And that starts with getting rid of every supervisor at LPD who approved of the violence in this video, she said. She said that without someone standing up to call out the pattern of violent conduct and complete disrespect for this community, nothing is going to change. 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 officers then approached Mr. Siers and asked him to stop resisting, according to the body camera footage. The guy was probably arguing unnecessarily, and probably not a liberal at all but he was right in this case. "Mr. Talmadge was minding his own business, and did not pose a danger to himself or others," Talmadge wrote in his complaint. 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. Another person, identified as K.S., was pulled over by Gates Sept. 30, 2019. "Indeed, the Amended Complaint lacks even a single allegation of how any specific officer touched Mr. Talmadge or engaged in force that was in excess of what was required to arrest him.". Loveland Police Department, via The Life & Liberty Law Office. Be Nice. While in the parking space, Sychla pulled out a stun gun and, after Siers began to walk toward him, fired it, hitting Siers in the stomach and causing him to collapse. The 18-year-old man declined twice to press charges against the girl and said the slap caused him no pain, according to the lawsuit. In their motion to dismiss, the defendants submitted a police affidavit in support of Talmadge's arrest from July 6. The city, in response, said it will conduct an independent review and maintained that it is committed to accountability. 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. When they discovered that neither Siers nor his daughter were home, they left. The state's second-highest court on Thursday overturned a man's conviction for disarming a police officer, determining that Colorado law does . 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. 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. The city said Ashe violated three department policies and procedures: limits of authority and exercise discretion; search and seizure; and use of force. Karen Garner, who has dementia, was arrested last June for walking out of a Walmart in Loveland, Colorado, with $13.88 worth of items, according to an amended lawsuit filed Sunday. Local attorney Sarah Schielke has filed an amended lawsuit against members of the Loveland Police Department and the city of Loveland regarding an alleged wrongful DUI arrest in early 2020. That leads to this result, this absurd result, where the officers prioritize numbers over the constitutional rights of the citizens they are supposed to be protecting, she said. By Elise Schmelzer | PUBLISHED: March 2, 2022 at 3:24 p.m. | UPDATED: March 2, 2022 at 3:26 p.m. Anyone can read what you share. Our website features subscriber-only news stories daily, designed for public policy arena professionals. 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. And why would they? Nicole Yost, a spokeswoman for the city of Loveland, said she did not know who was representing the officers. Secure your subscription to Colorados premier political news journal, in continuous publication since 1898. We ask the public to keep an open mind as we deal with claims that will ultimately be addressed in a court of law., The statement added that this is too important an issue for the health and safety of our community to ignore.. Eventually, Sychla deployed his Taser on Siers and continued to shock him for over five seconds, the lawsuit claims. 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. It also included that 1,352 of the drivers he pulled over 84% of his stops were let off with just a warning. His two dogs Montana, a chihuahua, and Skippy, a Jack Russell terrier were on long leashes outside the house. The lawsuit states that Officers Wood and Dunlap slammed her into the concrete stairway outside the home and pushed her against a brick wall. Colorado Supreme Court ruling makes more police internal investigations accessible. The suit claims that during this, S.S. hit her head more than once, ultimately causing a concussion. A Loveland police officer violated department policy when he forcefully arrested a witness of a motorcycle crash for refusing to answer questions, the city announced in a news release last week. When the arrest begins, Siers can be seen in the video yelling at Sychla and the other officers that they cant arrest his daughter; all the while the familys two dogs can be heard barking continuously in the background. 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 lawsuit alleged that Sowl declined to provide more information when asked and was injured while being detained. This is not the first time the department has faced an excessive use of force lawsuit for actions of its officers. The Loveland Police Department was hit with many negative headlines related to the rough arrest of Karen Garner, a 73-year-old suffering from dementia who's only five feet tall and weighs. Following multiple pleas from Siers to put the dogs inside, Sychla can be seen approaching Skippy and picking him up by the leash and carrying him toward the door, dangling several feet above the ground by his neck. Once in the driveway, an unidentified officer reportedly told Talmadge to face the garage, prompting Talmadge to ask if he was under arrest. Shes a good kid.. 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. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. By: Colette Bordelon Posted at 7:17 PM, Mar 31, 2022 and last updated 6:17 PM, Mar 31, 2022 Phil Metzler, have been. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, brought in to assess the Loveland Police Department. As Siers continued to try to get the dog, Sychla failed to put Siers into an arm hold and pushed him to the ground, then pushed him again, the suit says. 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. Use the 'Report' link on Defund the police was the wrong slogan. ), First published on January 27, 2021 / 4:46 PM. