Ogden wants Trolley-hero suit dropped

Lawyers for Ogden's police chief are denying misconduct allegations leveled against former officer Ken Hammond, once hailed as a hero for helping to stop a killing spree at the Trolley Square mall.

In a brief response to a lawsuit filed by Natasha Child, lawyers for Ogden Police Chief Jon Greiner said the woman's rights were not violated by Hammond as she and her husband were arrested in May 2008.

"Defendants acted without malice and their acts were justified and reasonable under the circumstances," attorney Allan Larson wrote in papers filed in federal court on Wednesday.

They ask for the lawsuit to be dismissed outright, arguing that Hammond, Greiner and Ogden city are also entitled to immunity designed to protect officers from lawsuits as a result of carrying out their duties.

"The officer is entitled to qualified immunity," Larson wrote.

Natasha Child claims Hammond was assisting the Utah Highway Patrol in arresting Corey Child, who had already escaped from custody after being pulled over in a DUI traffic stop. He called his wife, Natasha, and told her to meet him, her lawsuit said. She claims she arrived in time to see Hammond kick the legs out from underneath her handcuffed husband.

"Hammond then elbowed Corey in the head and kneed him in the back," Child's attorney, Robert Sykes, wrote in the lawsuit.

When Child cried out, Hammond arrested her, the lawsuit said. She admits to being combative and yelling.

"As the handcuffed Natasha struggled, her pants began to fall down. She pleaded for Hammond to let her pull them up, but he refused and raised her handcuffed hands nearly up to the back of her neck, preventing her from attending to her needs for modesty," Sykes wrote, accusing Hammond of throwing her to the ground and then pulling her pants down and telling her: "now you don't have to worry about them."

Hammond, 35, resigned from the police force earlier this month after Weber County prosecutors leveled a felony charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old against him. He is accused of engaging in a sex act with someone at least 10 years younger than he was back in 2005. Hammond is due in 2nd District Court on Tuesday. Hammond's attorney has told the Deseret News she is prepared to take that case to trial.

Hammond was decorated for his heroism in helping to stop the February 2007 shooting rampage at the Trolley Square mall. The officer was on a date with his wife when 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic opened fire. Five people were killed and four wounded before Hammond engaged Talovic in a shootout, keeping the gunman distracted until Salt Lake City police arrived and killed Talovic.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com