3 cops injured, 4 arrested in Ogden family fight

Three Ogden police officers were injured and four people were arrested after a domestic-violence dispute became a family brawl.

Police said it started about 10 p.m. Saturday at a home on the 3500 block of Ogden Avenue. An officer was called by a woman who said her husband had beat her up.

"(The officer) made contact with (the woman), she was bleeding from the nose and mouth and looked like she'd had swelling below the eye," Ogden Police Lt. Scott Sangberg said Monday. "(The husband) had left in a car. There were two small children there."

As the officer was calling for medical attention, the victim's brother and two friends showed up. Soon after, the husband returned to the home.

"They all started arguing, and the officer tried to get control of the situation," Sangberg said. "(The husband) swung at (the victim's brother), missed and hit the friend. The officer deployed a Taser but missed. (The husband) ran up the sidewalk with the officer chasing him, he turned on the officer and hit him in the face and head with a beer bottle, breaking it on his head. It was quite bloody."

The officer shouted over his radio for help, prompting officers nearby to swarm the house. Meanwhile, the wife's brother and friend jumped into the fight and were quickly arrested for allegedly kicking at responding officers, police said. As her husband was being hauled off to a police car, Sangberg said the victim started fighting one of the officers — and found herself in handcuffs.

"They were told to stop, and they wouldn't stop," he said.

The 36-year-old husband was booked into the Weber County Jail for investigation of assault, domestic violence in the presence of a child, assault on a police officer, aggravated assault on a police officer, avoiding apprehension and interfering with arrest. His 30-year-old wife was booked for investigation of interfering with arrest, as were her brother and friend.

The officer with a cut head was taken to a local hospital. The other two officers were not seriously injured, Sangberg said.

Both the husband and wife posted bail, only to have officers called back to their home 12 hours later — when the husband threatened to kill himself.

"He came back to the residence after being released and began packing his belongings," Sangberg said. "He wanted to take the ashes of their deceased son with him. She took it into a room, he kicked the door in."

Officers caught up with the man a short time later, finding self-inflicted lacerations on his forearms. He was booked into jail again, this time for investigation of domestic violence, protective order violations and driving on a denied license.

Responding to family-fight calls is "dangerous," Sangberg said. "This is one where the officer not only had to fight with the suspect, but he also had to fight with the victim."

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