Colorado officials call for investigation after police officer found passed out at the wheel of his patrol car
Colorado officials call for independent review after Aurora police officer found passed out at the wheel of his patrol car. Officers at the scene report smelling alcohol and describing possible intoxication, body cam footage reveals.
Officials in Colorado are calling for an independent review of a police department’s handling of an apparent case of drunken driving involving one of their own after newly released bodycam footage showed one officer describing the man found passed out behind the wheel as “a little intoxicated.”
Officer Nathan Meier, of the Aurora Police Department, was found passed out in his patrol car on March 29 after a woman called 911 at around 3:30 p.m. to report a police officer who was “not responsive” in an unmarked police car stopped in the middle of the road, Fox 31 reported.
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Police bodycam footage, obtained by the Fox affiliate out of Denver, showed Meier, who was on duty, passed out in the front seat as fellow officers work to remove his coat, vest, belt and weapon. Broken glass on the passenger seat showed where firefighters had tried to reach Meier.
One officer can be heard describing Meier as “a little intoxicated” while several police reports obtained by Fox 31 reveal other officers on the scene detected a faint odor of alcohol.
Meier was never investigated for a possible DUI but was demoted after an internal investigation in which he submitted blood alcohol samples.
In an email, obtained by the Denver Post, the police chief, Nick Metz, doubled down on his decision when addressing the recent reports.
“I want you to know I unequivocally stand by my decision regarding the involved officer because I care about the human being who stepped up and owned his incredibly poor decision … and continues to courageously own it,” he wrote.
On Monday, during the Aurora City Council study session, City Manager Jim Twombly announced that the city was calling on former U.S. Attorney John Walsh to investigate the department’s handling of Meier’s case.
George Braucher, 18th Judicial District attorney, told Fox 31 that he will also look into the new evidence to determine whether the department showed favoritism, but making a case against the officer could be difficult, he added.
"How do I have access to that blood? Just because a hospital took it doesn’t mean I can walk in and say 'Hey I want that sample of blood that you got,'" he said.
“We reached out to the Aurora Police Department. They’ve been very cooperative and forthcoming in providing us the information that they had generated based on their contact with officer Meier.”
Police said in a statement on Facebook that there wasn't enough evidence on the scene to indicate Meier was intoxicated.
"Some of the officers who had first arrived on scene had contact with Ofc. Meier and smelled a very faint odor of a possible alcoholic beverage on his breath. The odor did not linger and was not prevalent. There was no evidence located in the vehicle indicating this was an incident involving alcohol. This incident was treated as an emergency medical situation until more information could be gathered."
The statement went on to say that a DUI case was not pursued because of an "inability to exclude a medical condition," among other reasons, and an internal investigation was launched.
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"During that process Ofc. Meier voluntarily shared his medical records which indicated the level of his alcohol consumption. Based on [the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act], this was information he did not have to release to the department. During his Internal Affairs interview, Ofc. Meier immediately admitted to his actions and the poor choices he made that day, and has been cooperative throughout the process."
Meier was demoted in addition to being placed on an unpaid suspension at the time of the investigation. Police said he was also subject to a "financial impact" over $20,000.
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