Orem settles excessive-force lawsuit

OREM — A lawsuit against Orem police officers has been settled just months after the woman who filed it died in a car accident.

Rebecca Ann Davis, 26, of Florida, filed a federal lawsuit in 2005 alleging that on July 24, 2004, three Orem officers used excessive force on her during a DUI arrest.

In the suit, Davis alleged she had pulled into the parking lot of a gym at 340 E. 800 South when three officers approached her and asked her to get out of the car.

They did several field sobriety tests and then told Davis they believed she had been driving the car while "under the influence of intoxicating liquor," according to the suit.

When the officers tried to handcuff her, she began kicking and screaming, said Orem City Attorney Paul Johnson.

"We didn't throw her to the ground, as she claims" Johnson said. "She was handcuffed and everything, but she was fighting, trying to kick the officer. She flopped over and hit her head."

Davis, however, alleged that the officer threw her down and caused an injury to her neck.

While Johnson said the city doesn't dispute that Davis' neck had a hairline fracture, they're not sure if it came from the scuffle with officers or from the two accidents that happened minutes before she pulled into the parking lot because her car had stopped working, Johnson said.

Davis first crashed into a mailbox and a tree and then into a brick wall with a wrought-iron fence. She even had a brick embedded in her radiator, Johnson said.

Soon after filing a lawsuit against Orem asking for millions of dollars in damages, Davis filed bankruptcy, Johnson said.

At that point, a bankruptcy trustee took over Davis' claim, to recoup for creditors any money she might get from a settlement.

Orem city officials approached the bankruptcy creditors months before Davis died and asked about settling the case, which would be cheaper than taking the case to trial.

They were working on a settlement of $50,000 when Davis was killed in the traffic accident.

"What a tragic death," Johnson said. "She was a very bright, beautiful young lady. Very talented, athletic. She studied martial arts. But as her obituary said, she lived a fast life, and it caught up with her."

On Memorial Day, traffic was shut down for nearly two hours on southbound I-15 when Davis' white truck crashed through the median and rolled several times.

Davis was not wearing her seat belt and was ejected from the car near milepost 267. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police found several bottles of alcohol and pill bottles in the car and are still waiting for toxicology reports to be finished, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

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