AURORA | An Aurora detention officer has been charged with second-degree assault after police say he used excessive force during an October incident that left a jail detainee hospitalized and requiring surgery.
Detention Officer Christopher Freitas, 41, is accused of injuring 28-year-old Austin Young during an Oct. 6 altercation at the Aurora Detention Center, city officials said in a news release. Aurora has its own relatively small detention center, generally used to hold arrestees until they can be released or transported to county jails.
Freitas has worked at the facility since October 2023 and is now on unpaid, indefinite suspension, Aurora spokesperson Jennifer Soules said in a statement.
Detention center surveillance footage shows another detention officer processing Young on the morning of Oct. 6 when Young punched the officer, according to police.
Freitas and other officers responded, and video from a nearby cell allegedly shows Freitas pinning and pulling Young’s right arm around a cell door and later standing on his left arm.
Young was taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery to restore blood flow to his right arm. An X-ray revealed a fracture in the same arm. Toxicology tests showed Young had several substances in his system, including opioids, cocaine and benzodiazepines, the city said.
Detention staff reported the incident immediately and asked the Aurora Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit to investigate.
Police submitted their findings to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which filed one count of second-degree assault against both Freitas and Young. Prosecutors said Young’s charge stems from punching the officer during the initial encounter.
The city said it “takes every accusation of excessive force seriously” and called mistreatment of detainees “unacceptable,” Soules said.
Detention officers are employed by the city’s Court Administration Department and are not sworn police officers.
Aurora is currently under a state-mandated consent decree linked to an investigation that found Aurora police have for years exhibited “patterns and practices” of using excessive force against the public, especially people of color.
This is a sad example of a Department that is poorly trained and a justice system that runs scared and cannot deal with what use of force looks like. You can clearly see that the suspect has decided to assault jail personnel and to very actively resist arrest. As a use of force instructor, I realize that the administrative personnel and the investigative personnel have little understanding of use of force. In this case, you have numerous officers trying to get the suspect controlled. When a suspect is on drugs, that is often very difficult. Using the door frame to get leverage on the suspect’s arm is something that is taught in some circumstances, particularly in forced car extractions. Standing on his arm is just another way of putting enough weight to hold the arm down. What is humorous is that if anyone should be charged, it is the officer who can be seen punching the suspect while multiple officers are struggling with him. However, it attests to the suspect’s resistance that the officer deemed that necessary when there were that many officers trying to get control. Administrative and legal people seem to think that any time there is an injury, that someone must have done something wrong. In these struggles’ the suspect on drugs often struggles in ways that a normal person would not do. They often push their resistance past the point of injury. A person who is not on drugs or highly emotionally charged will stop when they feel something will be injured. I don’t know what happened before he came to the jail. Sometimes they have been injured in a prior struggle but the drugs keep them from feeling it. You can usually tell when an officer has lost control and starts punching and kicking the suspect. What I see here is an attempt to gain control, not an assault.
The prior case where the Arapahoe County DA charged Officer Haubert for assault without showing the video that eventually cleared him, is a prime example of the DA’s ignorance on use of force. It is sad when the prosecutors and the police cannot realistically judge use for force and fall prey to the desire to appease a public that also does not understand use of force. If we cannot support our enforcement people in a realistic way, then we don’t deserve to have anyone protect us.
Here is something else that you need to understand. After George Floyd, our legislature passed a terrible bill (SB217) that created vague and punitive guidelines for law enforcement. That bill drove thousands of officers out of law enforcement. It also created an environment where officers were forced to report cases of excessive force where there is even a slight chance that someone down the line would feel it was excessive. So, an officer might not feel the it was excessive but he/she is forced to report it like it was for fear of prosecution themselves. In the Haubert case, the DA convicted the female officer of failure to intervene without showing the video that later cleared the primary officer. So, a female officer was convicted of failing to stop excessive force that was deemed in a second trial of the male officer to not have been excessive. How does that work? It is imperative that the police department and the DA’s office be able to discern the difference between an assault and an attempt to gain control. They owe it to the people doing the job. In the Haubert case, the individuals within the department who made false reports and basically hid the key video were never punished. As a former officer, I am appalled at the lack of integrity.
