SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a woman who was killed after being run over by a Unified Police patrol car, is suing the department, the officer and several others involved in the incident.
On March 5, officers were called to a welfare check in a Millcreek strip mall after a person was seen sleeping in the parking lot.
The person was 23-year-old Cindreia Europe.
One of the responding officers didn’t see Cindreia and ran over the young woman.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney declined to file charges against the officer.
Over the course of the investigation, the officer delivered a recorded statement.
“I felt something under my car,” she told investigators. “I thought to myself, this feels like, I wonder if I hit a trash bag or a pile of snow.”
The officer claimed she didn’t realize she hit a person until the car ran over the woman a second time.
“I was going so slow that I pushed on my gas just a tiny bit to get over what I thought was snow,” the officer told investigators.
FOX13 learned the officer, who had at least seven at-fault auto accidents in her previous job with West Valley City Police, is currently employed by the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The family of the victim filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday, claiming the officer, Unified Police, West Valley City Police, and the Valley Emergency Communications Center acted with negligence.
“It’s scary to me that an officer could not notice running over an individual,” said Eric Hinckley, the lawyer representing Cindreia’s family. “She wasn’t watching where she was going and this resulted in her running over Cindreia.”
Hinckley believes West Valley City Police had a duty to inform UPD about the officer’s driving record.
“We believe Unified Police Department either didn’t ask or weren’t told about that terrible driving history,” Hinckley said.
The lawsuit does not specify the number of damages the family is seeking.
Because the officer was never charged with a crime, FOX13 is choosing to not identify her.
Unified Police and Valley Emergency Communications Center declined to comment on the lawsuit because of the pending litigation. West Valley City Police did not immediately return a request for comment.
An unedited version of the surveillance video can be found at this link. Warning: Graphic Content.