Image supplied, Robert Sykes/Rand Briem

OGDEN — An Ogden man is suing the City of Ogden in U.S. District Court, charging Ogden officers used excessive force on him during an encounter at his home late last year.

Rand Briem, now 79, says the two officers involved, also named as defendants in the suit, improperly manhandled him when responding to an anonymous report of a squatter at his Ogden home on Nov. 29, 2022. He and his wife, Vera Briem, present during the incident, are seeking unspecified damages.

The man suffered a torn rotator cuff, cuts and bruises at the hands of police and continues to experience “physical and emotional damage,” the suit charges. Vera Briem, moreover, suffers from “emotional damage” and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“It was illegal, unconstitutional and otherwise improper to use force on a non-violent misdemeanant who is not threatening, not resisting or not fleeing,” reads the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. It goes on: “The actions of the OPD officers were willful, malicious and reckless and therefore punitive damages are justified.”

One image of Rand Briem included in the lawsuit, coming from police body-camera footage, shows him with a bloodied face. Other photos apparently taken later show him with cuts on his face and bruises on his right arm and torso.

Image supplied, Robert Sykes/Rand Briem

An Ogden police statement on Wednesday said the incident — caught on video by body cameras worn by one or both of the responding officers — was reviewed by department leaders soon after it occurred. They found the officers’ actions were justified and Briem was charged with a count of interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor, in the incident.

“The Ogden Police Department is confident that the court will find our officers’ use of force justified as our internal review did,” reads the statement. Asked for comment, a rep of Mayor Mike Caldwell referred to the police statement.

Likewise, documents filed by Ogden prosecutors in the misdemeanor case, still winding its way through Ogden Justice Court, paint a different picture than Wednesday’s lawsuit. City officials have yet to formally respond to the suit, a civil matter.

“The defendant and Vera were uncooperative, and the defendant was hostile and aggressive towards the officers. Officers asked both the defendant and Vera to stop their behaviors,” reads a description of events filed in the misdemeanor matter by Jill Garrett, a city prosecutor. “Officers asked the defendant to identify himself, which he refused to do multiple times. While officers attempted to identify him, the defendant struggled with officers while they were detaining him.”

‘CRIED OUT IN TERROR’

The Briems’ lawsuit, filed by Salt Lake City attorney Robert Sykes, said police went to their home in response to an anonymous report of squatters in the residence. The Briems were in their car in the driveway of the home when police arrived and that’s when the interaction started.

Image supplied, Robert Sykes/Rand Briem

Ultimately, Rand Briem, who was driving, got out of the car. Police asked to see his driver’s license, Briem pulled it out, officers “grabbed” it and Briem “intuitively reached to get the license back,” according to the suit. After that, the two officers each “grabbed” one of Briem’s hands, marking the start of the physical interaction, when, according to the lawsuit, he sustained the cuts and bruising.

“The two Officers forcefully threw Mr. Briem against the wall of his house,” the lawsuit reads. “After one to two seconds, the Officers forcefully took Mr. Briem to the ground of his driveway for no apparent reason. Mrs. Briem witnessed her husband being thrown to the ground and kept stating to the Officers that he was ill. Mrs. Briem cried out in terror out of concern for her husband.”

Briem was cuffed and kept on his porch for about 30 minutes in 32-degree weather before police cited him for interfering with an officer.

The suit charges that the force police used violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which governs police searches and seizures, as well as the Utah Constitution.

Sykes filed a separate federal suit against Ogden police earlier this year on behalf of Shawn Sims after Sims’ involvement in an April 22 confrontation with Ogden police on Washington Boulevard. Sims received $15,000 from the city to resolve the case, though the city and police department admitted to no liability or wrongdoing.

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