Here is another kicker for you folks who don’t understand. How many other people forced his arm behind his back? How many others put a foot on him or tased him. Multiple people are holding him down, Now, under our poorly written SB217, the chokehold is outlawed, However, the definition of the chokehold includes anything where you made it difficult for him to breathe. You don’t have to touch their neck. So, technically, you could look at charging everyone who put weight on him. This shows the stupidity of our legislature. When pain compliance and leverage don’t work, you are left with brute force. That means you put enough weight on him to hold down until you can get control. Obviously, as soon as you get control, you must get off of him and make sure he can breathe. In wrestling and judo, you put weight on the other guy to maker it hard for him to fight, I don’t want you to be able to breathe while you are fighting me. Let us deal with the real world. If you haven’t been involved in these types of struggles, you probably don’t understand.
Sad miscarriage of justice. Apparently, APD has no ability to realistically judge use of force. I am not surprised since the training has become totally inadequate. Already there are false statements in the paper about how this occurred. This was an attempt to control, not an assault. Watch the video and you will see that the suspect continues to resist long after his arm is bent around the doorframe. Notice how many times he is tased and how many people crank on his right arm trying to get it behind his back. Notice also how many different officers stand or kneel on his arm.leg, or ankle. There is an attempt to simply hold him down until they can get control of his arms. This is an assaultive suspect on drugs.
The incompetence and lack of knowledge demonstrated by the APD continues past the past coverup of the incompetent and dishonest investigation of the pistol whipping by Officer Haubert. Having been part of APD for many years, I realize that the training is inadequate and that the investigators and administrative staff are ignorant in the area of use of force. Any real examination of the videos of this struggle shows that Freitas was part of a poorly organized effort to control an assaultive suspect who is on drugs. It is unfortunate that Freitas will have to go to court to clear himself instead of having someone with a little police knowledge and the courage to counter misperceptions explain it to the justice system. God save us from cowardly and poorly trained police leadership who subject their people to unfair prosecution without a thorough understanding of the facts.
I realize that this is a rant. However, this detention officer deserves a fair look and not the distortions that are being put forth to appease those timid souls who think it just looks bad. The news is already putting out things like the officer stood on the injured arm. He stood on the uninjured arm. Apparently, they did not even realize that his right arm was injured. Look at how they handle him when they put him into the chair. Also, the news is saying that the suspect quit struggling as soon as the officer bent his arm around the doorframe. Patently untrue. The struggle to get him cuffed continued for several minutes after that. Easy for the system and the news to put out falsehoods at the expense of someone just trying to do the job. Sad when you can’t count on your own city for fairness.
Trying to gain control of drug up suspects who have chosen to assualt corrction officers rather than to submit to processing is not and should not be a Marquis of Queensbury rules fight. Those fights go on indefinitely and leave either side an equal opportunity to win. Newsflash. we never want the suspect to win. We want the officers to win and qjuickly and decisively. By so doing both sides in the coat are protected from even worse injury. Will there be some injury, perhaps, but not that always sustained in long, drawn out, but equal fights. Basically FAFO!
Trying to gain control of drug up suspects who have chosen to assault corrction officers rather than to submit to processing is not and should not be a Marquis of Queensbury rules fight. Those fights go on indefinitely and leave either side an equal opportunity to win. Newsflash, we never want the suspect to win. We want the officers to win and qjuickly and decisively. By so doing both sides in the combat are protected from even worse injury. Will there be some injury, perhaps, but not that always sustained in long, drawn out, but equal fights. Basically FAFO!
Jeepers Publius, maybe try proof reading your copy before you double post it.