Colorado Cops Falsely Arrested Him for a DUI. Now He's Getting a $400,000 Settlement.

In 2020, Harris Elias was arrested for driving drunk even though tests showed he was completely sober. After filing a lawsuit, he's getting a hefty settlement payout.

Harris Elias was driving home one night in January 2020 when he was pulled over by a Loveland, Colorado, police officer and falsely accused of driving drunk. Even after a breathalyzer test proved that he was sober, Elias was forced to take a blood test—which again proved his sobriety. 

After the arrest, Elias filed a lawsuit against the officer who arrested him. This week, the city of Loveland agreed to pay $400,000 to settle the case.

At around 10:30 p.m. on January 4, 2020, Elias was driving home from his girlfriend's house when he was pulled over by Loveland police officer William Gates, who was part of a DUI-specific task force. Gates claimed that Elias failed to signal a lane change—a claim Elias disputes.

"Officer Gates regularly claims (falsely) that the drivers he arrests for DUI did not signal a lane change," claimed Elias' suit, which was filed in January 2022. "Gates does so because this is one of the most difficult allegations to disprove, given that Loveland PD does not employ dash cams (only bodycams) and so never capture the arrested individual's actual driving."

The lawsuit claims that Gates attempted to confuse Elias by asking him several questions extremely quickly, including "nearly simultaneously" asking Elias for his license and registration and how much he had drank that night. 

According to the complaint, Elias found the encounter unnerving, and after fulfilling his legal obligation to provide license and insurance, he informed Gates that he was using his right to remain silent and would not answer further questions. Gates replied, in an apparent attempt to create evidence that Elias was drunk, "Well, I smell the overwhelming odor of alcohol coming from your vehicle." 

After Elias again refused to answer further questions, Gates returned to his patrol vehicle and called for additional officers. When two more police officers arrived, they eventually decided to arrest Elias and take him to the Loveland Police Station for a breathalyzer test.

Even though Elias' breathalyzer test showed a 0.000 percent blood alcohol content level, Gates insisted that Elias must have been intoxicated and ordered him to take a blood test. According to the lawsuit, Elias requested an attorney at this point, but "Gates told him no, that he needed to agree to comply with a blood test now or he was going to mark him as a refusal and his license would be revoked."

Elias eventually agreed to take the test. Nearly three months later, the results again came back negative, and the case against him was dismissed entirely. But this wasn't the end of Elias' troubles. Elias was a Federal Aviation Administration–licensed pilot, meaning that a false DUI arrest threatened his livelihood.

The FAA "has some of the most strict mandatory reporting requirements known to any agency. The penalty for failure to report can lead to an emergency revocation of all certificates (i.e., complete revocation of his pilot's license)," the lawsuit reads, noting that this kicked off an incredibly stressful and complex process to report and explain his arrest. Even though the case was dropped, "Elias will have to report this wrongful arrest on every medical renewal with the FAA for the rest of his life."

But some justice was served this week when the city of Loveland agreed to pay Elias a $400,000 settlement to end the lawsuit.

"This is, as far as we can tell, the largest non-confidential monetary payment ever made in Colorado to settle a civil rights lawsuit where the primary allegation is a wrongful DUI arrest with no physical injuries or time spent in jail," Elias' attorney, Sarah Schielke, told Fox 31, a local news station. "Policing is not a game. DUI enforcement should never be a competition. There are innocent people's lives and jobs at stake."

Elias wasn't the only person harmed in a false DUI arrest by Gates. According to the suit, in the year before Elias' arrest, Gates had made at least four false DUI arrests. 

"Hardly anyone realizes what a cash cow DUI arrests are for police," Schielke told Fox 31. "The more arrests they make for this one type of crime, the more money they get, and the more awards they receive. Meanwhile, there are zero consequences for wrongful arrests of innocent people. Zero. It's perverse."

