UHP trooper on paid leave after punching woman 5 times

OGDEN -- A Utah Highway Patrol trooper is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation of an August traffic stop in which he punched a woman several times.

A spokesman for the Department of Public Safety declined to comment on details of the incident involving Sgt. Andrew Davenport, a cousin of UHP Commissioner Lance Davenport. But the department released three videos Friday that show the aftermath of a pursuit that led troopers winding through Ogden just before midnight on Aug. 28.

Officers first spotted the 53-year-old woman speeding and weaving southbound on Washington Boulevard, according to incident reports. Andrew Davenport and other troopers repeatedly tried tactical maneuvers to make the car spin out before finally cornering it in a business parking lot off Harrison Boulevard, a few blocks south of McKay-Dee Hospital Center.

In a report Sgt. Davenport wrote, he said the driver, Darla Wright, "had the accelerator floored and engine revving in an attempt to push our vehicles out of the way." The sound of the engine cannot be heard over blaring sirens on the videos.

The sergeant wrote that Wright would not roll down her windows or exit the vehicle despite numerous commands from him and two other troopers.

Sgt. Davenport can be seen in the videos breaking the front driver's-side window, reaching into the car, and punching Wright five times to the head while another trooper deploys a Taser through a rear passenger window. He was taken to the hospital to get stitches in his arm.

"I delivered three close-hand strikes to her head in an attempt to gain compliance with our commands. I did this to distract and stun her and to stop her from trying to drive off and strike our vehicles or possibly run us over," Sgt. Davenport wrote in his report. "The strikes worked and we were able to grab her hands."

After she was placed in a patrol car, Wright can be heard in the videos yelling and swearing at troopers.

Troopers found prescription drugs in Wright's car, according to the reports. She was booked into the Weber County Jail for investigation of driving under the influence, eluding police, reckless driving, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

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However, Wright was only charged with failure to stop or respond at the command of police, a third-degree felony. Court records show that the case was dismissed Jan. 13, but do not indicate why.

Wright doesn't remember much about that night, except the pain of being hit.

"What did they do?" she asked in an interview Friday. "(Did they) knock me out to put me to sleep? What did they do?"

Wright wants people to see the video of the incident and decide for themselves if the trooper's account is true.

"Yeah, and how many other people has it happened to?" she said. "It should not happen to anybody else ever again."

Almost five months after the incident, the internal investigation of Sgt. Davenport is still pending. But that is not unusual, said DPS spokesman Brian Hyer.

"The review process does take time because several pairs of eyes look at it," Hyer said Friday. "That time allows for a very critical review to be done."

As for Sgt. Davenport's relation to the commissioner, Hyer said, "That has no bearing on this case or any other case whatsoever," adding that Lance Davenport has "a proven track record" of integrity.

Hyer said he could not say when Andrew Davenport was placed on leave because the investigation is an ongoing personnel matter. He added that troopers are trained in the proper use of force.

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Story compiled with contributions from Paul Koepp and Alex Cabrero.

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