SALT LAKE CITY — A search warrant unsealed Monday provides new details about the investigation into the death of Cody Brotherson, a West Valley City Police Department officer who was killed in the line of duty earlier this month.
Brotherson died after he was struck by a vehicle while deploying tire spikes. Three teenagers were taken into custody shortly after the incident, in the early morning hours of November 6. FOX 13 is not identifying the suspects because they are juveniles.
The search warrant itself is a request by one of the detectives investigating the case to obtain photographs of the three juveniles over a 10-day period. The photographs would be examined for evidence of bruising “to aid in determining the position (seating) of each individual,” which would be used “in an effort to include or exclude these individuals as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the collision with officer Brotherson.”
According to the search warrant, a West Valley City officer witnessed Brotherson being struck by a Honda Accord as he was attempting to deploy tire spikes at 4100 S 2200 W. The officer who saw the incident got into his vehicle and found the Honda Accord, which had struck a fire hydrant and went down an embankment before coming to a stop, the search warrant said.
After setting up a perimeter around the area, police captured three juveniles and booked them into the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center.
According to the search warrant, one of them waived his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with investigators without an attorney present. The first juvenile initially told investigators that he and two other juveniles had paid an unknown person $5 to give them a ride home.
“[He] eventually changed his story, he indicated the three had gotten into the Honda Accord and used a spoon to start the car,” the search warrant said.
This first juvenile confirmed with investigators they had fled from police, saying he thought they had struck a wall, not an officer, the search warrant said.
The second juvenile invoked his Miranda rights and investigators terminated his interview.
The third juvenile, the search warrant states, also claimed he and the other two juveniles had been given a ride by an unknown driver, but eventually admitted the story was false. The third juvenile then refused to identify the driver and invoked his right to counsel, the search warrant states. The interview was then terminated.
