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Man wrongly accused of drugging officer gets $50,000
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah city has paid $50,000 to settle with a Subway worker who was wrongly accused of drugging a police officer’s drink in a case that made national headlines, its attorney said Thursday.The out-of-court settlement came after police in Layton, Utah, cleared the then 18-year-old worker who was arrested when a police officer reported feeling impaired shortly after taking a sip of the lemonade in August 2016.Layton City Attorney Gary Crane released the settlement amount in response to a public records request from The Associated Press and other media outlets. The response came a day after the owners of the Subway shop sued the city, saying they lost thousands of dollars in business.Worker Tanis Ukena had originally sought $250,000, according to an early settlement proposal saying police had “done lifelong damage” to the young Eagle Scout.Ukena agreed to the settlement so he could focus 100 percent on the Mormon mission he’s now serving, said his lawyer Randy Richards. Layton officials apologized to him for getting him wrapped up in the case and acknowledged he didn’t do anything wrong.Though initial tests indicated the possible presence of THC and methamphetamine in the lemonade, those results were never duplicated.