A Denver sheriff’s deputy was fired after supervisors determined he shoved an inmate into a wall, slammed the inmate’s head into a sharp corner and cut him, then kicked the man in the face while he was kneeling and handcuffed.
Deputy Safety Manager Mary Mala testa fired Steven Koehler as of Dec. 12 for a series of alleged assaults March 22 on inmate Robert Duran, according to documents released Thursday by Denver’s Career Service Hearing Office.
The dismissal notice said Koehler was careless in performance of his duties, failed to follow rules and lied to supervisors or falsified documents.
Koehler’s attorney, Brian Reynolds, has filed an appeal, maintaining that his client’s actions were justified given the circumstances and in keeping with his training.
Malatesta and Reynolds could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
The alleged assaults on Duran, 43, who was arrested March 22 on two counts of assault, were partially witnessed by two other deputies, and part was captured on video at the Denver City Jail. Koehler was placed on paid administrative leave shortly after the incident.
Duran has a lengthy criminal history dating back 20 years, including five arrests for resisting police; 10 assaults, including first-degree assault; drug-dealing charges; and numerous alcohol-related offenses, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
Koehler has been a deputy since 2000.
On the day of the alleged incidents, Koehler was assigned to the elevator in a shift that went until midnight.
Koehler later told Internal Affairs investigators he had been warned that Duran had already assaulted another inmate. He said Duran was very hostile and started yelling at him and using hand gestures.
According to documents filed in the case, video shows that Koehler pushed Duran into the elevator on the second floor with enough force that the inmate slammed into the back of the elevator, already occupied by three other inmates. The video itself has not yet been made public.
Koehler said that when they arrived at the fourth floor, Duran refused his order to get out of the elevator and took a fighting stance.
But according to his termination notice, video shows that Duran put his hands in the air in a surrendering gesture and that Koehler quickly entered the elevator, grabbed Duran by the “head area” and forced his head into the sharp edge of a window in the sally port, cutting Duran’s head open.
Koehler claimed that he tried to protect two fellow deputies from a still-aggressive Duran, who was kneeling on the floor with his hands handcuffed behind his back.
“I never contacted him with my toe or my heel; it was with the bottom of my shoe,” Koehler told investigators. “It was not a kicking mode; it was stomping, pushing down so they could get out of the sally port.”
But the other deputies contradicted Koehler, saying that when one of the deputies was holding Duran down and ordering him to “stop resisting,” Koehler kicked Duran in the right side of the face and head.
Duran was taken to a hospital, where he received stitches for his injuries, according to the report.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
