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9NEWS is not naming the witness because he is not being accused of a crime. Loveland City Manager Steve Adams said the city was also releasing its own video from the ordeal and that while the city initially reviewed and deemed appropriate at the time the actions of the officers, but was now taking a second outside look at the incident in our efforts to ensure we are policing in a respectful and proper manner., As we move forward on our accountability efforts launched in 2021, best practices in law enforcement will be maintained and we are committed to accountability if those standards are not upheld.. Ashe arrested Sowl for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, but the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office dismissed the charges, according to the lawsuit. The amended complaint, which Schielke filed to the United States District Court in Denver Thursday, has the same three claims but comes with several notable additions, including naming Sgt. Something like "Redefine the Police" might have been better. Subscribe to Colorado Politics today! Siers had his two dogs outside on leashes at the home, according to the suit. Excessive force lawsuit filed against Loveland police settled for $290K The lawsuit alleged officers violated Sowl's constitutional rights when they arrested him for refusing to answer questions as a witness about a motorcycle crash outside a Loveland bar Sept. 22, 2019. She was on her period that day and felt scared by the thought of bleeding all over a police car or jail cell, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit claims that a man and his 14-year-old daughter were arrested by officers who used excessive force during the encounter in 2020. The city said the findings of the latest review will be made public once it is complete. Its uncommon for the city to share information about internal investigations publicly, city manager Steve Adams said in the news release, but the city chose to in this instance to increase transparency. An officer can be seen placing Skippy inside the house; the lawsuit states that Officer Sychla kicked him in the face before closing the door. Ashe detained Sowl for not answering his questions, twisting his arm behind his back and pushing his face into the ground. The civil lawsuit alleges Loveland police officer William Gates falsely arrested Harris Elias on suspicion of DUI while driving in midtown Fort . https://www.reporterherald.com/2020/06/22/man-sues-loveland-police-department-alleging-excessive-force/?fbclid=IwAR1nA4PCQglIk6_WZnOrE2Hy6S3zGZ5L5-sxQFW2_D4aHA1QedY48JlaYu0, https://pmatep5f7b.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ProdStage. Last year, the city of Loveland paid a $3 million settlement to the woman, Karen Garner. Steve Adams, the city manager in Loveland, said in a statement that while the incidents were initially reviewed and deemed appropriate at the time of the event, he would open a second review of the arrest by an independent law enforcement and public safety consulting firm. Best practices in law enforcement will be maintained and we are committed to accountability if those standards are not upheld, he said. The release did not state what disciplinary or corrective action would be taken as a result of this internal investigation, just that any disciplinary actions would be taken in accordance with the conclusion and outcome of the IA., More:Colorado Supreme Court ruling makes more police internal investigations accessible. The report said Ashe and two other officers took the man to the ground and arrested him for obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest, injuring his shoulder. Skippy can be seen in the video trying to pull its way over to him. This is not the first time the department has faced an excessive use of force lawsuit for actions of its officers. His two dogs Montana, a chihuahua, and Skippy, a Jack Russell terrier were on long leashes outside the house. Colorado Portal and News | Denverok.com, Colorado Portal | News | Classifieds | Cars. According to the Associated Press, Garcia said the settlement states the city and officers do not admit any guilt in this case. On a form that asked the boy if the actions of S.S. caused him pain, he marked, No., It was the middle of the day and there was little else to do, the lawsuit states, adding that the officers were bored.. According to the suit, the event caused emotional and physical trauma to not only Siers and S.S. but also Skippy. She said that her hope with the filing of this amended lawsuit is to address problems she sees in how the LPD operates its DUI enforcement, focusing on her concern with incentives given to officers to arrest and charge citizens. The video below is police bodycam footage from the incident. It is terrifying because we all have to drive, we all use the roads, and it shouldnt be that easy for an officer to destroy our lives and there needs to be consequences when they recklessly do so, she said. By Keith Coffman. Its uncommon for the city to share information about internal investigations publicly, city manager Steve Adams said in the news release, but the city chose to in this instance to increase transparency. The Loveland Police Department is facing another excessive use of force lawsuit after the release of information and footage of a 2020 arrest of a man and his then-14-year-old daughter as well as the treatment of one of their family dogs. The lawsuit alleges officers injured Garner when they arrested her in June 2020 for alleged petty theft. In a written response reflecting many points Stewart said during Mondays press conference, the department said it can not comment on specific cases and wants to be transparent and open in our work.. