Harris Elias, a Colorado contractor and pilot, recently won a $400,000 settlement from the city of Loveland after being wrongfully arrested for DUI in 2020 reports Business Insider.
While his breath test showed a 0% and his blood test was negative, he was still detained by Officer William Gates, who allegedly smelled an “overwhelming odor of alcohol” coming from his vehicle.
“Officer Gates regularly claims (falsely) that the drivers he arrests for DUI did not signal a lane change,” according to Elias’ suit, which was filed in January 2022. “Gates does so because this is one of the most difficult allegations to disprove, given that Loveland PD does not employ dash cams (only bodycams) and so never capture the arrested individual’s actual driving.”
Elias’ lawsuit claimed that Loveland police officers engage in a competition to make the most DUI arrests, even if it means targeting innocent drivers.
“They refuse to admit any wrongdoing,” Elias said. “But the $400,000 speaks for itself.”
He also accused Officer Gates of falsely claiming that drivers he arrested for DUI failed to signal lane changes, a tactic used because Loveland PD doesn’t have dash cams to capture actual driving behavior.
“Policing is not a game. DUI enforcement should never be a competition,” Schielke said in her Monday statement. “There are innocent people’s lives and jobs at stake.”
“No admission of liability on the part of the city or its officers related to this settlement,” Kim Overholt, a representative for the city of Loveland told the outlet.
Gates and the Loveland Police Chief at the time, Robert Ticer, are no longer serving in the department.