Comments

[jimc5499]

Does anybody realize that most of the manufacturers of breathalyzers don't warrant their product for what it is supposed to do? A breathalyzer beams a specific wavelength through a breath sample. Certain chemicals in the sample will cause changes in the wavelength of the light. A sensor will note the changes and run the change through an equation using a partition ratio and come up with a reading. The reading is supposed to be the amount of Ethyl Alcohol in a certain volume of blood. The problem is that other chemicals change the wavelength of the light. These include Isopropyl Alcohol, Naphtha, Toulene, MEK, gasoline and others. Another thing is that everybody doesn't have the same Partition Ratio, so 3200 is used. The manufacturers have defied Court orders to allow the program in their breathalyzers to be examined, so there is no certification that it is following acceptable standards. It is only with a blood test that you can get an accurate measurement of the amount of Ethyl Alcohol. Originally breathalyzers were to get probable cause for a blood test. They don't like blood tests these days. According to MADD they let too many people off the hook. According to some Governments they reduce the amount of revenue that is generated by their Police. Where I live, the record is five shots of Narcan in one night, catch and release, while they will try to prosecute you for anything over 0.04 for DUI.

[Wizard4169]

MADD is a classic example of the perils of advocacy organizations. They start out targeting a real problem. In time they persuade more and more people and eventually steps are taken to actually solve or at least mitigate the problem. But instead of declaring victory and moving on to something else, they often keep pushing for more action even in the face of declining marginal effects. This is often aggravated by the fact that moderate supporters do tend to drop out while the most extreme keep going. Their genuinely good achievements give them credibility they no longer deserve. And besides, who wants to look like they're in favor of [insert bad thing here]?
I'm not sure how to address this, except to point out that any new laws should be considered rationally and not just emotionally. Both sides should acknowledge that any law can potentially have both costs and benefits. Laws should only be passed if there's reason to believe that the benefits will equal or exceed the costs. No, it's not automatically worth it if it "saves just one". If the same (always finite) resources used another way might save ten or a hundred or a thousand, then I think the choice is pretty clear.

[TJJ2000]

I'm not sure charging a compulsive bank-robber $400,000 does much good since the citizens-bank will just get robbed more. Bad actions by government should yield prison sentences (actual punishment) not just excuses to steal more from the working man.

[Truthteller1]

Pigs.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Don’t insult a fine animal by comparing it to a cop.

[NM Dave]

No way. Sadly, today's cops are pure evil, trained to lie, cheat, and steal. The criminal with a badge that came close to destroying a man's life and livelihood has done it before and will undoubtedly do it again, earning accolades from the crime bosses that he answers to.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

After the arrest, Elias filed a lawsuit against the officer who arrested him. This week, the city of Loveland agreed to pay $400,000 to settle the case.

When the lawsuit was filed "against the officer" why is the city paying $400,000... and not the officer?

[Longtobefree]

By "the city" I assume either the taxpayers, or an insurance company paid by the taxpayers, right?
In any case, the cop pays zero.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Again, that doesn't matter. If the officer was sued, why are the taxpayers paying for it?

*looks at lawsuit*

Oh, it's because he sued both:

HARRIS ELIAS,
Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF LOVELAND, and
OFFICER WILLIAM GATES,

PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests this Court enter judgment in his favor and
against Defendants, and award him all relief as allowed by law and equity, including but not
limited to:
a. Declaratory relief and injunctive relief, as appropriate;
b. Actual economic damages as established at trial;
c. Compensatory damages, including but not limited to those for past and future
pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses, physical and mental pain, trauma, fear, anxiety,
loss of enjoyment of life, loss of liberty, loss of sense of security, and other nonpecuniary losses;
d. Punitive or exemplary damages for all claims as allowed by law in an amount to be
determined at trial;
e. Issuance of an Order mandating appropriate equitable relief, including but not limited
to:
i. Issuance of a formal written apology from each Defendant to Plaintiff;
ii. The imposition of appropriate policy changes designed to avoid future similar
misconduct by Defendants;
iii. Mandatory training designed to avoid and prevent future similar misconduct by
Defendants;
iv. Imposition of disciplinary action against appropriate employees of Loveland;
f. Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest at the highest lawful rate;
g. Attorney’s fees and costs; and
h. Such further relief as justice requires.