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. 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. Example video title will go here for this video. The first roughly 21 pages share Elias story of his arrest the night of Jan. 4, 2020. They have used this funding to buy themselves more equipment and hire more officers. 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. Colorado Supreme Court ruling makes more police internal investigations accessible. Last year, the city of Loveland paid a $3 million settlement to the woman, Karen Garner. 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. Sychla handcuffed Siers, who was still pleading to have officers let him take his dog inside. Without intervention, this self-serving scam will continue and the wake of innocent citizens whose lives are destroyed by it will continue to grow.. 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. June 17, 2022 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. This is not a bad apples event, it is the whole tree.. Talmadge's roommate continued to remain in the home, allegedly telling Talmadge: "You will leave before I do.". Schielkeis alsorepresenting Karen Garner and her family in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit against Loveland police. 2001 - 2023 Democratic Underground, LLC. Police said the witness then said he had not pulled the motorcycle off the rider and refused to answer any more questions, saying it was his constitutional right not to talk. So, I didn't know quite how to react.. Emergency medical personnel arrived, along with police officers from the Loveland Police Department. Sady Swanson covers public safety, criminal justice, Larimer County governmentand more throughout Northern Colorado. NISP opponents sue Larimer County commissioners over permit approval, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The charges against them were eventually dismissed, Ms. Schielke said. 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. Officers Dunlap and Wood the suit claims Dunlap was field-training Wood at the time responded to the scene where they located and interviewed Hall. 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. Both the Garner and Sowl cases were brought to light through Schielke and the Life and Liberty Law Office. Schielkeis alsorepresenting Karen Garner and her family in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit against Loveland police. I felt helpless just watching them manhandle my daughter the way they did.. Both videos can be found on the Life and Liberty Law Office YouTube page. The next thing Talmadge recalled was being at the hospital. The charges were dismissed by the Larimer County District Attorneys Office. He also claimed the encounter demonstrated a "serious training issue" with the Loveland Police Department. Mr. Siers and his lawyer said they would not accept a settlement and expected to take the case to a jury. 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. We hope you will find useful information in the links on the left. 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. Want the real scoop? This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 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. A blood test also later showed no impairing substances and the District Attorneys office dismissed the DUI charges, the complaint claims. 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. ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. The Loveland City Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon. 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. Schielke said this incident along with others in the past show that there is a theme of issues within department leadership. Threats of harming another "The settlement ends the continuation of lengthy and expensive litigation, and resolution is deemed to be in the best interest of all parties,"Schielke said in the release. 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. He also added that Skippy had bitten one of the officers involved. The defendants asked Varholak to dismiss the lawsuit because of Talmadge's successful criminal prosecution and because he neglected to describe the actions each officer took to allegedly harm him. 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. 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. 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.. With her amended complaint, Schielke also uploaded an edited video of Elias arrest from 2020 as well as the full three hours of bodycam footage. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. Sowl said he needed shoulder replacement surgery after the incident. Were not (going to) shoot your dog; knock it off, Sychla can be heard saying. The release added the findings from this review will be made public when the investigation is completed. Talmadge allegedly told responding officers what had happened and they left. He called his daughter out of the house, and according to the lawsuit, Officer Wood started to arrest his daughter as soon as she admitted to slapping the 18-year-old, which the suit says went against LPD policy of not arresting children 14 and under unless they are believed to have committed a dangerous felony.. The civil lawsuit alleges Loveland police officer William Gates falsely arrested Harris Elias on suspicion of DUI while driving in midtown Fort . Watch the body camera footage here According. Sowl's arrest was captured on body camera footage. The suit says the girl suffered cuts, scrapes, bruises and a concussion during the ordeal. 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 city said Ashe violated three department policies and procedures: limits of authority and exercise discretion; search and seizure; and use of force. The lawsuit also claims Wood and Dunlap unreasonably seized, committed a warrantless arrest against, and used excessive force against Siers daughter, who was not named in the complaint because she is a juvenile. She said, at the time, her records requests were not being fulfilled quickly enough to file before time ran out. With more equipment and more officers, they are able to make more arrests and then point to those arrest stats as proof of rising crime levels that they then proclaim requires more funding, equipment and officers to solve. 