By Lindsay Whitehurst
The Salt Lake Tribune
01/17/2010

A Salt Lake City family caught up in the search for an accused cop killer says they lost nearly everything when police pumped their house full of tear gas, causing about $25,000 in damage.

"They destroyed my life in a few hours," said Salvia Miramontes, who had to throw away carpeting, furniture and much of her family's clothing because of contamination. "I wasn't the one who committed the crime. Not only that, I was giving my consent to go in there. Why did they do that to us?"

The Miramontes home became the center of a manhunt Jan. 5, after a state trooper spotted a car out front that appeared to be connected with the shooting death of Millard County Sheriff's Deputy Josie Fox. The man accused in her death, Roberto Miramontes Roman, is a cousin of Guillermo Miramontes, Salvia's husband.

The search turned up empty and Roman later was found hundreds of miles south, sleeping in a shed in Beaver County. None of the Miramonteses have been accused of helping anyone connected with the crime.

But they believe they've been punished anyway.

"You go and work, and work, and try to have your life and have your house, and see everything destroyed," Salvia Miramontes said.

Millard County sheriff's deputies would not comment on how the car got to the house, and Salt Lake City police declined to talk about the search, citing a claim the Miramonteses filed against the city seeking compensation for the damage.

Salt
Advertisement

Lake City Risk Manager Tim Rodriguez declined to comment on the claim, saying it remained under investigation. If the claim is denied, Miramontes said her family will file a lawsuit seeking reimbursement.

The family was not told tear gas had been used in the house or about the associated health risks, she said. They worked to clear out belongings inside the house for several days before the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, on Jan. 15, declared it unhealthy to be inside for more than 10 to 15 minutes.

Miramontes' community-activist neighbor, Michael Clara, said a he is concerned the family wasn't warned and wants a better process for informing people when tear gas is used in their homes.

"A cop was killed. I think they went into that house in good faith," he said. "When it's all done, you can't just pack up and leave, you can't create a haz-mat situation, leave this family homeless and leave."

Police intercepted Salvia Miramontes, her husband and their children as they left their home the morning of Jan. 5. She said she gave police permission to search the empty home, hoping to prove that Roman wasn't there. She drew a map of the structure so police could find their way around.

SWAT teams hit the house with 10 canisters of tear gas before going inside. That's an unusually large amount, said Michael Rowzee, general manager of Certified Decontamination in Salt Lake City.

Ten days later, the residue still lingered, leaving visitors with running noses, streaming eyes and scratchy throats after a few minutes inside. The carpeting was contaminated and has to be thrown away, along with two couches, six beds, all food and many clothes.

Tear gas is a fine powder that mixes with a volatile liquid carrier, Rowzee said. "It's a dust, " he said. " It will remain as a dust, a very, very fine dust, and it will be clinging to pretty much all their stuff. It will be on the ceiling, walls, counters, cabinets, everywhere."

Rowzee said overexposure may alter DNA, cause birth defects, fill lungs with fluid and swell tissues.

"It's not something that can be left in a house untreated," Rowzee said. His company will go over every surface, inch by inch, using a chemical solvent to remove every trace of tear gas. Crews also will open up and thoroughly clean inside the furnace and air-duct system. The job will take one to three weeks and cost between $5,000 and $10,000.

The setback comes after the Miramonteses renovated their home this summer, paying $400 to $500 to lay new carpet upstairs and improve a downstairs room. Salvia Miramonte's children teased her when she took pictures during the renovation, but she told them "we have to remember how bad it was, and how good it looks now," she said.

Born in Mexico, she is a U.S. citizen, and her husband, Guillermo, is a legal resident. They bought the house on the 1000 West block of 300 South about 12 years ago, and their family grew to five children: twin 18-year-olds (a son and a daughter who have moved out); two daughters, 16 and 14; and a 9-year-old son. Salvia Miramontes is the kitchen manager at Park View Elementary, and her husband works at Textile Care Services.

They are staying in a motel, racking up a bill that will continue to grow while the house is being cleaned and repainted. On a recent day, everything that wasn't stored with friends was piled in their front yard, waiting to be sorted into what is salvageable and what isn't.

Their insurance policy covers only the house itself, not anything inside it, so the only money they have received is $400 for the 10 windows officers broke.