Park City resident and former City Council candidate Michael Franchek has filed a federal lawsuit against Park City and four officers.
Franchek charges that during a confrontation with police two years ago, he and his teenage son were threatened, assaulted and deprived of their constitutional rights, and Franchek was unlawfully arrested.
The suit names the city and the four officers.
The Park City Attorney’s Office said in a statement that the city has not been served, which is the next step in the litigation, and the city has no comment.
The suit was filed September 27th—nearly two years ago to the day after the altercation with the police.
Franchek told KPCW that he filed within the statute of limitations applying to the case. But he added that he had the right to file litigation at a time of his choosing.
“I’ve made numerous attempts over the years to resolve this amicably with Park City. But they’re completely uninterested. As a matter of fact, they’ve been just downright very, very, very difficult throughout this process.”
The federal court filing said that on September 29th of 2019, two officers came to Franchek’s home in Park Meadows, reportedly responding to a call about a verbal dispute between neighbors.
Franchek said he greeted them amicably at his door. But when he asked the officers to identify themselves, in accordance with city policy, one officer allegedly became angry and screamed at Franchek to exit his home.
Franchek said he became fearful for his safety and shut the door. The officers, he said, then broke into his home and assaulted him. After willingly walking out the door, Francheck said he was tased by the officer, and was placed in a hot police car with no air conditioning.
He also alleges that his son was calmly recording the altercation on video, but another officer, arriving on the scene, struck out at the teenager and tried to stop the recording.
Franchek said that he and his son sustained minor bruising, but both of them suffer from Post Traumatic Stresss Syndrome as a result of the incident. He said that his son is now terrified at the sight of policemen.
Franchek is asking for a written and verbal apology from the city, and wants over $900,000 in compensatory, punitive and medical damages.
He filed the lawsuit as his own attorney. But he said he is well-prepared and experienced in that role.
“I’m extremely well-versed in the law. If you look at my record over the years, you only have to Google me to see the cases that I’ve been involved in, and that I’ve been successful in on the federal level, with the Department of Defense, with the state of California that I’ve won. I recently won roughly a million and a half dollars in a federal lawsuit.”
He said he has some surprises for the city ahead in the litigation.
Francheck said the basic reason for his conflict with Park City is optics.
“We have a reputation of being this wonderful, beautiful city that hosted the Olympics. We’re the host of Sundance Film Festival, we’re the playground of some of the rich and famous, arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the state of Utah or in the Mountain West. And the city will stop at no means to protect its reputation. And what happened in my case is—it’s in my filing. There’s some good cops. I don’t have a beef with Wade Carpenter. We have this kinda on-again-off-again relationship. But I think he’s probably a decent guy.”
Franchek said the altercation opened his eyes, and he became a candidate this year for Park City Council. Although he lost in the primary, Franchek said he thinks his campaign themes of accountability and transparency caught the attention of the public.
