In Fort Collins and Larimer County, lying to a police officer is taken very seriously. Providing information to law enforcement that you know to be false will result in False Reporting charges. However, it seems the Weld County DA does not hold everyone to the same standard as that’s EXACTLY what a Johnstown Police Officer just got away with. According to the report, the officer was fired after an internal investigation into a high-speed chase on I-25. There are specific policies in place regarding high-speed chases and the officer knew he was violating that policy. Johnstown officers are told not to pursue non-violent suspects, so the officer lied and claimed that the person driving the truck that had been reported as stolen had tried to hit him – which would likely be charged as felony Assault on a Peace Officer. However, NOTHING in the dash cam, body cam or even his own reports when calling the stolen vehicle in mentioned this ‘violent’ act. The investigation concluded that the officer was lying and added this information to his report after he was questioned about why he engaged in a high-speed chase. All the information was provided to the Weld County DA and they determined that the officer’s actions ‘were not criminal.’ I call BS. Let’s look at the law to see if those actions meet the language of the law.
Larimer County False Reporting to Authorities Attorney: Definition of False Reporting by Lying in Colorado
The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of False Reporting to Authorities – C.R.S. 18-8-111 – is:
(I) He or she knowingly:
(A) Causes by any means, including but not limited to activation, a false alarm of fire or other emergency or a false emergency exit alarm to sound or to be transmitted to or within an official or volunteer fire department, ambulance service, law enforcement agency, or any other government agency which deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property; or
(B) Prevents by any means, including but not limited to deactivation, a legitimate fire alarm, emergency exit alarm, or other emergency alarm from sounding or from being transmitted to or within an official or volunteer fire department, ambulance service, law enforcement agency, or any other government agency that deals with emergencies involving danger to life or property; or
(II) He or she makes a report or knowingly causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities of a crime or other incident within their official concern when he or she knows that it did not occur; or
(III) He or she makes a report or knowingly causes the transmission of a report to law enforcement authorities pretending to furnish information relating to an offense or other incident within their official concern when he or she knows that he or she has no such information or knows that the information is false; or
(IV)(A) He or she knowingly provides false identifying information to law enforcement authorities.
Subsection (III) I think fits very well with the actions of the officer – the officer knowingly created a report and provided information that he knew was false. This report was provided to other law enforcement agents and likely the District Attorney’s office as well and if the person driving the stolen vehicle had been caught, that person would have been facing the felony Assault charge, at least until the lying officer was exposed. I’m not seeing even a question here about whether the actions were criminal and you better believe if a citizen knowingly provided information about a crime that they knew was false, they would be charged swiftly. Guess police officers, who should be held to an even higher standard if you ask me, truly are above the law in some jurisdictions.
If you or someone you love has been charged with False Reporting after being accused of lying to law enforcement, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-658-0007 to schedule a free initial consultation. Together, we can protect your future.
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