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. According to the lawsuit, Siers was aware an LPD officer had shot and killed a familys dog in the past year (which Schielke also filed suit over) and wanted to take the dog inside so it was not shot if it bit one of the officers. A blood test also later showed no impairing substances and the District Attorneys office dismissed the DUI charges, the complaint claims. After going through roadside tests Hill arrested Dutka and took her for a blood test. She said, at the time, her records requests were not being fulfilled quickly enough to file before time ran out. DENVER A consulting firm that the city of Loveland brought in to assess the Loveland Police Department last year amid several lawsuits filed over officers use of force in different cases is coming in to look at another case in which LPD officers are alleged to have used excessive force against a man, his teenage daughter, and their dog. It was unclear if the officers had lawyers, and the Loveland Police Department did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment on Thursday. I was helpless watching my daughter getting manhandled by three other police officers. The suit claims that during this, S.S. hit her head more than once, ultimately causing a concussion. Loveland resident Pretson Sowl filed the lawsuit against the city of Loveland, Loveland Police Department and Loveland police officers Paul Ashe andBenjamin DeLima, Det. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. It also included that 1,352 of the drivers he pulled over 84% of his stops were let off with just a warning. Karen Garner suffered a dislocated shoulder, fractured arm and sprained wrist after she was slammed to the ground and hogtied during a June 26 arrest, according to a federal lawsuit. Permalink. "It is long-established that a citizen cannot be charged with obstruction (or any crime) for merely refusing to answer police questioning," Sowl's attorney Sarah Schielke said in a news release at the time the lawsuit was filed in June 2020. While the witness was being uncooperative, the IA (internal affairs) reports that there was not probable cause to arrest Sowl, aFriday news release from the city of Loveland stated. Schielkeis alsorepresenting Karen Garner and her family in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit against Loveland police. / CBS Colorado. Loveland to pay $3 million to settle lawsuit from violent arrest of 73-year-old with dementia Julia Cardi julia.cardi@gazette.com On Wednesday evening, the Lakewood Police Department said it was aware of the lawsuit. In that video, Sychla can be heard explaining to Siers why he used force, explaining he wasnt sure what the Siers intentions were. I'm not talking to nobody.". They treat people like animals. Sowl's arrest was captured on body camera footage. He began to place handcuffs on her, which were too large for the 14-year-olds small wrists, making it easy to slip out of, Ms. Schielke said. Schielke said this incident along with others in the past show that there is a theme of issues within department leadership. The release by Loveland corroborated Schielkes claims, stating that more than a month ago an attorney representing the family involved made a request to settle the claims with a four-day time frame to pay for damages, which the city declined. The suit also claims Sychla falsified and exaggerated facts in the police report involving Siers. During a press conference held Monday, Deputy Chief and soon-to-be Interim Chief Eric Stewart said that decision came after the department received criticism of former DUI cases, adding the critics are members of a defense bar who represent drivers who were charged and some who ultimately passed blood tests following DUI arrests; he did not say exactly who the critics were and said he could not comment on specific incidents. At one point in the interaction, Sowl can be heard telling Ashe, "I don't know what happened. I feel that there needs to be a change in law enforcement, Mr. Siers said. Emergency medical personnel arrived, along with police officers from the Loveland Police Department. LOVELAND, Colo. The City of Loveland is paying out $290,000 dollars to settle a lawsuit over the wrongful arrest of a man in September 2019, the man's attorney said. The ordeal was enough for someone to call Loveland police to the scene, according to the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, when Siers got home after work he noticed all the missed calls and voicemails from officers who said they wanted to talk with his daughter. In Ticer's presentation to the. Schielke also said she wanted to ensure the officers who were involved were held accountable and forced to change.. The departments statement reiterated the outside review it will undergo will includes policies and procedures, overall strategy as well as status, outcomes and claims of current and recent enforcement efforts. I felt helpless just watching them manhandle my daughter the way they did.. Watching what they do to this family on this video has to be unsettling