Trolley Square hero begins serving jail sentence

The ex-Ogden cop credited with stopping the killing spree at the Trolley Square mall has begun serving his jail sentence.

Weber County Jail booking records show Ken Hammond, 35, surrendered to authorities Wednesday and began serving his 90-day sentence for a misdemeanor sexual battery charge. He is being allowed out each day to go to work but must serve nights in custody.

Sheriff's deputies confirmed to the Deseret News that Hammond is not being housed in the Weber County Jail.

"He's being housed at another facility, but I can't say where," Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Lowther said Thursday, citing security concerns around Hammond.

Hammond pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge last month, stemming from a 2005 encounter with a 17-year-old girl. The allegations did not come to light until after he had become a decorated police officer for his role in stopping the bloodshed in the 2007 Trolley Square massacre. Five people were killed and four were wounded before Hammond, who was off duty and on an early Valentine's Day dinner with his wife, heard the gunshots and got into a shootout with gunman Sulejman Talovic.

Authorities said Hammond kept Talovic occupied and prevented him from killing more people before Salt Lake police arrived and killed him. One of the survivors of the shooting wrote a letter of support for Hammond at sentencing.

Hammond resigned from the Ogden Police Department shortly after the criminal charges were filed against him.

Hammond is also facing a civil lawsuit accusing him of misconduct during an arrest. Natasha Child claims she was roughed up by Hammond in May 2008 as he assisted Utah Highway Patrol troopers in the arrest of her husband, who had escaped from custody after being pulled over in a DUI stop.

A pretrial conference is scheduled May 1, but in a filing attorneys for all sides indicated the case would likely go to trial for four days in April 2010.

"The potential for resolution before trial is poor," attorneys for Child wrote in the filing.

E-MAIL: bwinslow@desnews.com