March 31, 2001, Saturday
Copyright 2001 The Deseret News Publishing Co.
The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT)
March 31, 2001, Saturday
(OGDEN, Utah) - A lawsuit filed against the Ogden City Police Department claims two of its officers forced their way into a home late at night, threatened a man involved in an earlier traffic accident and demanded immediate payment for the damage.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court accuses the department of violating the plaintiff’s 14th Amendment right to due process, invasion of privacy, theft, extortion and negligent duty to train, supervise and retain.
The suit lists up to five unnamed police officers.
The incident began April 3, 2000, when John Edwards was involved in a minor fender bender with another vehicle driven by a woman.
At 11 p.m. that night, the woman’s husband called Edwards at home and demanded he pay $76 immediately for damage caused in the accident, according to documents filed in court. The man told Edwards if he didn’t pay, he had enough pull with Ogden police that he would have officers go to his house to get the money, court documents stated.
At 11:45 p.m. two Ogden city police officers knocked on Edwards’ door. The officers did not have any warrants to enter the home and Edwards told them they could not come in, court documents stated.
The officers threatened to arrest Edwards for a hit-and-run accident if he did not pay them $76. Edwards’ elderly parents, who were both in the house during the incident, became extremely frightened and wrote the officers a check.
A spokesman for the Ogden Police Department and the Ogden City Attorney’s Office said Friday they had not seen the suit and did not want to comment.