New undersheriff named

SANDPOINT — The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office has a new undersheriff.

Capt. Ror Lakewold was named to the post effective Monday, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

“Captain Lakewold has earned the respect and trust from both the public he serves and also from his co-workers at the sheriff’s office,” Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler said in announcing the promotion. “He has proven himself to be a thoughtful leader, reflecting compassion and displaying wisdom to those he has led.”

Lakewold’s law enforcement career spans over 25 years, staring his career at the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office in January 1992. Lakewold has been with the sheriff’s office continuously, except for a few months in 1997, when he took a patrol position at Ponderay Police Department.

Wheeler said Lakewold has consistently been a leader in the department and he was honored the longtime law enforcement office accepted the position.

“I am honored and blessed that he has accepted this position and the added responsibility,” Wheeler said.

Through the years, Lakewold has received numerous promotions and has held every rank possible within the agency, Wheeler said. He has been a K-9 officer, patrol corporal, sergeant and lieutenant, before being promoted to captain. Other specialty assignments held by Lakewold over the years include SWAT team commander, Search and Rescue liaison, Sundance Drug Task Force commander and the first law enforcement liaison to the county’s Drug Court.

Lakewold holds a POST Supervisory and Management Certificate and has attended the FBI Command College.

Lakewold replaces David Hale, who resigned in April 2016 amid controversy over a phony election website he set up for Sheriff Daryl Wheeler’s political rival in the May 17, 2016, GOP primary.

In November, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office declined to seek charges in the case. The AG’s investigation determined that Hale in fact created the unauthorized website, but that alone was insufficient to establish that a criminal offense was committed. The probe also turned up no evidence that anybody else was involved with the site’s creation.

To establish a felony charge of false personation, the state would have been required to prove that Hale actually falsely impersonated another, but the website did not claim to have been published by a real or actual person.