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. Sowl said he needed shoulder replacement surgery after the incident. Share with Us. or anything. She said, at the time, her records requests were not being fulfilled quickly enough to file before time ran out. Without intervention, this self-serving scam will continue and the wake of innocent citizens whose lives are destroyed by it will continue to grow.. Defund the police was the wrong slogan. When the officers arrived, the suit says, Siers was found in front of the house working on S.S.s bike. "Any complaint leveled against our personnel is taken seriously," the department said in a statement. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. Chief Ticer and Sergeant Hill did not care about these poor innocent people Gates was victimizing without consequence, the complaint said. At one point in the interaction, Sowl can be heard telling Ashe, I dont know what happened. that is degrading to another person. You can be in the know right alongside Colorados political insiders. The city of Loveland and Loveland Police Department settled the lawsuit with Sowl in January for nearly $300,000. Police were . Mr. Siers said his daughter had nightmares for months. Loveland resident Pretson Sowl filed the lawsuit against the city of Loveland, Loveland Police Department and Loveland police officers Paul Ashe andBenjamin DeLima, Det. Watch the body camera footage here According. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. I was helpless. 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. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. 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. I was helpless watching my daughter getting manhandled by three other police officers. According to the report of an internal affair, the Loveland Police Department (LPD) responded to a report of a motorcycle crash that turned out to be a rider who had lost his balance while stopped. Talmadge's roommate reported that Talmadge assaulted him and Talmadge resisted when officers told him he was under arrest. Sowl said he needed shoulder replacement surgery after the incident, according to the lawsuit. 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. 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. This, she said, is something she hopes is exposed and ultimately ended. The biggest threat to the safety of the Loveland community is - and continues to be - the Loveland Police Department itself. 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. All rights reserved. Watching my daughter go through this, I mean, I was terrified, Mr. Siers said by phone on Thursday. When S.S. admitted to them that she had slapped the boy, Officer Wood said that she was under arrest, the lawsuit states. Threats of harming another City of Loveland via YouTube/ lovgov.org On September 7, the City. "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. Get on the ground, an officer yells, pointing a Taser at Mr. Siers and then firing it. 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. 2001 - 2023 Democratic Underground, LLC. Siers had his two dogs outside on leashes at the home, according to the suit. The complaint claims Gates said he could smell alcohol coming from the vehicle and that K.S. 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. While all cases referred to each person only with initials and no full names, stories mirrored what Elias went through in early 2020. The city, in response, said it will conduct an independent review and maintained that it is committed to accountability. Use the 'Report' link on 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. 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. 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. You are just minutes from Greenwood & Myers Mortuary is the first choice for many families when they are seeking funeral services in Boulder. The lawsuit alleges officers injured Garner when they arrested her in June 2020 for alleged petty theft. I felt helpless just watching them manhandle my daughter the way they did.. 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 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. In that video, Sychla can be heard explaining to Siers why he used force, explaining he wasnt sure what the Siers intentions were. 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. 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. 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. The roof of a police patrol car at night, with the blue and red lights flashing. 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. 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. 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. The officers then approached Mr. Siers and asked him to stop resisting, according to the body camera footage. Subscribe to Colorado Politics today! 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. 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. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, 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. The city said Ashe violated three department policies and procedures:. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The suit claims that once S.S. admitted to the slap, Wood, without warning, put his hands on her to begin an arrest by starting to put handcuffs on her, stating she was under arrest for assault. But instead of allowing that, Officer Sychla shoved Siers, according to the lawsuit. Mr. Siers and his lawyer said they would not accept a settlement and expected to take the case to a jury. 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. The state's second-highest court on Thursday overturned a man's conviction for disarming a police officer, determining that Colorado law does . No wonder why you guys get a bad rap, Siers can be heard saying when Sychla returns to him on the ground. Austin Hopp, the officer who threw Ms. Garner, pleaded guilty to assaulting her in March and was sentenced to five years in prison. 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. The investigation offered a positive review on many of the departments policies and practices along with critiques on how to improve in the areas in which it was lacking. 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. 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. 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. 9NEWS is not naming the witness because he is not being accused of a crime. Schielke also said she wanted to ensure the officers who were involved were held accountable and forced to change.. 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.. but it can also be stressful. The lawsuit says the girl, Siers and the dog have all suffered since the ordeal that day and that the dog has become extremely aggressive with every stranger.. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. / CBS Colorado. 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 suit claims Sychla also attempted to conduct a hold maneuver to stop Siers, an attempt that was unsuccessful. Anyone can read what you share. 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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. It also included information on timed DUI arrest competitions put on by MADD that LPD is a part of. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. I couldn't do anything. Secure your subscription to Colorados premier political news journal, in continuous publication since 1898. In Ticer's presentation to the. accounts, the history behind an article. 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 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..