Woods Cross hires outside attorney in wake of an officer drawing a gun on a child
Jun 12, 2019, 5:36 PM | Updated: 6:39 pm

(Photo: Paul Nelson)
(Photo: Paul Nelson)
DAVIS COUNTY – The city of Woods Cross is lawyering up. They’ve hired an outside attorney to represent their police department and the officer accused of pointing a gun at a child. However, other witnesses are still coming forward, questioning what the police have claimed.
If there isn’t going to be a formal investigation into what happened between Officer Mike Daughtery and ten-year-old DJ Hrubes, why is the city hiring a lawyer?
Attorney Heather White explains, “Well, there is, potentially, a lawsuit that could happen.”
However, White says the main reason why she was retained is to explain why the city believes Daughtery was not motivated by Hrubes’ skin color to draw his weapon. She says Daughtery was involved in a highly dynamic pursuit and that he didn’t know who Hrubes was when he approached the boy.
Plus, she’s refuting claims that the Woods Cross Police Department has been changing their story. She says additional information came out after police made their initial statements, which she says is normal.
“You’ve got multiple jurisdictions that are involved in this pursuit. Information is being shared among them. Not one agency is doing everything,” White says.
White released this press release, today.
However, some people who witnessed what happened say they still have doubts about the claims Woods Cross PD is making. Jaxon Wood watched the scene from the back of a nearby car. He questions the department’s statements that Hrubes may have been moving when he was approached by Daughtery.
“That was one of the stories… that he ran or he was running along the side of the house, or something. No, he stood still,” Wood says.
Wood is African-American, also, and he says he’s never had any bad interaction with local police. Still, he says it’s hard not to believe there was some sort of racial bias.
“I love Bountiful. I’ve lived here my whole life. I just love it but I’ve never seen anything like that, here. So, it was just crazy that it happened,” he adds.