The lawsuit alleges officers injured Garner when they arrested her in June 2020 for alleged petty theft. While S.S. tried to pull away from Wood and Dunlap, the suit claims, the officers violently assaulted her as they tried to get her in handcuffs, including slamming her body and limbs onto the concrete and against the brick wall while pushing their bodiesagainst her back. The suit claims that S.S. was arrested and charged with harassment, domestic violence, obstruction and resisting arrest while Siers was charged with obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest; the suit adds both sets of charges were eventually dismissed. The. Garner's arrest drew national attention after body camera footage released by her family's lawyer showed former Loveland Police Department officer Austin Hopp forcibly detain the then. Schielke said the names used in the suit were gained from a records request made to the LPD and, out of respect for each persons privacy, she did not include their full names with the exception of one person. You can send your story ideas to her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @sadyswan. He told her they were not in a relationship, according to the suit, and the girl got upset and slapped him. She had been dating 18-year-old Elijah Hall and, around lunchtime on June 20, 2020, she rode her bike to the nearby Safeway where she found Hall with another woman. Im not talking to nobody.. Whether movers in Fort Collins are helping you Austin Fleskes joined the Reporter-Herald team in August 2020 as the newsroom's public safety reporter. 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. The lawsuit names three officers who were involved in the arrests of Siers and his daughter as defendants: Officers Matt Sychla, Jeremiah Wood and Evan Dunlap. They treat people like animals. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 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.. She said, at the time, her records requests were not being fulfilled quickly enough to file before time ran out. It also includes a post from Overcash in February of 2021 congratulating two of the three officers involved in the incident for receiving awards from the department for actions in 2020, with Dunlap and Wood each receiving an Exemplary Action Ribbon for an undescribed reason. Be Truthful. The city also released its own video with footage from the incident from Sychlas body-worn camera, which includes the incident itself as well as Siers arrest and discussion with Sychla. Antolina Hill as one of the defendants as well as including a number of other stories alleging wrongful DUI arrest and information on the culture of the LPDs DUI enforcement. 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. 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. No wonder why you guys get a bad rap, Siers can be heard saying when Sychla returns to him on the ground. All rights reserved. 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. 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. Photo: Paul Zinken. That night Gates pulled Elias over in Fort Collins and, ultimately, Gates arrested Elias for DUI. 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. Following Schielkes early Wednesday release, the city published its own response to the event, stating that it will have Jensen Hughes conduct an independent investigation of the incident. The report said Officer Paul Ashe asked a witness what happened, and the witness told him where the motorcycle was and said he had helped pull the motorcycle off the rider. Our interviews with LPD staff revealed that they would like to be more involved with community members and community organizations, but do not have time to engage in these activities or problem solving because of the Departments emphasis on its data-driven strategies and the need to produce daily numbers of enforcement actions, the complaint quotes from the report. Another officer, according to Talmadge, slammed him to the ground where his "head bounced off the concrete." I was helpless. After S.S. came out and began talking with the officers, she eventually admitted to slapping Hall earlier that day the video accompanying the suit claims their body-worn cameras were muted for much of this discussion. $300K seems really low given the cost of the medical treatment and pain and suffereing. 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. This included slamming her body and limbs down into concrete multiples times, the lawsuit says. Dutka, an active duty military member, was driving a rental car and did not realize a headlight was out. Member subscribers also receive the weekly print edition of our award-winning newspaper, containing outstanding features and news stories, in their mailboxes every Saturday. that is degrading to another person. DENVER, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The city of Loveland, Colorado, has agreed to pay $3 million to an elderly woman with dementia who suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken arm while . led to a $3 million settlement last year. What theyre doing is just violence., Arrest of Colorado 14-Year-Old Over a Slap Prompts Excessive-Force Suit, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/17/us/colorado-loveland-police-lawsuit.html. The city said Ashe violated three department policies and procedures: limits of authority and exercise discretion; search and seizure; and use of force. 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. Body camera footage then shows an officer yanking Skippys collar and pulling him off the ground as Mr. Siers yells, Dont choke my dog!, Im not choking, the officer says. 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. Were stuck on Groundhog Day, basically, she said. When S.S. admitted to them that she had slapped the boy, Officer Wood said that she was under arrest, the lawsuit states. His attorney says the injury required Sowl to undergo shoulder replacement surgery. Sychla handcuffed Siers, who was still pleading to have officers let him take his dog inside. "Being a defendant in civil rights litigation is stressful, time-consuming, and especially in the case of law enforcement, detracts from everyday duties to the public," lawyers for the defendants wrote. had 6 out of 6 clues of impairment and he blew a 0.042% on a preliminary breath test; he was arrested for DUI. Living at Kimberly Court can seem like living in the most convenient location in Boulder. A screen capture from body-worn camera video of Karen Garner's 2020 arrest and a portrait of Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer. The three officers named in the lawsuit Matt Sychla, Jeremiah Wood and Evan Dunlap still arrested S.S. outside her home that day. Reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter @Austinfleskes07. Im a canine officer, dude.. 