Denver cop lied about Aurora police sergeant’s DUI arrest, investigation finds

A Denver police officer lied about an Aurora police sergeant when she claimed the sergeant tried to ram her patrol car as she pulled him over for driving under the influence in 2021, according to newly released internal affairs documents.

Denver police Officer Suzanne Shaffer resigned while the internal affairs investigation was ongoing in 2022, according to the documents, which were released to The Denver Post last week in response to an open records request. The internal affairs investigation concluded in January.

Shaffer pulled over Aurora police Sgt. John Moreland in July 2021 after she said she saw Moreland swerving between lanes at 4720 Tower Road. Moreland, who was not in uniform and was driving a pickup truck, pulled over into a gas station and apologized, but then walked away from Shaffer when she demanded his license and insurance, according to the internal affairs investigation.

Shaffer didn’t tell him to stop and didn’t follow him. Instead, she called for backup on her police radio, telling her fellow police officers that Moreland had “almost rammed” her with his pickup truck. That was a lie. Moreland never drove his truck at Shaffer or tried to hit her patrol car, the internal investigation later found.

But Shaffer’s lie upped the urgency for backup and prompted other officers to respond quickly with their lights and sirens activated, the internal investigation found. Shaffer also told responding officers that Moreland “kept putting his hand in his right pocket.”

After leaving the scene, Moreland eventually walked back to the gas station, where Shaffer and other officers arrested him. During the arrest, she told him again that he’d “tried to ram” her and would be charged with “attempted vehicular assault.” Another officer told Moreland he would be charged with assaulting a police officer, he claimed.

He was not charged with those offenses. Moreland instead faced charges of obstructing a police officer, driving while under the influence, driving while ability impaired and lane violations. The internal affairs report did not list Moreland’s blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest.

Moreland pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired in September 2021 and the other charges were dismissed, according to the internal affairs records. He was sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation and had to pay a $1,500 fine.

Moreland resigned from the Aurora Police Department in lieu of termination in December 2021, police spokesman Joe Moylan said Wednesday. That same month, he filed the internal affairs complaint with the Denver Police Department against Shaffer, claiming she was untruthful during the arrest.

Shaffer told investigators she misspoke when she said that Moreland almost rammed her vehicle. She could not explain why she misspoke the same way several times. She also said that she felt unexpectedly vulnerable during the traffic stop that day after discovering a change in her personal circumstances the night prior.

“Shaffer volunteered that, on the night before this incident, she found out she was [redacted],” reads the report, which was redacted to remove private information. “She feared the possibility of having to use force on the suspect, as doing so might have [redacted].”

Shaffer said she immediately requested to go on “light duty” after the traffic stop to avoid further situations where she felt she was at undue risk due to the change in her circumstances. The internal affairs investigation found she let the traffic stop “spiral out of control.”