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. Sowl was cited with obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest, but the charges were later dropped. Best practices in law enforcement will be maintained and we are committed to accountability if those standards are not upheld, he said. 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. The officers asked him to call his daughter outside, saying they just wanted to talk to her. At one point in the interaction, Sowl can be heard telling Ashe, I dont know what happened. The complaint also claims that around this time Hill and Ticer learned that some of Gates DUI arrests were wrongful arrests because blood and breath results were coming back showing people were not impaired. 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. Loveland is not a safe place for grandparents. 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. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 3 min read. Living at Kimberly Court can seem like living in the most convenient location in Boulder. As S.S. watched this from a few feet away, she began having a panic attack, the lawsuit states. According to the complaint, Emily Dutka, who had previously gone public about her arrest, was pulled over by Hill in May of 2020. A lawsuit filed by a Fort Collins man accuses a Loveland police officer of wrongfully arresting him on suspicion of driving under the influence in January 2020. 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. Permalink. that is degrading to another person. Siers was also arrested for investigation of obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest, but the district attorneys office also dismissed those charges. 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. I was getting my dog, Siers can be heard screaming in the video. I am a first responder. Clint Schnorrand Sgt. 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. 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. The roommate then exited the house and Talmadge soon received a call from police asking him to step outside. "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. Really it's a testament to how bad things are at Loveland is that they know they're being recorded, and they don't change their behavior, because they just don't care, Schielke said in an interview. We'd love to hear eyewitness The lawsuit, filed against officers Ashe, DeLima, Schnorr and Brian Bartnes, alleges that police violated Sowl's First and Fourth Amendment rights, and that the city of Loveland violated his. Watching my daughter go through this, I mean, I was terrified, Mr. Siers said by phone on Thursday. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. According to the complaint, the arrest destroyed her life, derailing her military career as she was not able to be deployed until her case was resolved, and devastated her marriage. Two months later, the complaint said, her blood results came back with a BAC of 0.02% and the case was dismissed. The complaint claims Gates said he could smell alcohol coming from the vehicle and that K.S. They hurt families and destroy lives, Schielke said in a statement. Let there be no mistake: Loveland is not a safe place for children. Brian Bartnes. "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. The roof of a police patrol car at night, with the blue and red lights flashing. 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. Talmadge's roommate reported that Talmadge assaulted him and Talmadge resisted when officers told him he was under arrest. 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. Loveland Police Department officers Jeremiah Wood and Evan Dunlap arrest a 14-year-old girl in Loveland in June of 2020. 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. I feel that there needs to be a change in law enforcement, Mr. Siers said. Although Christopher Talmadge claimed that he was nonviolent and "minding his own business" when police reportedly slammed his head into his driveway, the city pointed to an affidavit the night of Talmadge's arrest indicating that he had assaulted his roommate and resisted officers. had 6 out of 6 clues of impairment and he blew a 0.042% on a preliminary breath test; he was arrested for DUI. Sowl's arrest in September 2019 was capturedon body camera footage, released by Sowl's attorney Sarah Schielke. The incidents were initially reviewed and deemed appropriate at the time of the event, but the city is taking a second outside look at the incident in our efforts to ensure we are policing in a respectful and proper manner, City Manager Steve Adams said in the release. 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. Following this, the suit claims that Sychla shoved Siers backward several times, with Siers eventually scrambling away into a parking space in front of the residence. That night Gates pulled Elias over in Fort Collins and, ultimately, Gates arrested Elias for DUI. Schielke and Sowl were not able to answer any additional questions about the settlementdue to the agreement with Loveland, according to the news release. The city announced Tuesday it was again bringing in Jensen Hughes to review the latest incident, which happened on June 20, 2020, and involved a 14-year-old Loveland girl who was accused by police of domestic violence after she slapped her boyfriend, as well as the girls father, who was tased by an officer while trying to remove his dog from the scene. 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 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. 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