AURORA | An Aurora police sergeant has been placed on paid leave after he was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk in Denver earlier this week.
As first reported by The Denver Post, authorities arrested Aurora Police Sgt. John Moreland, 41, near 4400 Tower Rd. In Denver on July 5, court records show.
He was charged with obstructing a peace officer, veering out of a traffic lane and driving under the influence.
Citing court documents, The Post reported that Moreland initially fled the scene after Denver police tried to pull him over, though he returned several minutes later.
Aurora police have opened an internal investigation into the incident, but the query won’t be completed until Moreland’s criminal case is adjudicated in court, according to Lt. Chris Amsler, spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department.
Amsler said Moreland will likely remain on paid leave until his criminal case is closed.
In October 2016, Moreland was charged with possessing a gun while drunk — a class two misdemeanor — in Arapahoe County, records show. The charge was ultimately dismissed.
Former Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz suspended Moreland for 60 hours without pay as a result of the 2016 charge. Supervisors determined his broke a pair of department rules: “conformance to law” and “professional conduct and responsibility,” according to Amsler.
Aurora police originally hired Moreland in August 2007, and he is currently assigned to the department’s internet crimes against children unit.
He is set to be arraigned in his DUI case on Aug. 4.
Ya know, this has to be the hardest job I can think of, I hope everything works out for this guy, I think people battling their own demons, all of us, don’t judge. God bless this man.
Really? And God bless everyone who gets a DUI, then.
A paid vacation? Woo-hoo! But why paid?
It’s things like this that cause people to lose faith in the police.