No Moriarty
Mono Undersheriff calls it quits
Mono County Undersheriff Michael Moriarty has announced his retirement after just three years with the department, and 33 years as a law enforcement officer. His last day will be December 22.
In a press release this week, Sheriff Ingrid Braun announced she was heartbroken by Moriarty’s imminent departure.
Others are not so sad.
Prior to joining Mono County Sheriff’s Office, Moriarty served as Chief of the Bureau of Investigation for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, managing more than 100 investigators.
Sheriff Braun brought him on as Undersheriff in 2015 after she was voted into office. Moriarty knew Braun’s husband, also a cop, from working with him in Southern California.
“She needed someone to look at the organization with fresh eyes,” Moriarty told The Sheet this week.
It has been his look at Mono County Search and Rescue, which operates under the auspices of the Mono County Sheriff’s Department, that has spawned some differences of opinion.
A search and rescue call in October of this year drew public scrutiny of Moriarty and rescues performed in Madera County by Mono County SAR.
On October 15 at about 11:30 a.m., Mono County Dispatch received a 911 call reporting a 50-year-old female with a possible broken ankle who was stuck at Rainbow Falls.
Rainbow Falls, Devil’s Postpile and Reds Meadow are in Madera County, but Mono SAR have handled emergency calls in that area since 1994, per a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two counties dated the same year. The MOU also states that Madera will reimburse Mono County for expenses related to rescues performed within its boundaries.
