This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man who was shot and wounded by an Ogden police officer in 2012 is now suing the officer and his supervisors at the police department.
Clifford Dean Owens was shot in the arm and hand Dec. 18, 2012, by Officer Justin Kaufman. Several months later, then-Weber County Attorney Dee Smith ruled that the officer was not justified in firing his weapon that day.
On Tuesday, Owens filed a lawsuit in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court, alleging that Kaufman used excessive force and deprived him of his constitutional rights. The lawsuit also alleges that Kaufman's superiors — including police chief Mike Ashment and several others involved in the "chain of command" — knew that the officer had a history of excessive force and did nothing about it.
"Ogden city [police] ... deliberately and willfully ignored the prior evidence of dangerous and improper conduct of Kaufman," attorney Michael Studebaker wrote in the complaint. "And thereby endangered [Owens], all in violation of [his] 4th Amendment rights."
Studebaker did not elaborate in the complaint about Kaufman's alleged prior history with excessive force.
The lawsuit alleges that Kaufman was fired from the department after the shooting. An Ogden police spokesman confirmed that Kaufman is no longer with the department, but said Tuesday that he could not comment on the pending litigation.
According to the complaint, Owens was sitting in his parked car in the parking lot of the Gate at Canyon Ridge Apartments complex (1455 Valley Drive) waiting for a friend who lived there.
"[Owens] had never been to this apartment complex before, but had hear that this was a drug/crime-prone apartment complex," the complaint reads. "[He] was a little apprehensive about the location, but continued to wait there for his friend."
At some point, a man approached Owens' car and asked him if he was there to pick up something, according to the complaint. He said he wasn't, and the man left.
As more time passed, Owens began to fall asleep in his car, still waiting for his friend.
"Suddenly, he was startled by a pounding and yelling outside his passenger side door," Studebaker wrote. "No announcement of any person being law enforcement was made."
Owens immediately turned on his vehicle and "rapidly drove off," according to the complaint, but Kaufman attempted to block any escape with his police car.
As Owens continued to try to leave the parking lot by going around Kaufman's vehicle, he heard and saw his windshield break and realized he was being shot at, according to the complaint.
"He understandably panicked even more," Studebaker wrote, "and continued pushing [Kaufman's] car out of [the] way to escape the gunfire."
Owens was struck by gunfire in the left hand and arm, according to the lawsuit.
Ogden police officials told news reporters shortly after the incident that Owens rammed Kaufman's cruiser repeatedly and the officer opened fire as the vehicle sped away.
Owens then led police on a chase from the apartment complex to the freeway. He reached speeds up to 110 mph as he drove through Weber County and Box Elder County before he was finally stopped and arrested in Cache County.
Smith said in a 2013 press release that the police officer was at the apartment complex investigating a report that the driver of a white Honda bumped into a truck and refused to talk with the truck owner. Kaufman found Owens in a white Honda, and when he tried to speak to Owens, he drove away, according to Smith.
Criminal charges were filed against Owens after the shooting, and he pleaded guilty in 2013 to third-degree felony failure to stop at the command of police and class A misdemeanor assault against a police officer. He was sentenced to spend 120 days in jail and 36 months of probation. An Ogden judge also ordered him to either pay a $600 fine and complete 60 hours of community service, or pay over $7,000 in restitution to the Ogden Police Department.
No charges were ever filed against Kaufman, according to a search of Utah court records.
Owens is seeking an unspecified amount of damages in his lawsuit.
Twitter: @jm_miller