So I'm guessing all the monetary stuff came from the city, and all the imposition, apologies and "retraining" will affect the officer by way of the HR department.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

Then there's this:

“However we got here,” Schielke states, “this settlement sends a powerful message: Policing is not a game. DUI enforcement should never be a competition. There are innocent people’s lives and jobs at stake. Let this serve as a reminder to every cop in this state – if you decide to ignore all signs of driver innocence just to get another ‘notch’ on your DUI arrest belt – you will be held accountable.”

Held accountable. Let's take a look and see how the City of Loveland perceives this accountability:

The city of Loveland sent FOX31 the following statement after the settlement was announced:

“The City of Loveland has agreed to settle the Harris Elias v. City of Loveland case regarding a January 2020 arrest in the amount of $400,000. There is no admission of liability on the part of the City or its officers related to this settlement.

“Any time there is a civil lawsuit filed against our officers alleging misconduct, the department opens an internal affairs investigation but suspends the investigation pending the outcome of the civil litigation to allow the process to work its way through the courts. During this pending civil case, former Officer William Gates submitted his resignation from the position of Patrol Officer effective in March 2023. Because of his resignation and the pending litigation there was no discipline issued.“

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

So, the city of Loveland maintains nothing wrong was done. The officer submitted his resignation before the civil suit was complete and as such, no discipline was issued-- or more accurately, no discipline could be issued. So the officer has a clean record and can be hired by any police force anywhere, including BACK to the City of Loveland, the city admits nothing, the officer's result in the lawsuit seems to not be covered by any story, even though he was explicitly named... probably because once Elias got his settlement, the whole lawsuit goes away, not just the half of it.

[Liberty_Belle]

STOP TAKING THE DEAL !

The only way this even remotely gets addressed is to ignore the money and get a ruling that requires admitting guilt !

[Kyfho Myoba]

And now he works in an adjacent county.

[NM Dave]

Because.... qualified immunity. The same reason a cop in my town gunned down a 75-year-old woman with dementia in her own kitchen and is still on the streets, ready to kill again. In this case, he's looking for his third kill.

[bacchys]

Because the courts have decided respondeat superiour isn't allowable under civil rights law, and also because under a SCOTUS case (Monell) it's very difficult to sue a city. So the target of any civil rights lawsuit has to be the government agent individually, who then gets indemnified (usually) by the government.

[MoreFreedom]

Brings to mind the George Floyd riots, and the Democrats' shifting the blame for how they run their police forces that killed Floyd and other abusive practices such as how the Loveland police are run.

It's funny they claimed the police they hired, trained and managed were systemically racist; thus, those claiming systemic racism exists are admitting they're racist. It's absurd.

[MWAocdoc]

It would be absurd if it were not so deadly serious. All the power and resources are on the side of government and there are no adverse consequences to official misconduct. Until the voters finally get the message that bad government is costing them from their own pockets, nothing will change.

[freedomwriter]

Subjects unrelated for $500 Alex

[CE]

Not entirely unrelated. Chauvin would have been relegated to desk duty long ago if not for the powerful public employee union protecting problematic cops.

[NM Dave]

True....police unions exist only to protect cops who commit crimes from being accountable.

[SRG2]

That's not true.

They also exist to get cops ridiculously high pensions.

[Elmer Fudd the CHUD 2: Steampunk Boogaloo]

All public sector u ions should be made illegal. Police, teachers, etc.. Every one of them is an enemy of the American citizenry.

[freedomwriter]

Just keep repeating....Just a few bad apples.

[CE]

Just start prosecuting them. Denial of civil rights under color of law, 10 years in federal prison.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I believe the bad apple thing...but I also believe that a bad apple can spoil the barrel.

[Wizard4169]

It's probably true that only a few are actively bad. But the many others that ignore and cover up the actions of those few are passively bad. Genuinely good cops would hold the bad actors accountable and clean their own house. Unfortunately too many buy into the whole "thin blue line" bullshit, so good cops either learn to go along to get along and become passively bad or else get fired or harassed until they quit.

[croaker]

Until we start treating dirty cops the way China's PLA treats drug pushers, this kind of thing will continue.

[CE]

And the 400K is coming from Colorado taxpayers, not the cops who arrested him.

