”