A former Vernal resident has filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that local police officers invaded his home during an intimate time of mourning.

Ben D. Mahaffey filed the complaint saying officers made a warrantless drug search of his home moments after his wife's death.

Represented by attorney Andrew Fackrell, Mahaffey filed a federal suit in the U.S. District Court of Utah last week.

Barbara Alice Proud Mahaffey died of colon cancer on May 21, 2012, with her husband by her side in their Vernal home.

While waiting for the coroner, Mahaffey's grief was interrupted by two Vernal police officers, who "insisted that (Mahaffey) abandon his attendance to his wife's body and aid them in their search for prescription drugs," cites the complaint.

Once secured, the officers proceeded to inventory the drugs in the same room as the woman's body, further intruding upon Mahaffey's seclusion, says the suit.

The complaint does not identify who contacted the officers or how they came to know of the medication at the home.

"At this point, we just don't know how the police became involved," said Fackrell.

After the incident, Mahaffey met with the city manager Ken Bassett and the assistant police chief Keith Campbell to obtain answers.

Asked how the police came to conduct a warrantless search, Campbell allegedly told him the Utah Controlled Substances Act provides the underlying authority.

In a subsequent meeting, the complaint says that Mahaffey was told by the city attorney that he had waived his rights under his contract with the Good Shepard Hospice -- but no such waiver was found in the agreement by Mahaffey's attorney.

Fackrell said his client reached out several times to get a better understanding of the policy that led to the intrusion.

"All the individuals he spoke were very dismissive, they tried to talk him out of the fact that anything wrong happened," Fackrell said.

He added that Chief of Police Dylan Rooks allegedly told "Mr. Mahaffey that this is a great program and we're going to continue it," meaning the active pursuit of drugs in the community.

Fackrell says his client's concern is that "the police, with all good intentions seeking to implement an objective or a policy, although well meaning, is a violation of people's privacy."

The complaint identifies Vernal's city manager, the chief of police, the assistant chief of police, and both officers as having violated Mahaffey's civil rights.

Mahaffey is seeking damages to remedy violation of his constitutional rights under the 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendments.

Mahaffey, now living in St. George, is asking for a jury trial in seeking damages.

Neither the city nor the police department were available for comment on the lawsuit as they have yet to be served.

"It typically takes one to two weeks for us to receive service," Bassett said, adding they will evaluate the document for comment at that time.