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OGDEN — A man seen being punched numerous times by Ogden police during a weekend arrest in a now-viral video was refusing to remove his hands from his waistband, and at one point put his hand under his shirt and pointed it like a gun, police said.
Ogden Police Chief Eric Young responded Tuesday to the arrest video taken by a bystander, saying an internal investigation had now been completed and all four officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Young says he believes his officers were "in fear for their lives."
"The officer (first on scene) feared that Sims had a gun and intended to harm him, and Sims was not following the officer's commands. The officer decided to take Sims to the ground and commanded him to release his hand from his waistband. Sims responded by rolling onto his stomach, reaching both his hands into his waistband," the chief said.
Young released body camera videos from two of the officers involved as well as information about what happened after Shawn D Lane Sims, 30, was arrested.
Over the weekend, four officers — two in one patrol car and two in another — spotted Sims in the 1700 block of Washington Boulevard walking in traffic. A bystander started recording the incident after Sims was on the ground and officers are seen punching him multiple times.
Young says what the cellphone video doesn't show is that when the first officer approached Sims, he "immediately reached into his waistband," leading the first officer to believe Sims was "accessing a gun."
At one point, the chief said Sims took his hand out of his waistband and put it inside his shirt to make it look like he was pointing a gun at the officer from under his shirt. As Sims ran away from officers, he continued "to push his hand into his waistband," and officers believed Sims was "about to draw a weapon and fire on them."
Once Sims was tackled by police and on the ground, Young said he rolled onto his stomach and kept his hands underneath him, prompting officers to strike Sims "with fists in the head, shoulder and back area numerous times trying to gain compliance" in addition to deploying a Taser on him twice. The chief said the punches lasted about 10 seconds.
"Those are called 'distraction strikes' and (the officers are trying to do) anything they can do to make that suspect give up on what they're trying to access in their waistband," Young said.
In body camera video, an officer is heard yelling at Sims, "Get on the ground!" Once Sims is tackled to the pavement, officers can be heard yelling, "Keep your hands out of there," "Give me your hands" and "Stop reaching in your waistband." Sims cries out in pain as he is punched and the Taser is deployed.
According to Young, Sims never complied with the officers' commands and was handcuffed only after force was used. After he was handcuffed, police learned that Sims did not have a gun.
In the video, an officer appears to hold the back of Sims' neck and head down into the road as they try to handcuff him. According to Young, Sims showed "active resistance" by running from officers and "active aggression" by keeping his hands in his waistband.
Once Sims is in handcuffs, a fair amount of blood can be seen on the road and the right side of his face is covered in blood. Police move him out of the road and have him sit on the curb of the sidewalk.
"Why were you reaching like you got a gun, dude?" an officer asks Sims
"My problems aren't your problems," he replied.
"You trying to make me do something stupid to you?" the officer asks.
Sims' mother, Marsha Quintana, stated online that her son suffered a broken nose, fractured jaw, broken orbital sockets and complete loss of vision in one of his eyes.
"The possibility of him getting his vision back is very very slim," she said.
Arrest video
Mother of man in Ogden police arrest video says son lost vision due to beating
An Ogden woman says her son may not get his vision back in one of his eyes after he was punched by officers arresting him.Young said Sims was taken to a local hospital before being booked into jail. He said he was told Sims suffered "facial fractures and bleeding in one eye."
Once he was booked into jail, Sims talked to his mother on the phone — a call that was recorded by the Weber County Jail.
"I did the stupid … finger gun thing, again, honestly," Sims tells his mother while admitting he was "messed up" on drugs.
According to Young, Sims told an officer at the jail that he pretended to have a gun in hopes of being shot by police because he had fallen on hard times again and didn't want to go back to jail.
Young on Tuesday also defended his officers from criticism they have received from some who saw the bystander video.
"Some experts have rushed to judgment publicly without taking the time or exercising the patience to gather all the facts and information. I would describe that behavior in general as dangerous and disingenuous," the chief said.
Young also pointed out that with growing mental health and drug addiction issues in society today, these are the types of encounters his officers are frequently faced with.
The officers were never placed on administrative leave, the chief said. But he has requested that the Weber County Attorney's Office review the use-of-force incident to insure no laws were broken.