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. When they discovered that neither Siers nor his daughter were home, they left. And that starts with getting rid of every supervisor at LPD who approved of the violence in this video, she said. The suit, filed in the 8th Judicial District Court on Wednesday morning, lists three claims for relief: unreasonable seizure and excessive force resulting in the abuse of their dog Skippy and wrongful arrest of Siers by Sychla; violation of due process and malicious prosecution of Siers by Sychla; and unreasonable seizure and excessive force with an arrest of S.S. by Wood and Dunlap. RELATED: City of Loveland chooses firm to conduct independent review after arrest of Karen Garner, RELATED: Former Loveland officer faces assault charge, accused of writing inaccurate reports related to Karen Garner's arrest, RELATED: Karen Garner's family feels more 'concern than relief' after charges announced against officers. accounts, the history behind an article. Talmadge allegedly told responding officers what had happened and they left. After going through roadside tests Hill arrested Dutka and took her for a blood test. Before coming to Loveland, he graduated from Colorado State University in May 2020 with two bachelor's degrees, one in journalism and media communications and one in history. I'm not talking to nobody.". I appreciate the difficult, challenging, and often dangerous roles that LPD officers undertake to keep our community safe, and I want to express my gratitude to the men and women of LPD for taking on this important work and for continuing in our larger efforts to improve community policing to best serve our community, Adams said in the release. I am confident that a thorough and impartial process was undertaken and appreciate the time and attention spent to review this matter, Adams said in the news release. The suit adds that, per LPD policy on handcuffing, people 14 or younger should not be restrained unless they are suspected of a dangerous felony.. The Loveland Police Department officers had searched for the daughter, who is identified in the lawsuit only as S.S., after she slapped a boy in a Safeway supermarket parking lot because she believed he had been cheating on her with another girl, the lawsuit states. "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. Eventually, Sychla deployed his Taser on Siers and continued to shock him for over five seconds, the lawsuit claims. View this page in Standard (full site) format. It also included these male adult officers forcibly pushing her entire body against brick wall and concrete, and for officer Wood, at times pushing the front of his own body hard up against her back.. 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. They were both also making their very own wrongful DUI arrests during this time. 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. We need you. In Ticer's presentation to the. There was a problem saving your notification. The Loveland Reporter-Herald reports Preston Sowl claimed the officers violated his constitutional rights by detaining and injuring him after he declined to talk to them while at the scene of an accident in September 2019. Sowl's arrest was captured on body camera footage. Officers Wood and Dunlap eventually got her into handcuffs and arrested her for investigation of charges of harassment, domestic violence, obstruction and resisting arrest. 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. A civil lawsuit was filed against the Loveland Police Department and City of Loveland after a police officer shot a couple's 14-month-old dog. Ashe detained Sowl for not answering his questions, twisting his arm behind his back and pushing his face into the ground. This, she said, is something she hopes is exposed and ultimately ended. The lawsuit alleged that Sowl declined to provide more information when asked and was injured while being detained. The Loveland City Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon. Even Chief Ticer himself assisted Hill with arresting and charging an innocent person with DUI, by providing a (Drug Recognition Expert) evaluation of the individual and declaring in his (Ticers) expert DRE opinion that the person was under the influence of cannabis.. Police are strengthening their checks of motorcycles and mopeds at the start of spring. Officers Wood and Dunlap, who had asked for backup, arrived outside Mr. Sierss home later that day and asked to speak with his daughter. While all cases referred to each person only with initials and no full names, stories mirrored what Elias went through in early 2020. By Keith Coffman. 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. Loveland is not a safe place for grandparents. The incident drew interest from nearby residents resulting in someone calling the LPD. Something like "Redefine the Police" might have been better. I'm not talking to nobody.". A Loveland, Colorado, police officer is on administrative leave and two other officers have been reassigned to administrative duties after a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive use of . 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. It's worse for POC's, but the cops are just generally out of control in a lot of places, Slogan Defund The Police is demonized by even the left but police pay out this gob smacking amounts. This is not a bad apples event, it is the whole tree.. Beyond excessive use of force incidents, the department has faced scrutiny for several other incidents, including the shooting and killing of a 19-year-old boy in 2021 and a dog in 2019, as well as criticism over alleged wrongful DUI arrests. 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. 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. The complaint adds that the LPD often posted about their victories in these absurd arrest competitions on social media, continually reaffirming to all Loveland police officers that DUI arrests are valued over all else, especially citizens constitutional rights., LPD has obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant funding for themselves as a result of their DUI arrest numbers, the complaint said. For Siers and his daughter, they have both lost and continue to lose sleep while not feeling safe in their home, with S.S. suffering panic attacks and insomnia the suit says. This includes several pictures of Facebook posts showing Gates or Hill being awarded for their DUI enforcement work. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. Excess Force Suit Against Loveland Police Settled For $290,000 January 27, 2021 / 4:46 PM / CBS Colorado LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) - An excessive force lawsuit filed against the city of. 