[Elmer Fudd the CHUD 2: Steampunk Boogaloo]

Cops should be required to be bonded and carry E&O insurance. So the taxpayers aren’t on the hook for all of the settlements. This will also render bad cops unemployable after a few incidents, as no carrier will insure them, or the premiums will be prohibitively expensive. I even had to carry such insurance when I was a residential mortgage originator, so I see no reason cops shouldn’t have to.

[AT]

Elias requested an attorney at this point, but "Gates told him no, that he needed to agree to comply with a blood test now or he was going to mark him as a refusal and his license would be revoked."

Full stop, Emma.

That is absolutely lawful and you are either grossly ignorant to the point you have no business reporting or commenting on anything; or you're intentionally misleading your audience.

He can request an attorney until he's blue in the face. The cop isn't coloring outside the lines with this reply. He's threatening the driver with administrative sanction. The cops won't do a damn thing to him.

But the DMV will.

This is something I used to teach back when I still ran defense courses on the subject. If you're drunk, and you KNOW you'll fail a sobriety test - TAKE THE DMV SANCTION.

Yes, you'll lose your license. Temporarily. But that's a whole lot better than handing the cops the evidence they need to hit you with a criminal conviction. (And, honestly, go ahead and drive without a license. As long as you're not stupid, nobody will catch you.)

Now, if you're stone sober like this dude was - fine, consent to the tests and collect the payday. But don't confuse your audience by pretending that the cop's threat was coloring outside the lines. Because it wasn't.

[NM Dave]

Perhaps., but the cop already knew this victim was sober, he probably knew it before he pulled him over. The threat to his license was just a cheap bullying tactic, which is standard procedure with every stop.

[AT]

Even so - submitting to a sobriety test when demanded by a cop (even a dirtbag harassing one) is a condition for being licensed to drive. It doesn't matter if the cop knows you're sober. If you refuse it, you lose your license. That simple.

What you should be saying is: should the State have the authority to dictate who can and can't drive via licensing? Driving isn't a right in America. It's a permission. Should the ability to meaningfully travel in the modern world be a dispensation of the State? Or should there be a freedom to drive?

[Wizard4169]

Driving on public streets is one of the few areas where I think the permission model is at least somewhat valid. If I'm going to be sharing the road with others (most of whose vehicles are much larger than mine) I'd like to know that they've demonstrated some minimum level of competence, and I acknowledge I have the same obligation to them. I also think impaired drivers, whether they're drunk, high, falling asleep, glued to their phone or just really stupid, have no business endangering others who haven't consented to such risks. Minimum insurance requirements are also entirely reasonable. I hope we can agree that someone who injures another person or damages their property has an obligation to make that person whole. Considering that even minor traffic accidents can potentially cause hundreds or thousands of dollars in damage, I don't think it's unreasonable to demonstrate that one is able to do so.
If you think some restrictions go too far then say so and make your case. It's entirely possible that I'd agree with you. Likewise, if you want to argue for some system other than the coercive state as the best way to achieve this, I'm very much open to persuasion.

[Elmer Fudd the CHUD 2: Steampunk Boogaloo]

So was the phony ‘I smell alcohol’ bullshit. I’ve had cops tried that where I was in a nearly new vehicle where no alcohol has ever been present. I chew cops out for that shit.

[Wizard4169]

I think you're reading entirely too much into it. But then every day is "Shit on Reason" day in the comments.

[Hattori Hanzo]

A good start, I suppose, but the maniacal officer is still on the streets.

[Shoreline1]

Our politicians approve of these actions by cops. Voting doesn't hold them accountable.

[insureguardian2]

This case underscores the urgent need for law enforcement accountability, as Officer Gates' alleged false DUI arrests had severe consequences for innocent individuals like Harris Elias. The $400,000 settlement by Loveland reflects the gravity of the situation, exposing potential misuse of DUI arrests for financial gain. Elias' experience highlights the lasting impact of wrongful arrests, emphasizing the necessity for reform in law enforcement practices to safeguard individuals from unwarranted harm and legal complications.
Visit : https://insureguardian.com/