and terrifying for any parent in this town because there is no common sense utilized and there is no interest in the damage being inflicted to, here, a juvenile.. The lawsuit alleged that Sowl declined to provide more information when asked and was injured while being detained. They treat animals like trash. When Siers returned home from work that day, he saw several missed calls from the LPD and called them back, telling them he and his daughter were at their home; this led to the three officers named in the suit responding to the residence. To always use Standard format on my mobile device: Go to My Account, About | Copyright | Privacy | Terms of service | Contact. Talmadge's roommate continued to remain in the home, allegedly telling Talmadge: "You will leave before I do.". This includes several pictures of Facebook posts showing Gates or Hill being awarded for their DUI enforcement work. 3 min read. Schielke, of the Life and Liberty Law Office, filed the original complaint in January, claiming Fort Collins resident Harris Elias was wrongfully arrested by LPD officer William Gates in early 2020 for DUI. The suit claims that Siers and S.S. are seeking declaratory relief and economic damages as well as compensatory damages, among other things, through a jury trial. Sychla handcuffed Siers, who was still pleading to have officers let him take his dog inside. The event also allegedly changed Skippys entire demeanor; he became extremely aggressive with every stranger to come near the Siers home and eventually had to be rehomed to family out of state. or anything. Both videos can be found on the Life and Liberty Law Office YouTube page. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. Threats of harming another As with previous cases Schielke has brought forth, the newest case against the department came not only with a written description in the lawsuit itself but also with a YouTube video providing both body-worn camera and security camera footage of the incident. "Plaintiff was arrested on charges of third degree assault and resisting arrest and a jury convicted him of those charges," Varholak wrote in a May 19 order. Schielkeis alsorepresenting Karen Garner and her family in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit against Loveland police. Create new account | My Profile | My Account | My Bookmarks | My Inbox | Help | Log in, Back to top Alert Link here He called them back, and officers came back to his home while he was outside working on his daughters bike. When Siers tries to move around Sychla in the video an action he says was to deal with the dogs Sychla can be seen pushing Siers back. After asking if Hall wanted to press charges, telling him he would need to fill out some information in a packet, Hall said he would rather just pass., The suit claims that despite Halls decision to not press charges, Dunlap decided to use the slap as a chance for Officer Wood to get more experience practicing a domestic violence arrest.. The city hired Jensen Hughes in 2021 to lead an independent investigation into the departments policies and procedures following the release of information about Garners arrest. Updated: 4:50 PM MDT June 15, 2022 LOVELAND, Colo. The City of Loveland announced Wednesday the independent review of the 2020 arrest of a 14-year-old girl and tasing of her father after a. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, brought in to assess the Loveland Police Department. Varholak allowed Talmadge, who represented himself in court, to refile his lawsuit by June 6 if Talmadge wished to bolster any of his claims that the magistrate judge found lacking. Sowl said he needed shoulder replacement surgery after the incident, according to the lawsuit. The city said Ashe violated three department policies and procedures: limits of authority and exercise discretion; search and seizure; and use of force. The lawsuit alleges officers injured Garner when they arrested her in June 2020 for alleged petty theft. That complaint, which only named Loveland and Gates as defendants, alleged three claims in connection to the arrest two years ago: unlawful arrest without probable cause, arrest without probable cause violating the Colorado constitution Article II Section 7 and malicious prosecution under the Fourth Amendment. It also included information on timed DUI arrest competitions put on by MADD that LPD is a part of. Get on the ground, an officer yells, pointing a Taser at Mr. Siers and then firing it. I am a first responder. Clint Schnorrand Sgt. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. Sierss daughter tried to get to her dad, but officers continued to try to put her into handcuffs. The attorney representing Karen Garner and her family released a video Monday of officers discussing and joking about injuring Garner after her arrest. The complaint also touches on results from the Jensen Hughes report that came out following the release of information on the 2020 arrest of Karen Garner, specifically what investigators heard in regard to the departments Data Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety methods. You know, I dont know quite what, but some kind of change. Police are strengthening their checks of motorcycles and mopeds at the start of spring. Dutka, an active duty military member, was driving a rental car and did not realize a headlight was out. The charges against them were eventually dismissed, Ms. Schielke