Denver Police Officer Julian Archuleta was arrested this week on a felony charge of tampering with evidence, and numerous other charges including theft and official misconduct. Archuleta unwittingly recorded himself handling cash that never made its way into evidence. He has been booked into jail and suspended without pay pending the outcome of an investigation.
According to investigators, the incident occurred on October 7. Archuleta had been sent to a crash with injuries stemming from a police chase involving a shooting suspect. While on scene, his body camera caught him going through the suspect’s clothing, coming across a roll of bills. Further along in the video, Archuleta is seen counting the stack of cash, with a $100 bill clearly visible on top. All that was turned in was $118 dollars, with no hundreds involved. A detective reviewing the video caught the discrepancy and Internal Affairs got involved. After confronting Archuleta, he stated he “would check” to see if any money fell into his bag by mistake. Low and behold, he mysteriously found 12 $100 bills which he then turned in. Internal Affairs didn’t believe his story about the mysteriously reappearing bills, and he was immediately suspended without pay. The department must have had sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to convince a district attorney of his guilt.
This is Denver’s second officer to be arrested in the last month. Officer Anselmo Jaramillo thought he was being funny when he placed his loaded handgun on his desk and pointed it at two other officers. He is scheduled to appear before a judge on Nov. 9, for assault charges. Despite their arrests, both officers remain on the job, with Jaramillo having simply been assigned to a desk job pending the investigation’s conclusion. Denver Police Department has become one of the more corrupt police agencies in the United States. Last year, the Denver PD was responsible for the killing of four unarmed people of color, all of whom were killed while sitting in their cars. Of course, no arrests or discipline has been enacted for any of the officers involved, as the thin blue line is mighty thick in Denver.
As a result of his actions, all charges against the shooting suspect were dropped. This action taken by Archuleta, a trusted police officer, undermines all the work he had previously put in, leaving many of his cases in questionable status. Odds are, all pending cases involving Officer Archuleta will be dismissed due to a lack of credibility. Many of his former arrestees will also have sufficient grounds to appeal their verdicts. This case reinforces the fact that police are only as good as the system allows them to be. You cannot be a good cop in a corrupt system. Despite believing he was above the law, Officer Archuleta will likely lose his position and face jail time. His arraignment is scheduled for later this week.
Sources: Cop Block, The Denver Post.
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