Colorado
Fired Denver cops to appeal
Posted: Apr 5, 2011 6:20 PM by Greg Boyce
DENVER (AP) - Two Denver police officers fired for their aggressive, videotaped arrest of a suspect are challenging their termination.
The Denver Post reports that Devin Sparks and Randy Murr filed an appeal Monday with the city's Civil service Commission. The two say the termination wasn't "supported by the preponderance of evidence." Denver Safety Manager Charles Garcia fired the officers in March. The former safety manager, Ron Perea resigned in August, after a public outcry over his decision to suspended rather than fire the two.
Demands that they be fired grew after the release of a video showing the officers throwing Michael DeHerrera to the ground outside a nightclub in April 2009. DeHerrera is the son of a Pueblo County Sheriff's Deputy and was talking to his father on his cell phone when he was thrown to the street.
Murr and Sparks argue that Garcia didn't have the jurisdiction to fire them because Perea had already disciplined them.
As Seen On News 5
