"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. The suit adds that the slap did not cause Hall injury or even leave a mark, with video showing him telling officers that it only stung. The city, in turn, has announced it will re-hire consulting company Jensen Hughes to investigate the incident. 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. The roof of a police patrol car at night, with the blue and red lights flashing. 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. The release added the findings from this review will be made public when the investigation is completed. At the Safeway parking lot, Officers Wood and Dunlap were collecting witness statements and asking the boy to fill out a form describing the slap, the lawsuit states. The officers asked him to call his daughter outside, saying they just wanted to talk to her. And it claims that Dunlap and Wood arrested the girl without a warrant and used excessive force. 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. Mr. Siers was later charged with resisting arrest; his daughter was charged with harassment, domestic violence, obstruction and resisting arrest. 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. Schielke also said she wanted to ensure the officers who were involved were held accountable and forced to change.. 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. Sierss daughter tried to get to her dad, but officers continued to try to put her into handcuffs. Let there be no mistake: Loveland is not a safe place for children. The city said Ashe violated three department policies and procedures: limits of authority and exercise discretion; search and seizure; and use of force. (Courtesy of the Life and Liberty Law Office) The suit adds that, per. According to a release from the city, Ashe violated three LPD policies and procedures: Tice recommended a written warning and more training for the officer, according to the memo. Ashe twisted Sowls arm behind his back and pushed his face into the ground, according to a civil rights lawsuit. Watching my daughter go through this, I mean, I was terrified, Mr. Siers said by phone on Thursday. 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 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. His attorney says the injury required Sowl to undergo shoulder replacement surgery. 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. The city said Ashe violated three department policies and procedures:. 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. Schielke said she filed Elias original complaint quickly as to avoid the statute of limitations closing. / CBS Colorado. 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.. The next thing Talmadge recalled was being at the hospital. MORE COVERAGE:NISP opponents sue Larimer County commissioners over permit approval. It also included information on timed DUI arrest competitions put on by MADD that LPD is a part of. They hurt families and destroy lives, Schielke said in a statement. 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Federal judge tosses man's excessive force lawsuit against Loveland police, Appeals court finds police baton does not fall under law against disarming officers, Federal judge considers whether wrongful arrest in Aurora rises to constitutional violation, Judge allows lawsuit to proceed against Colorado Springs officer who tased son of congressional candidate, Federal judge refuses to halt lawsuit involving Loveland officer's shooting of pet dog, Polis signs Bradfield's prescriptive authority for psychologists bill | FOCUS ON THE SPRINGS, Colorado Senate Republicans tap their inner 'Mean Girls' | CAPITOL M. In a news release and in discussions with the Reporter-Herald, Schielke described the arrest as senseless and needless violence. 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. Police. In police station surveillance video released on Monday by an attorney for Karen Garner's family, three Loveland police officers can be seen reviewing body-cam film of the arrest - footage. Siers had his two dogs outside on leashes at the home, according to the suit. I'm not talking to nobody.". Officer Paul Ashe detained Preston Sowl after Sowl refused to answer his questions about a motorcycle crash Sowl witnessed outside a Loveland bar Sept. 22, 2019. While the original complaint totaled 15 pages, the amended complaint was filed at four times larger, coming in at 62 pages of information, allegation and claims for relief. 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. By: Colette Bordelon Posted at 7:17 PM, Mar 31, 2022 and last updated 6:17 PM, Mar 31, 2022 Ashe arrested Sowl for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, but the 8th Judicial District Attorneys Office dismissed the charges, according to the lawsuit. You have permission to edit this article. 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. 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. 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.. Last year, the city of Loveland paid a $3 million settlement to the woman, Karen Garner. Watch the body camera footage here According. 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. The case was settled for $290,000, City Attorney Moses Garcia said. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Loveland is not a safe place for pets. He called them back, and officers came back to his home while he was outside working on his daughters bike. S.S. can be heard crying and yelling in the background. All the investigation and work we were putting in to get a peek at the tip of the iceberg was taking forever, she said. The video below is police bodycam footage from the incident. 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.. 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. 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. 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.. 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. Talmadge's roommate reported that Talmadge assaulted him and Talmadge resisted when officers told him he was under arrest. 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.. The attorney representing Karen Garner and her family released a video Monday of officers discussing and joking about injuring Garner after her arrest. According to the suit, S.S., who was 14 years old at the time, lived with Siers at their home in Loveland. Thank you for your interest in the Loveland Police Department. Four officers were there in total, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit claims the dog did eventually nip at some of the officers, and that Sychla eventually picked the dog up by his leach and held him into the air by his throat while taking him to the front door of the home and putting him inside. 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. 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. Share with Us. each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Schielkeis alsorepresenting Karen Garner and her family in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit against Loveland police. Time for the same rules to apply to police, https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2021/01/28/loveland-police-settle-excessive-force-lawsuit-290-k/4294396001/, This cops are always repeat offenders and they keep getting assigned to patrolling citizens, Good. Motorcycles can be very heavy and can cause severe damage even when just tipping over while stopped. 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.. But the fact that it doesnt tells the whole story. 9NEWS is not naming the witness because he is not being accused of a crime. Clint Schnorrand Sgt. 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. You can be in the know right alongside Colorados political insiders. 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. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. 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. A Loveland law office has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Loveland Police Department and the officers involved in Garner's arrest after it allegedly caused a fractured and dislocated shoulder along with other injuries. 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. The charges were dismissed by the Larimer County District Attorneys Office. Colorado Portal and News | Denverok.com, Colorado Portal | News | Classifieds | Cars. The Moving can be an exciting experience. 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. 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. 