"I will show you my driver's license, I will not give it to you," an agitated Rand Briem tells an Ogden police officer.
But as Briem presents his license to the officer, the officer grabs it out of his hand, prompting Briem to try and get it back, according body camera video of the incident.
"I told you I wasn't giving it to you," Briem exclaims to the officer.
What happens next is a struggle between two Ogden police officers and the elderly Briem. Briem ends up face-first on the ground as officers put handcuffs on him. During the chaotic moments, both Briem and his wife, Vera Briem, can be heard continuously screaming.
"Stop. This is ridiculous," an officer is heard telling Rand Briem.
When Briem is helped to his feet, his face is covered in blood. Briem's rotator cuff was torn during the incident, in addition to suffering cuts, bruises and emotional distress, according to the lawsuit, which also says Briem's wife suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident.
On Wednesday, the Briems filed a lawsuit in federal court against the two officers and the Ogden Police Department alleging excessive force. During a press conference, attorney Robert Sykes admitted that his client was not being courteous to the officer but said it did not warrant that type of reaction from police.
"The law is universally clear on this," he said. "Rudeness does not justify excessive force."
"The Ogden Police Department is confident that the court will find our officers' use of force justified as our internal review did," Ogden police said in a statement Wednesday.
The incident occurred on Nov. 29, 2022. Ogden police officers were called to the Briems' residence in the 600 block of 21st Street on a report of possible squatters at the property that allegedly had been foreclosed on.
"There was a health department placard regarding nonoccupancy of the 'basement' apartment on the front door of the main residence" but the Briems "had been in the detached garage living area just prior to the incident," the lawsuit says.
As the two officers arrived at the residence, Briem, who was 78 at the time, and his 74-year-old wife, were in their car in the driveway about to run an errand.
"What can I do for you sir?" Briem asks the officers through a partially rolled down window, in body camera video released Wednesday by Sykes.
"You guys supposed to be here?" an officer asks.
"Be where?" Briem replies.
"This house."
As the conversation continues, the officers attempt to explain they received a report the house was foreclosed on and they were trying to confirm the Briems' identities and why they were there. But Rand Briem quickly becomes agitated and confrontational with the officers.
"Yeah, that's my house, that's my garage. What are you doing?" he asks sternly, followed by, "My house isn't foreclosed on" and argues that only the basement was deemed "closed to occupancy" by the Weber-Morgan Health Department and not the entire property.
Briem then attempts to drive away from the officers. When the officers ask Briem to shut his car off, he yells "No. You're trespassing."
At that point, an officer tells Briem to get out of his car.
"Now what's with you? Briem says, "What is this?" before yelling, "What investigation, for hell's sake!"
The officer tells Briem he is not under arrest but is being detained until his identity can be verified. Vera Briem then gets out of the car but is told by the officers to stay back. After Rand Briem attempts to grab his license back, he is taken to the ground by the officers.
"After one to two seconds, the officers forcefully took Mr. Briem to the ground of his driveway for no apparent reason," the lawsuit alleges.
In body camera video, Vera Briem is heard yelling several times at the officers, "He is ill," referring to her husband's medical issues. Officers are heard telling Rand Briem several times, "Don't grab me." The lawsuit contends Briem was not grabbing the officers and Sykes believes the officers were just saying that so it could be recorded on their body cameras.
"I never had a bit of control. I was at his mercy completely. It was quite a blur. It happened, and all of a sudden I was down on the ground tasting my blood," Rand Briem said Wednesday.
Later, while Briem is still handcuffed and sitting on his porch, an officer tells him paramedics are on their way to check him out.
"We need to make sure you're all right. That was a pretty hard fall that you took," the officer says.
"I would be all right if you hadn't thrown me down on the ground," Briem replied.
"All you had to do was comply with what we were asking," the officer tells him.
"I'm a 78-year-old man and you guys had to throw me down on my eyes on the pavement and bust my head open."
"Well, that's what happens when you try to grab me."
"I didn't try to grab you," Briem yelled at the officer. "I wasn't trying to grab you."
Briem continued to be confrontational with officers, which now included two backup officers called to the scene. As officers prepare to leave the residence, they issue a citation for interfering with an arrest.
On Wednesday, Briem said he didn't have a good answer as to why he was rude to the officers, only to say that he was frustrated from prior interactions with the city.
"I don't know. I don't generally speak like that to everybody around me. But I was very angry without a doubt," he said. "I guess I was carrying a grudge at the time. I won't do that again."
On Dec. 2, 2022, Briem was charged in Ogden Justice Court with interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor. A one-day trial is scheduled for March 1.
Briem was also convicted of interfering with an arresting officer eight months prior to the confrontation with Ogden police, for interfering with Ogden code enforcement officers, according to court records. In October, an eviction notice was filed against the Briems for the same residence, court records state.