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. I was getting my dog, Siers can be heard screaming in the video. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, An excessive force lawsuit filed against the Loveland Police Department has been settled for nearly $300,000. The boy, who denied that he cheated, declined to press charges, according to body camera footage of him speaking with the officers, which was released Wednesday by the familys lawyer, Sarah Schielke. His two dogs Montana, a chihuahua, and Skippy, a Jack Russell terrier were on long leashes outside the house. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. According to the Associated Press, Garcia said the settlement states the city and officers do not admit any guilt in this case. The guy was probably arguing unnecessarily, and probably not a liberal at all but he was right in this case. 2001 - 2023 Democratic Underground, LLC. Police were . She added that while she is focusing on the LPD with this lawsuit, as it pertains to this specific department, she has heard from other attorneys that this is a problem across the country. or anything. I feel that there needs to be a change in law enforcement, Mr. Siers said. 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. Create new account | My Profile | My Account | My Bookmarks | My Inbox | Help | Log in, Back to top Alert Link here Clint Schnorrand Sgt. Philip Metzler and the City of Loveland of excessive force and violation of the Americans With . She begged the officers to let her grab a tampon, but they told her no, causing her to flail and then collapse on the ground in tears, the lawsuit states. Hill said she could smell alcohol in Dutkas vehicle, which Dutka explained was due to a drunk friend whom she had driven home. S.S. can be heard crying and yelling in the background. 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 lawsuit states that Officers Wood and Dunlap slammed her into the concrete stairway outside the home and pushed her against a brick wall. but it can also be stressful. She pretty much sticks to herself, stays at home, stays out of trouble, he said. While both Siers and S.S. can be heard screaming to not choke my dog, Sychla responds by saying he is a K-9 officer. 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. The familys small white dog, Skippy, began to bark at the officers in a show of protection, the lawsuit states, prompting Mr. Siers to tell the officers that he was going to get his dog so he wouldnt bite them. 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. 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. 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. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. Schielke said she filed Elias original complaint quickly as to avoid the statute of limitations closing. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. Austin Hopp, the officer who threw Ms. Garner, pleaded guilty to assaulting her in March and was sentenced to five years in prison. 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. You can be in the know right alongside Colorados political insiders. In the suit, Schielke is asking for declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory, punitive or exemplary damages, and attorneys fees and costs. One of them, a Jack Russell terrier, started barking at the officers when they were trying to get the daughter into handcuffs. / CBS Colorado. Skippy can be seen in the video trying to pull its way over to him. We hope you will find useful information in the links on the left. Sady Swanson covers public safety, criminal justice, Larimer County governmentand more throughout Northern Colorado. Schielke said this incident along with others in the past show that there is a theme of issues within department leadership. Mr. Siers was later charged with resisting arrest; his daughter was charged with harassment, domestic violence, obstruction and resisting arrest. All rights reserved. Sowl's arrest in September 2019 was capturedon body camera footage, released by Sowl's attorney Sarah Schielke. I felt helpless just watching them manhandle my daughter the way they did.. Be Proactive. The lawsuit alleges officers injured Garner when they arrested her in June 2020 for alleged petty theft. Share with Us. person will not be tolerated. The city, in turn, has announced it will re-hire consulting company Jensen Hughes to investigate the incident. The video also encourages viewers to contact the city of Loveland and let them know your thoughts on their amazing police department!, The theme across all these assaults is that this is a police department that has no concept of what community safety actually means and entails, Schielke told the Reporter-Herald. The next thing Talmadge recalled was being at the hospital. The Loveland Police Department has also suspended Officer Austin Hopp, who initially handcuffed Garner; two others who were on the scene, Officer Daria Jalali and Sgt. Colorado Supreme Court ruling makes more police internal investigations accessible. Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. Longmont landscaper under scrutiny after new complaints, Carreras Tacos Bring West Coast Mexican with a Competitive Edge, Murdaughs fall from grace ends in life sentence for murder, Former clerk Tina Peters found guilty on obstruction charge, Boulder police seek person of interest in womans shooting near CU Boulder. 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. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) - An excessive force lawsuit filed against the city of Loveland and four of its police officers has been settled for $290,000. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. A federal judge has dismissed a man's lawsuit against the city of Loveland and multiple police officers that alleged excessive force and unlawful arrest. Sowl said he needed shoulder replacement surgery after the incident, according to the lawsuit. 2023 www.coloradoan.com. Get on the ground, an officer yells, pointing a Taser at Mr. Siers and then firing it. Secure your subscription to Colorados premier political news journal, in continuous publication since 1898. "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. The suit claims that S.S. believed Hall had been cheating on her, so she summoned up the courage to confront him. During this interaction, the suit says, she demanded he return several items of her property and, after he said they had never been dating so he wasnt actually cheating on her, she slapped him and left on her bike, sobbing.
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