Herbert's security officers interceded in stalking case involving his son
By Sara Lenz , Deseret News
OREM — Gov. Gary Herbert's security officers twice last month became involved in his son's pending stalking injunction in Utah County, according to newly released Orem police reports.
Nathan Gary Herbert, 39, has been accused of stalking the younger sister of someone he was charged with stalking in 2005. Aiona Butters says Nathan Herbert chased her out of the Orem City Library earlier this year. Last month, she told police that Nathan Herbert was leaving the Gold's Gym in Orem, but upon seeing her, he circled her car several times and followed her back into the gym, a police report states.
After the last incident, Buttars requested a stalking injunction against Nathan Herbert.
But on the same day of the incident, in which Butters told police that bystanders at the gym came up to her and told her that Nathan Herbert had been touching himself while looking at her, the governor's son went to the Orem police station to talk about the incident himself, according to a police report filed Aug. 4.
Later that day, the officer who had spoken with Nathan Herbert received a phone call from Lt. Jeff Anderson, who is with the governor's executive protection detail. Anderson told the officer that the governor's son "was concerned about the possibilities of this report hitting the news media," the report says.
Anderson wanted to know what had happened, whether Butters and Nathan Herbert had spoken, and if their stories were consistent. The Orem officer informed the lieutenant that Butters and Nathan Herbert had given differing versions of the events.
"I told Anderson that if Nathan didn't do anything wrong he wouldn't have needed to come into the Orem police station," officer C. Black wrote in the report. "This was the end of our conversation."
A week later, Orem police responded to a reported violation of a stalking injunction at the same gym, 44 E. 800 North, where they were met by both Nathan Herbert and trooper Josh Workman, who was assigned to the governor's Executive Protection Detail.
Workman told the officer who responded that he was there with the governor's son to meet with the gym management about the stalking injunction and to be there in case there were any problems, a police report says.
Angie Welling, spokeswoman for the governor, said the governor does not direct when security is to be used.
"Governor Herbert trusts all decisions about the protection of himself and his family, as required by law, to the professional judgment of the Department of Public Safety and members of the Executive Protection Detail," Welling wrote an in an e-mail responding to questions about the incident. "He does not direct those decisions, nor is he personally involved in them."
According to state statute, "The Office of Executive Protection shall provide all necessary security and protection for the governor and the governor's immediate family." It does not dictate how old an immediate family member can be to still be under this order.
Bryan Hyer, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said the decision to have someone accompany Nathan Herbert was made well before he went to the gym.
"The Office of Executive Protection made the decision that this was a circumstance that would be appropriate, professional and necessary to accompany the governor's son," Hyer said. "As to the specifics as to why they made that decision, I don't know." He was adamant that the trooper didn't have any agenda beyond protecting Nathan Herbert.
"The Executive Protection Detail has a very difficult task every day to protect the governor and his immediate family," Hyer said. "They have to make decisions on a daily basis to provide that safety. … They do the best they can. They were not trying to influence or anything, they were simply trying to do their jobs."
After Nathan Herbert's 2005 stalking injunction was settled in 2007, his parents sent a statement supporting their son to the Provo Daily Herald on official stationery of the lieutenant governor's office. When asked why the then-lieutenant governor would send such a private statement marked with the official seal of the state, Gary Herbert said the stationery was "handy," and that he wanted the newspaper to know the statement came from him. The Herald also reported that Gary Herbert said he was not acting in any official capacity when he sent that letter.
Last month, Nathan Herbert's lawyer, Scott Card, filed a motion to seal the current stalking injunction case, saying his client believed keeping the records public could damage his father's career. Nathan Herbert's 2005 stalking injunction was also sealed. But Card rescinded his motion to seal the current case last week and the file is now public.
In that file, Butters described the governor's son as "mortifying." "My greatest fear is that I, or some other victim, will end up dead because his dad is governor and everything Nathan does gets pushed under the rug," Butters wrote in her request for the stalking injunction.
Butters says she just wants to feel safe and to be able to go out without feeling threatened. Butters has been married for seven years and said she has never spoken with Nathan Herbert. But after these alleged incidents, she said she doesn't go out anymore without her husband or her father and has even contemplated moving.
When Nathan Herbert went to the police station on Aug. 4, he emphasized to an officer that he had been at the gym first and that he wasn't following Butters, a police report says. He said he had just noticed Butters out of the corner of his eye and thought she might be the sister of someone he had dated before. After he saw the woman and other employees looking at him, he said he left because he felt uncomfortable.
Butters, however, said she entered the gym as Nathan Herbert was leaving and said he saw her, walked around her car several times and came back into the gym to work out so he could watch her, the report says.
When Butters went to the police station to finish filing the stalking injunction that same day, a police employee realized that Nathan Herbert had just been at the same window to complain about an unrelated parking ticket and planned to return soon with additional paperwork. When the employee asked Butters to wait in another room because Nathan Herbert was returning, Butters started "crying and sobbing and shaking hard enough that she was difficult to understand," a report says.
When Nathan Herbert returned, the employee said he spent three hours at the station for a transaction that "normally takes about five minutes," according to a police report. After the employee left for lunch and returned an hour later, she spotted Nathan Herbert in the parking lot "walking up and down the length of cars."
Contributing: Emiley Morgan
e-mail: slenz@desnews.com