Rogue Cop Gave Out DUIs Like Candy--and Sent Lives Into Chaos

[Celerity]

Their blood tests came back clean. By then, it was too late.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-dui-arrests-by-police-officer-jason-haferman-of-fort-collins-unleashed-chaos

https://archive.ph/voyeG



Harris Elias and his 15-year-old son were driving home from dinner at a local Fort Collins, Colorado, taco spot when they got pulled over. Elias, a 51-year-old single father of three, told The Daily Beast that he immediately “put his defenses up” as he noticed Officer Jason Haferman walking up to his driver-side window on Dec. 3, 2021. “At first, he asked me if I knew why he had pulled me over, which I thought was a ridiculous question because I had no idea why he would pull me over,” Elias said. “As soon as he asked me what I had to drink, I knew it was happening all over again.”

The harrowing sense of déjà vu, he said, was spurred because just two years prior, he had been arrested by a Loveland, Colorado, police officer on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI). The case was eventually dismissed, but it instilled a deep fear of overzealous law enforcement in Elias. In a police report obtained by The Daily Beast, Haferman claimed Elias’ “eyes were glassy, pupils constricted, and his breathing was deep” and immediately placed him under arrest to get tested for drugs and alcohol at a local hospital.

A Colorado Bureau of Investigation Forensic Services lab report later detected no drugs or alcohol in his system. But before those results came back, Elias was already halfway to hell. “I can’t explain what it is like walking through the hospital handcuffed. To see how people look at you, and how the staff interacts with you,” Elias said. “It was really degrading.” The humiliation, he said, was just the start. When he was allowed to bond out of jail three days later, he said, he had to deal with child protective services and beg a judge to let him have contact with his son.



That’s because in Colorado, state law dictates that an individual who commits a DUI that involves a child can also be prosecuted for child abuse, a charge Elias faced in addition to driving under the influence and careless driving. Elias eventually got all charges dropped after approximately two months—but, he said, the sting hasn’t gone away. “Knowing that I couldn’t even drive with my own kid and there was zero evidence that I violated any law… it made me feel six inches tall,” Elias explained. “By far, the thing that doesn’t go away from this case is the child abuse aspect of it. It is the ultimate way to hurt someone who has spent the last 15 years as a single dad.”

snip

[dembotoz]

1. as i get older i trust the police and court system less and less

its a rich mans game

[MyOwnPeace]

2. I'm not understanding the motive (abuse of 'power'?)......

but I agree with the 'less and less' matter of trust. I recently had a 'dispute' with an off-duty state patrolman who was flashing his badge (Herschel Walker, anyone?) after he had been 'guilty' of some questionable driving procedures.

Not at all comforting realizing the power they have and can do terrible wrong, just like the OP shares...........

[exboyfil]

6. Awards from MADD for DUI arrests

Convictions on the other hand...

[dembotoz]

14. wonder how many just pled out

Lawyers cost money
A credible defense costs money

you get offered a plea deal and you take it.

I would not want to face i jury in my very red county.
The police are gods

they arrested you so you must be guilty.

[exboyfil]

16. Yes

I bet that enters into as well.

Having you arrest and criminal record out there assures that you will be the first to be targeted for easy fishing. So once you are in the system, it becomes so much harder for you going forward. That is what was going on with the Florida cop planting drugs. He picked individuals who had a history as his victims. That cop walked on all the charges where they did not have video of him planting the drugs. This after the sworn testimony of the victims - so a discredited cop has more credibility than a regular citizen.

[dembotoz]

19. on the juries i have been on in red areas....cops are god

I DO NOT know how to fix it, but the current system sucks

[The Jungle 1]

3. America we have a policing problem!

We can fix it but ignoring it will not fix it!

Back the blue until they beat you.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. FTP. ACAB. K&R.

[Lonestarblue]

5. We do have an enormous police problem.

The FBI warned more than a decade ago that white supremacists were infiltrating police departments. That’s a big problem.

Then think of the MAGA crowd and their love for violence and hatred of anyone not exactly like them, and put police uniforms on many of them.

Then add the police unions that refuse to do anything but strengthen the violence of officers.

Then add the proliferation of all sorts of guns that anyone can carry anywhere and the rational fear that police have of people carrying those guns, resulting in the mentality to shoot to kill first and then get the facts later.

Then add the politicians, mostly Republicans, who never look at the causes of crime, but only pass laws to lock up people and fund for-profit prisons, especially targeting minority communities. They’re always pushing “tough on crime” policies and police brutality, as when Trump said that police should be rough on the people they arrest.

It’s hard to solve big problems like this when you refuse to look at the causes—poverty, drugs, poor education, lack of community—and instead look at how to make more money from punishing the crimes.

[RocRizzo55]

7. #ACAB

'nuff said.

[Mr. Steve]

8. cop gone

This particular cop has been terminated.

[moreland01]

9. Can't wait for tomorrow's

City Council meeting. The public comments at the beginning are always entertaining.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Only to be hired by another agency?

Cops need to be licensed like stock brokers are, with a U-4 type system that is searchable by the public. Too many bad marks and you lose your license.

Also cops should be required to carry liability insurance for their misdeeds so settlements aren’t covered by the taxpayer. Again, too many misdeeds and the premiums skyrocket, making it impossible for the cop to continue as an LEO.

[uponit7771]

12. +1,

[uponit7771]

13. "... to another city to terrorize those citizens too." I thought that part needed to be on there

[blueinredohio]

10. Not to mention fines,.money to bond out of jail and lawyer fees.

[Polybius]

15. So what happened when the bad cop gave them the breathalyzer test?

Did he lie and say that it came back positive? After the cop was suspended, what did he say his excuse was? Because he'd be arrested if he admitted that he purposely put innocents in jail.

[exboyfil]

17. The breathalyzer doesn't really do any good

Because they can always claim drugs even though they first say they smell alcohol.


There are two breathalyzer tests - The roadside one is sometimes not admissible but used to establish probable cause (works about the same as sobriety test). The one at the station is the calibrated one that actually is admissible in court all the time. That is the one that usually has implications of retention of your driver's license if you refuse to take it.

Lots of lawyers advise to never do the field sobriety or field breathalyzer. One thing that definitely needs to happen is that, if the station breathalyzer registers below level, the blood test should be fast tracked. Only cases where you have reckless driving should there be any implications from the arrest until a positive test comes back. Somehow the system needs to be changed to do this.

[Polybius]

18. I only did one in my lifetime, back in 2000 when I was in my 20's

It was after midnight and I was coming back from a concert with three young ladies. I was lost in Spanish Harlem, looking for ways to get back to Staten Island (name pre-GPS days!). It was a bad area and I was stopped at a light with no traffic. A group of people (from behind) were coming toward my car so I blew the light. I was pulled over.

I explained to the cop my situation (in the most respectful way possible, calling him "sir" as well), and he asked if I had anything to drink at the concert. I still remember my answer, as I told him "not in a month." He said something like "Ok, if you take a breathalyzer test and pass it, I'll let you go. I quickly agreed, and he told me to get out of the car and walk to his car. I then took the test, and he told me to walk back to mine.

He then came back and told me that I was good, and gave me directions to the highway to get back to SI. My experience was beyond positive. I can only imagine how different things would have gone had I refused.