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. Both the Garner and Sowl cases were brought to light through Schielke and the Life and Liberty Law Office. LOVELAND, Colo. (KDVR) A Loveland police officer involved in the forceful arrest of Karen Garner resigned on Wednesday following an independent investigation by a consulting firm.. She also represented Karen Garner and her family in that case, which led to a $3 million settlement last year. View this page in Standard (full site) format. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. According to the report of an internal. The accident turned out to be a man losing his balance on his motorcycle and falling over. I was scared. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. 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 ordeal was enough for someone to call Loveland police to the scene, according to the lawsuit. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. Mr. Siers said his daughter had nightmares for months. 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. Threats of harming another That night Gates pulled Elias over in Fort Collins and, ultimately, Gates arrested Elias for DUI. 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. I bet at this point Loveland wishes each of these events could involve the same officers, she said. Ashe detained Sowl for not answering his questions, twisting his arm behind his back and pushing his face into the ground. It is important to stress that this process is not an acknowledgement as to the validity or accuracy of the specific complaints made by certain individuals about our DUI program, the statement 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. 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. Want the real scoop? Sowl said he needed shoulder replacement surgery after the incident. 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. 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. The complaint claims Gates said he could smell alcohol coming from the vehicle and that K.S. In the suit, Schielke is asking for declaratory and injunctive relief, compensatory, punitive or exemplary damages, and attorneys fees and costs. When the officers arrived, the suit says, Siers was found in front of the house working on S.S.s bike. 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 officers then approached Mr. Siers and asked him to stop resisting, according to the body camera footage. 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. Talmadge allegedly told responding officers what had happened and they left. 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 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. 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. Nicole Yost, a spokeswoman for the city of Loveland, said she did not know who was representing the officers. A screen capture from body-worn camera video of Karen Garner's 2020 arrest and a portrait of Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer. 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. Lawsuit alleges Loveland Police Department has pattern of wrongful DUI arrests Blood test shows man arrested in 2020 had no alcohol in system A new lawsuit targets the Loveland Police Department's DUI enforcement. 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. An internal review determined the officer was not justified in arresting a witness who refused to answer his questions. accounts, the history behind an article. Sowl's arrest was captured on body camera footage. Sarah Schielke of the Life and Liberty Law Office filed a lawsuit against the department and three of its officers Jeremiah Wood, Matt Sychla and Evan Dunlap for the arrest of Jon Siers and his daughter, only named as S.S. in the suit, in front of their home in Loveland in June of 2020. We need you. ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. After grabbing witness statements from people in the area, including a statement from Hall where he said the incident did not cause him physical pain, the officers attempted to call S.S. and Siers to no success. The charges against them were eventually dismissed, Ms. Schielke said. 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. 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. RM D5WCP3 - A police officer stops cars at a special checkpoint in Berlin, Germany, 09 April 2013. Loveland resident Pretson Sowl filed the lawsuit against the city of Loveland, Loveland Police Department and Loveland police officers Paul Ashe andBenjamin DeLima, Det. person will not be tolerated. Sowl was cited with obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest, but the charges were later dropped. Colorado Politics is published both in print and online. "Any complaint leveled against our personnel is taken seriously," the department said in a statement. Get on the ground, an officer yells, pointing a Taser at Mr. Siers and then firing it. 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. racist or sexually-oriented language. Something like "Redefine the Police" might have been better. The guy was probably arguing unnecessarily, and probably not a liberal at all but he was right in this case. They have used this funding to buy themselves more equipment and hire more officers. 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. arrested him for refusing to answer questions as a witness about a motorcycle crash outside a Loveland bar Sept. 22,2019. The girl left on her bike, at which time the officers started calling the numbers of the girl and her father, and eventually went to their house to try to find them after calling for backup officers. 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.. Schielkeis alsorepresenting Karen Garner and her family in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit against Loveland police. The Jensen Hughes report released earlier this year found officers were focusing more on arrest and citation numbers rather than quality policing, and that some officers needed a stronger emphasis on the sanctity of all human life when using force against people. Subscribe to Colorado Politics today! 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. 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. The first roughly 21 pages share Elias story of his arrest the night of Jan. 4, 2020. At one point in the interaction, Sowl can be heard telling Ashe, "I don't know what happened. January 27, 2021 / 4:46 PM 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 suit, the event caused emotional and physical trauma to not only Siers and S.S. but also Skippy. Permalink. 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. This, she said, is something she hopes is exposed and ultimately ended. Skippy can be seen in the video trying to pull its way over to him. 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. Were not (going to) shoot your dog; knock it off, Sychla can be heard saying. But Schielke states in the lawsuit several times the officers were bored and that Loveland police superiors had an unspoken practice of requiring officers to finish at least 10 citations each day in order to get promoted and onto the best shifts. 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. The incident drew interest from nearby residents resulting in someone calling the LPD. 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. Schielke filed a 52-page lawsuit Wednesday accusing Officer Hopp, Officer Daria Jalali, Sgt. 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. 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. As this department has demonstrated in the past, we are not afraid to have outside experts look at our operations to suggest changes where they may be needed or confirm where we continue to excel, it said. 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. But instead of allowing that, Officer Sychla shoved Siers, according to the lawsuit. The complaint also includes 20 instances from other residents claiming that they were wrongfully arrested; the complaint adds the ones listed were just some of arrests made by Hill and Gates. The Loveland City Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment as of Thursday afternoon. Loveland Police Department officers Jeremiah Wood and Evan Dunlap arrest a 14-year-old girl in Loveland in June of 2020. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. 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. He submitted to another breath test at the station on a certified Intoxilyzer machine and blew a 0.028%. Mr. Siers then asked the officers to stop, saying she was just a child. Be Nice. 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Sady Swanson covers public safety, criminal justice, Larimer County governmentand more throughout Northern Colorado. Be Truthful. The vast majority of cases named in the complaint also say the charges were dismissed. 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.