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In this screengrab from South Ogden Police Department body camera video, a South Ogden officer and state parole agent's reflections are seen as arrestee Anthony Thomas Vega lies sprawled under a motel bathroom sink on July 23, 2022. Vega says the officer, South Ogden Sgt. Curtis Ricks, punched him in the mouth. Ricks said he pushed Vega.

Image supplied, South Ogden Police Department

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In this screengrab from South Ogden Police Department body camera video, South Ogden Police Sgt. Curtis Ricks points to arrestee Anthony Thomas Vega's upper chest/lower throat area on July 23, 2022. Vega said the officer punched him in the mouth inside a motel room, Ricks said he pushed Vega.

Image supplied, South Ogden Police Department

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SOUTH OGDEN — A South Ogden Police Department internal investigation has concluded that an officer was justified in pushing a drug offense suspect after the handcuffed arrestee stood and advanced on him and refused to sit down.

The confrontation between Sgt. Curtis Ricks and Anthony Thomas Vega, 38, during a July 23 drug bust at a Riverdale motel, went under review as a result of the officer’s use of force. Vega crashed backward over a chair, falling on his back under a sink. Riverdale and South Ogden police body camera recordings and written reports documented the event and Vega’s protest that Ricks had punched him in the mouth.

Ricks said he pushed Vega, and told him so after the incident. The body camera recordings of Ricks and a Riverdale officer provided no views of Ricks’ right hand. The Riverdale officer wrote in his report that Ricks swung his right arm toward Vega.

Before Tuesday, the only publicly released accounts of whether it was a push or a punch were the audio recordings and Ricks’ written report. But on Tuesday, the Utah Department of Corrections granted a Standard-Examiner appeal regarding the written report about the drug bust filed by an Adult Probation and Parole Division agent who was standing next to Ricks and Vega in the motel room. The agency initially blacked out the narrative about the confrontation, but provided it upon appeal.

In the newly released narrative, the parole agent corroborated Ricks’ account. After Ricks said police could go search Vega’s house next, “Vega flew out of his chair and squared up on both Sgt. Ricks and myself,” she wrote. “I told Vega to sit down. Vega began to escalate more and Sgt. Ricks pushed him back down into the chair. The wheels of the chair hit my foot and the chair flipped over backwards.”

The video from Ricks’ body camera showed Vega falling to the floor, feet up in the air and his head coming to rest below a sink.

On Friday, South Ogden police released an internal affairs report on the incident, completed by Lt. Jeff Nelson. “Vega challenged Sgt. Ricks verbally, stands from a seated position, takes a threatening posture toward the sergeant and refuses to stop his advancement towards him,” the report said. “Vega ignored orders to be seated numerous times. Sgt. Ricks felt he was the subject of an imminent attack and used reasonable force in the rapidly evolving situation.”

Weber County Attorney Christopher Allred said Monday the incident did not rise to the level of a case that would be referred to his office for a use-of-force review. State law specifies the process for county attorney reviews of police “critical incidents,” defined as the serious bodily injury or death of a person being arrested or in law enforcement custody.

Vega was taken to the Weber County Jail and booked on two first-degree felony charges of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and a second-degree felony count of possession of controlled substances, with a prior conviction.

In her report, the parole agent said police found drug paraphernalia in Vega’s motel room and text messages on his phone detailing transactions for selling heroin and methamphetamine. A small package of heroin was found on his body at the jail, the report said.

During the booking process, the parole agent said Vega apologized for “flying off the handle” at the motel. She said Vega told her “that when he is withdrawing from heroin he gets extremely moody and will have extreme mood swings.”

Efforts to contact Vega were unsuccessful and his court-appointed attorney declined to comment.