Fort Collins Obstructing a Police Officer
Obstructing a Peace Officer: Another Protest Related Charge

Read more about Obstructing a Peace Officer charges and how the protests have caused a rise in these charges.

Obstructing a Peace Officer is charged in Larimer County and Fort Collins when a person uses or threatens to use force to keep an officer from doing his or her job. Recently in the news, we have seen many videos and pictures of protests, some of which show officers doing things like pushing people down when they get in their way or using other types of management tools (pepper spray, tear gas, etc.) to ‘control’ the crowd. Even after these protesters are seemingly assaulted (I mean, did you see the video of the man who was pushed down by a cop, hit his head, and was bleeding profusely while the rest of the officers just stepped around him not offering any aid? Ironic that he was protesting about police brutality and racism and then ends up being brutalized by police) they sometimes end up with criminal charges, like Obstruction of a Police Officer.

Obstruction of a Peace Officer in Larimer County: Definition of Obstructing a Police Officer

The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of Obstructing a Peace Officer, Firefighter, Emergency Medical Service Provider, Rescue Specialist, or Volunteer – C.R.S. 18-8-104 – is:

A person commits obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical service provider, rescue specialist, or volunteer when, by using or threatening to use violence, force, physical interference, or an obstacle, such person knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the enforcement of the penal law or the preservation of the peace by a peace officer, acting under color of his or her official authority; knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the prevention, control, or abatement of fire by a firefighter, acting under color of his or her official authority; knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the administration of medical treatment or emergency assistance by an emergency medical service provider or rescue specialist, acting under color of his or her official authority; or knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the administration of emergency care or emergency assistance by a volunteer, acting in good faith to render such care or assistance without compensation at the place of an emergency or accident.

Basically, if a police officer feels that you got in their way, they can charge you with this crime, claiming that you were a physical interference or that standing you ground was using physical force.

Sentence for Obstructing a Police Officer in Loveland and Estes Park

In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, Obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical service provider, rescue specialist, or volunteer is a class 2 misdemeanor. This level misdemeanor is punishable by 90 to 364 days in the Larimer County Jail.


If you or someone you love has been charged with Obstruction of a Peace Officer, 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 your free consultation. Together, we can protect your future.

Photo by Shane Aldendorff from Pexels