VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – A court date has been set in a lawsuit against the city of Valley City and two police officers stemming from the 2018 arrest of Warren Lindvold who passed away a few days after he was arrested for suspicion of a DUI.

Valley City Attorney Carl Martineck said an attorney representing the city and the police officers held a mediation session with the plaintiff that was not successful in December. So a trial date was set for June of 2021 in U.S. District Court in Fargo.

One of the officers, Christopher Olson accepted a position with the North Dakota Highway Patrol. His last day with the city is March 31st. Martineck said the fact that officer Olson passed the rigorous hiring process of the Highway Patrol speaks volumes about his professionalism as a law enforcement officer.

He added, we have a lot of good officers that have taken an oath to follow the law, and to support and defend their code of conduct and the trust of the public. He said they often do so in the face of public criticism.

He said right now, the city has three openings for police officers. He said the city will work to recruit quality candidates to fill these positions within the police department.

Valley City Police Officers Christopher Olson and Wade Hannig, along with the city of Valley City were served with a notice of lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by the Aaland Law Firm back in May of 2019 concerning the July 2018 arrest of Warren Lindvold.

Earlier this month, Barnes County was served a notice of a lawsuit on a death at the jail back in 2018. The federal suit filed accuses officials of deliberately ignoring the suicide risk of Lonny Bradley, who killed himself on October 5, of 2018. The complaint comes on the heels of another lawsuit filed in 2019 involving the July 21, 2018 death of Warren Lindvold who died of a broken neck a few days after he was in the Barnes County jail.