said. The department also faced an excessive use of force suit for the 2019 arrest of Preston Sowl, which was settled by the city for $290,000. In Talmadge's narrative of events, he attempted to eject his roommate from his Loveland home on July 6, 2019, but the roommate refused and instead called police to the home. Sowl said he needed shoulder replacement surgery after the incident. Most notably the department became the center of international attention when Schielke released information on the June 2020 arrest of Karen Garner, a case that resulted in a $3 million settlement from the city of Loveland and a five-year prison sentence for Garners arresting officer. The official filing of the amended complaint comes quickly after the LPD announced that it would be launching an outside, professional review of its DUI enforcement program; Schielke said she had informed the department of the amended complaint two weeks ago. This included slamming her body and limbs down into concrete multiples times, the lawsuit says. In recent years, the Loveland Police Department has faced several lawsuits that claimed officers used excessive force while making arrests, including on June 26, 2020, when a 73-year-old woman with dementia was thrown to the ground and pinned against a squad car, breaking a bone and dislocating her shoulder in the process. A screen capture from body-worn camera video of Karen Garner's 2020 arrest and a portrait of Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer. Be Truthful. By: Colette Bordelon Posted at 7:17 PM, Mar 31, 2022 and last updated 6:17 PM, Mar 31, 2022 But instead of allowing that, Officer Sychla shoved Siers, according to the lawsuit. Sychla can be seen carrying Skippy to the door before pushing him inside and eventually kicking the dog back in when it tries to come out. Living at Kimberly Court can seem like living in the most convenient location in Boulder. Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. The father of a teenage girl filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against three police officers in Loveland, Colo., who arrested her in 2020, saying the men used excessive force when they slammed the 14-year-old onto concrete, fired a Taser at him and choked the familys Jack Russell terrier. As S.S. watched this from a few feet away, she began having a panic attack, the lawsuit states. Ashe arrested Sowl for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, but the 8th Judicial District Attorneys Office dismissed the charges, according to the lawsuit. According to a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver on behalf of Preston Sowl, 60, by attorney Sarah Schielke, Sowl and his wife were leaving Charlie L's Pub with some friends on. Siers then can be seen complying with Sychla as he handcuffs him, but asks him to put the dogs away, stating he doesnt want the officers to shoot them. While four officers responded to the Siers home and waited 20 minutes, they were unable to come in contact with S.S. or her father. Don't Threaten. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. But the investigation determined the witness had not committed a crime and the officer was not justified in arresting him, according to an internal memo from Police Chief Robert Tice dated May 7. "Mr. Talmadge was minding his own business, and did not pose a danger to himself or others," Talmadge wrote in his complaint. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism In this section, the complaint says that Gates, who transferred from the Greeley Police Department to the LPD in 2018, hit the ground running with prolific DUI arrests. The complaint claims that in 2018 he had more than 50 DUI arrests, 130 in 2019 and 110 in 2020 despite the pandemic. It claims Sychla unreasonably and wrongfully arrested Siers and used excessive force against him and his dog, and also that Sychla committed malicious prosecution in arresting and forwarding charges against Siers to prosecutors. COLORADO DOCUMENTARY PROJECT Speak out! Watch the body camera footage here According. The suit says the girl suffered cuts, scrapes, bruises and a concussion during the ordeal. The roommate then exited the house and Talmadge soon received a call from police asking him to step outside. The citys statement that it was hiring the consulting firm came after attorney Sarah Schielke filed a lawsuit against the city over the ordeal involving the girl, her father and their dog. "Force is not reasonable when a suspect is non-violent, not resisting, not fleeing, or poses no threat.". Mr. Siers said his daughter had nightmares for months. The dog was later taken to live with a family out of state because he became extremely aggressive with every stranger after the police encounter, according to the lawsuit. The City of Loveland is paying out $290,000 dollars to settle a lawsuit over the wrongful arrest of a man in September 2019, the man's attorney said. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. So, I didn't know quite how to react.. The city of Loveland said Schielke had requested a settlement with the city more than a month ago and had given the city a four-day window to pay the settlement lest she release body camera video from the incident. Wood was in field training at the time, according to the lawsuit, which says that Dunlap decided to use this childs slap as a chance for Officer Wood to get more experience practicing a domestic violence arrest..