Woman whose leg was amputated following drug arrest sues Salt Lake police

SALT LAKE CITY (KSL.com) — A West Valley woman is suing the Salt Lake City Police Department claiming that an injury she suffered a year ago during a misdemeanor drug arrest was so severe that doctors were forced to amputate her leg.

Agnes Jean Martinez, 58, filed her complaint in federal court on July 31. On Friday, Salt Lake City police released body camera video with graphic content and language from the incident and announced that it had invoked its officer-involved critical-incident protocol to have an outside agency review the actions of the officers.

On Sept. 1, 2023, just after 8:30 p.m., two officers — Lane Wolfenbarger and Paul Mullenax — pulled Martinez over at 425 W. 1700 South. In body camera video, the officers seem to indicate they have had contact with her before. During the stop, Wolfenbarger detected the odor of marijuana coming from Martinez’s car, prompting him to search it.

While searching the glove box, Wolfenbarger found a small amount of meth, according to the body camera video. He then walked back to where Martinez was standing and informed her that she was under arrest.

In the videos, Martinez, who had been cooperative with officers to that point, appears to be surprised that she is being arrested and tenses up as Wolfenbarger attempts to move her arms behind her back to place handcuffs on her.

Wolfenbarger tells her to stop resisting several times before saying he will “take you to the ground next … do you want to go to the ground? Relax your arms.”

As soon as Martinez is forcefully put on the ground, she begins to yell in extreme pain, according to the videos, and screams, “My leg!”

The officer is heard telling his partner, “Her leg just broke.”

According to Martinez’s lawsuit, “Because Agnes was ‘not relaxing,’ the officers used a takedown method so dangerous that it has been declared unlawful when used against a minimally resistant nonviolent misdemeanant. The officers injured Agnes so badly that she had to undergo multiple surgeries and an above-the-knee amputation of her left leg. The force was unnecessary, excessive, grossly disproportionate, and violated law that has been clearly established in the 10th Circuit since at least 2022.”

Wolfenbarger performed a “leg sweep” shortly after saying “ground,” the lawsuit states.

“Wolfenbarger placed his right leg next to Agnes’s left leg in order to trip her. Wolfenbarger then performed a leg sweep maneuver. Agnes was slammed to the ground, landing on her left leg. Wolfenbarger dropped his weight onto Agnes’s left leg above the knee. Mullenax dropped his weight onto the lower part of Agnes’s leg,” according to the lawsuit.

Both officers were immediately aware that her leg was broken, the lawsuit states, and called for medical personnel to respond to the scene.

Martinez’s leg was amputated on Sept. 27, 2023, and another portion of her leg amputated above the knee two days later.

The lawsuit states that the takedown method used on Martinez was determined to be illegal in 2022 by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, but Salt Lake City police had not revised its policies.

Martinez was charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of misdemeanor drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and interfering with an officer. Her next court date is scheduled for Friday.

“This is a unique situation,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said in a prepared statement. “Upon reviewing the facts and allegations, we elected to invoke the officer-involved critical incident protocol in the interest of transparency, accountability and to ensure compliance with state law.”

The department also noted that it “does not currently have independently verified information regarding the medical causes or reasons behind Ms. Martinez’s leg amputation.”