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Three former FLDS Church members have filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court in Arizona claiming discrimination on the part of the Colorado City Town Marshal's Office during a dispute over access to property once home to a town zoo.
Attorneys for Andrew Chatwin, Patrick Pipkin and Claude Seth Cooke, owner of Prairie Farms, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Phoenix.
It stems from the October 2015 arrests of Chatwin and Pipkin on the zoo grounds in Colorado City, Ariz., property held in a land trust once run by the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, whose members have long controlled the city and its sister community of Hildale, Utah, just across the state line.
Utah seized control of the trust in 2005, but church loyalists have mostly refused to comply with court orders concerning land-use issues.
According to the lawsuit, Pipkin and Cooke secured a lease from the court-appointed trust managers for commercial development on the zoo property and had legal rights to access the grounds.
But in October 2015, Pipkin and Chatwin found the zoo had been vandalized and a squatter — an FLDS member — was living on the grounds.
Court papers say the pair called the local marshals, but were told that the Colorado City attorney believed the land was zoned only for residential and that the FLDS man could stay.
Chatwin and Pipkin were arrested after insisting otherwise and were later charged with trespassing, court papers say.
A similar dispute arose again, four days later, resulting in the second arrests of Chatwin and Pipkin by the Colorado City marshals.
"The arrests of Chatwin and Pipkin and the charges made against them were illegal, in clear violation of Arizona law and were clearly discriminatory," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also claims efforts by the plaintiffs to secure water and garbage services to the zoo property from Colorado City were blocked.
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the marshal's office, Colorado City and its sister community of Hildale, Utah, the police chief and other city leaders, along with Colorado City's attorney and the FLDS Church.
Blake Hamilton, an attorney who represents the cities and the marshal's office, said Thursday he had not seen the lawsuit and was not prepared to comment.
The lawsuit seeks a judgment against the defendants for punitive and compensatory damages, along with attorney fees and costs.
The court action is the latest in a string of court actions alleging discrimination that were brought by former FLDS members against the church, Hildale and Colorado City governments and the police, who are deputized to work on both sides of the Utah and Arizona state lines.
In March, an Arizona jury in a federal trial found the marshals had discriminated against former church members who continue to live in the community and had failed to investigate FLDS members for a range of alleged crimes.
That lawsuit claimed the marshal's office was directed by FLDS Church leaders and serves as an extension of the church security force.
The U.S. Department of Justice sought to have the marshal's office disbanded, but a judge refused to do so. Another hearing in that case is set for later this month.
The marshals also are under investigation by the Arizona agency that certifies and regulates police officers.