This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Salt Lake County prosecutors on Monday filed charges in juvenile court in connection to the Nov. 6 death of West Valley City Police Officer Cody Brotherson, who was struck by a vehicle and killed while laying down a set of spike strips.

The prosecuting office did not say what allegations were filed against the three boys who were in the vehicle that struck Brotherson, saying they could not comment on juvenile matters.

State court officials said they could not provide more information about the case because the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office had filed a motion with 3rd District Judge Kimberly Hornak asking that the charging documents be sealed. Normally, if a juvenile defendant is 14 or older and accused of a felony, the news media has access to both court documents and hearings.

Two brothers, age 14 and 15, were in the car that struck Brotherson, along with another 15-year-old boy, according to court records. Police have remained tight-lipped about their investigation in the last several weeks, but a recently unsealed search warrant reveals that investigators have been trying to determine which one of the boys was behind the wheel when the car struck the 25-year-old officer.

After the crash, two of the boys initially told police that they had offered an unknown man $5 to give them a ride, a detective wrote in the affidavit, and that this unknown person was driving the vehicle during the police chase. They later admitted that the story was made up.

The youngest boy then told police that they had stolen the car, according to the affidavit, and that it was his 15-year-old friend who was driving, while he and his brother were passengers.

"[He] said he told [the 15-year-old driver] to stop but he would not," a detective wrote in the affidavit. "[He] said he thought they hit a wall, not the officer."

The older brother refused to talk to police. The other 15-year-old refused to tell police who was driving the car, according to the affidavit.

The search warrant sought photos of the boys taken over a 10-day period, to document bruising "to aid in determining the position (seating) of each individual," a Unified Police detective wrote.

A chase began just after 3 a.m. on Nov. 6 after police officers saw a silver BMW Coupe with Florida plates that had stopped in the middle of an intersection. They saw a group of people walk from the BMW to an apartment complex, and watched the trio get into a Honda Accord and drive away.

The officers tried to stop that vehicle, but the driver punched it on 4100 South, heading west. Officers threw spikes near Redwood Road, but that didn't stop the suspects.

Another police officer told investigators that he could see Brotherson out of his vehicle near 2200 West, trying to set down another set of tire spikes.

"[The officer] observed the Honda Accord swerve towards [Brotherson] and strike him with the vehicle," a detective wrote in the affidavit. "[The officer] stopped to check on the officer that had been struck. He found Officer Brotherson was down and appeared to be deceased from the impact."

Brotherson was the first West Valley City officer killed in the line of duty since the city was formed in 1980, and the second in Utah this year. He had been on the police force for three years and left behind a fiancee, two brothers and his parents.

jmiller@sltrib.com