Tama County deputy arrested, charged with OWI in Grundy County

Heath Brown has been placed on administrative leave

GRUNDY CENTER - A Tama County Sheriff's deputy who was arrested and charged earlier this month in Grundy County with operating under the influence has been placed on paid administrative leave.

"[W]e are aware that a Tama County Sheriff’s Office deputy was arrested for OWI in another county. Upon learning of the arrest, the deputy was placed on paid administrative leave pending an Internal Affairs investigation," Tama County Sheriff Casey Schmidt told the newspaper this past Wednesday via email when asked to provide comment on Deputy Heath Ryan Brown's arrest.

Brown, 40, of rural Traer was pulled over on Sunday, Sept. 6, on Highway 175 on the east side of Reinbeck near Pioneer Road (W Avenue/T65) around 9 p.m. by a deputy with the Grundy County Sheriff's Department. A Chevy Silverado that Brown was driving was observed speeding while traveling toward Reinbeck. According to the criminal complaint, the Silverado was traveling southbound on T65 at 72 mph in a 60 mph zone.

"I initiated a traffic stop on Highway 175 near Pioneer Road, and the vehicle drove over the curb on Highway 175 as it went to pull over and park. I spoke with the driver, Heath Brown, and observed bloodshot watery eyes and a strong odor of consumed alcoholic beverage," the arresting Grundy County deputy writes in the charging documents. "I asked Brown to step out of the vehicle to isolate the odor of consumed alcoholic beverage, and I observed the odor coming from Brown."

The Grundy County deputy further alleges Brown told him he had been at the Cedar Falls bar The Horny Toad (American Bar & Grill) earlier that day, where he consumed four beers.

Brown allegedly refused field sobriety testing during the traffic stop as well as a preliminary breath test. Per the charging documents, he was transported to the Grundy County Sheriff's Office where he consented to a DataMaster test. A DataMaster test analyzes a sample of a person's breath to determine breath alcohol concentration. Brown's result was 0.099, above Iowa's legal limit of 0.08% for drivers 21 or older.

Brown was charged with operating while under the influence - first offense, a serious misdemeanor. He made an initial appearance by Zoom on Sept. 7 in Grundy County District Court, appearing pro se, meaning he chose to represent himself without an attorney. Bond was set at $1,000 cash or surety bond. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 14 at 1:30 p.m.

Bond was posted for Brown on Sept. 7.

On Sept. 11, Ward A. Rouse, a personal injury attorney based in West Des Moines, appeared on Brown's behalf and waived Brown's right to a preliminary hearing.

As of presstime, Brown was listed as a Tama County deputy on the Tama County Sheriff's website under badge 86-7. He has served Tama County since 2019.

In his statement to the newspaper, Sheriff Schmidt said because of the ongoing active Internal Affairs investigation, he would not be providing additional comment at this time.

2021 shooting

On Oct. 28, 2021, Deputy Brown shot and killed Dewey Dale Wilfong III, 28, at a residence in Chelsea. According to a statement issued by the Tama County Attorney’s Office at the time, a standoff took place prior to the shooting and escalated to the point where Wilfong fired a handgun, and Brown then shot one round, hitting Wilfong in the torso. Brown, whose name was not publicly released until months after the incident, was placed on administrative leave but eventually returned to the field.

In 2022, a Tama County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by law enforcement in the fatal shooting of Wilfong. A wrongful death lawsuit later filed on behalf of Wilfong's estate was voluntarily dropped in 2024 with no settlement reached.