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Family of Utah man killed by officer sues police department May 6, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The family of a Utah man who was killed by an officer last March is suing the police department for civil rights violations, claiming that the officer had no reason to chase after and shoot the man that night. Salt Lake County prosecutors recently determined that Omar Flores, a police officer with the Unified Police Department in the Salt Lake City area, was not justified in the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Bryan Peña-Valencia. The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Utah’s U.S. District Court, claims there was no basis for the police pursuit or the use of deadly force, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
The Colorado Department of Transportation, Grand Junction and Mesa County are looking into developing conceptual plans for a possible mobility hub in the Grand Valley. Such a hub would serve as a focal point for residents and visitors to access multimodal transportation options in a central location. Options for such a hub could include services such as Greyhound, Bustang, Grand Valley Transit, passenger rail, rideshare connections and a slew of nonmotorized transportation, such as biking, bike parking, scooters, e-bikes and access for walkers. According to CDOT, all of those things are available in the valley, but they are not all tied together. The study could consider a single hub or a system of them.
Deseret News Share this story Anna Herrera, left, and Brittny Herrera, cousins of Bryan Peña Valencia, hold a press conference underneath Peña Valencia’s portrait on a building at 900 South and 300 West in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. Peña Valencia was shot by a Unified police officer on March 21, 2020, after police responded to a 911 call about gunshots in the area of 6200 S. Bangerter Highway. Laura Seitz, Deseret News A $2.5 million civil lawsuit has been filed by the estate of a man shot and killed by a Unified police officer — a shooting that prosecutors determined was not legally justified.
KSL TV SALT LAKE CITY — A $2.5 million civil lawsuit has been filed by the estate of a man shot and killed by a Unified police officer — a shooting that prosecutors determined was not legally justified. On Wednesday, a brother and cousin of Bryan Peña-Valencia, who represent his estate, along with their attorney Robert Sykes announced the lawsuit against the officers involved in the shooting death as well as the Unified Police Department, claiming the officers — due to a lack of training — escalated the situation by unnecessarily chasing after him and then used excessive force by shooting him five times after he was already on the ground.
| Updated: 10:40 p.m. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill took the rare step Friday of declaring that a police officer was not justified in shooting a suspect. And he said this could happen more often going forward if officers shoot someone and don’t give a reason why they felt threatened. The lack of evidence is a key issue in Bryan Pena-Valencia’s death last March. All prosecutors had to go on to make their determination was statements from the involved officers and a couple of people who heard (but didn’t see) the shooting, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill wrote in a finding letter.