UHP police officer charged with sexually abusing a woman while off duty

RICHFIELD – An off-duty Utah Highway Patrol trooper faces charges of sexually assaulting a woman.

Bronson Willas Wood, 46, of Richfield, was arraigned Monday in 6th District Court on two counts of sexual abuse (a second-degree felony) and two counts of sale of alcohol to a minor (a Class A misdemeanor).

A 19-year-old woman was at Wood’s house with a friend drinking wine on March 18, 2023. According to charging documents, Wood also asked the woman to have “a few shots” with him.

Later that night, as the woman was trying to fall asleep on a couch, Wood approached her and “placed his hand on (her) hip and began rubbing her side while asking her if she was OK. (The woman) said she was OK and asked (Wood) to stop touching her. (He asked her) to make out with him and said he had been in love with her since the day they met,” the charges state. A police affidavit further states that Wood told her he had been in love with her since she was 17.

Wood continued to touch the woman inappropriately, even though she had told him she “didn’t want him to and kept telling him to go upstairs. (Wood) eventually left (her) alone and she escaped through a basement door and called a friend to pick her up,” the indictment states.

The woman said she waited about a year before reporting the incident “because she didn’t think anyone would believe her since Bronson is a highway patrol officer,” the affidavit states.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office was asked to investigate the allegations in March of this year to avoid any potential conflict of interest in Sevier County. Wood, who has been with UHP for 17 years, was placed on leave in April following his arrest.

“We take the allegations in this incident very seriously,” the highway patrol said in a statement. “The Utah Department of Public Safety and the Utah Highway Patrol do not tolerate this behavior at all.”