DENVER — Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins is the subject of an internal investigation in the wake of a one-car crash involving one of the department’s officers, 9Wants to Know has learned.
That officer, Sgt. Jerry Sherrod, admitted to police he drank whiskey at a birthday party for Diggins at Diggins' home, according to documents obtained by 9NEWS.
Sherrod’s was initially charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol. Court records show he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of driving while ability impaired by alcohol.
He was also suspended from work for 14 days.
Documents obtained by 9Wants to Know show that Diggins told investigators that he called Sherrod after learning of the crash and told the officer to report it internally as required by department “protocols.” Diggins also told investigators that he “subsequently sent an e-mail … recusing myself from the matter.”
Daria Serna, the spokeswoman for the Denver Sheriff's Department, said Diggins would not comment and referred questions to the Department of Public Safety.
Andrea Webber, the department’s records administrator, confirmed the existence of the investigation of Diggins related to the incident involving Sherrod but declined to provide additional information.
>Photos below are from the crash scene.
It is not clear exactly what the investigation of Diggins is centered on – or when it might be completed.
Diggins joined the department in 1994 and worked his way up through the ranks before being named sheriff in July 2020 by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.
Sherrod has been with the department since 2006 and had no prior discipline.
According to records obtained by 9Wants to Know, Sherrod attended a party at the home of Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins last April 9.
Sherrod told internal investigators that he went to the party at Diggins’ home, had three whiskeys but also ate and drank water and thought that he “would be OK to drive.”
“I just really think that the drinks that I had just kind of snuck up on me,” Sherrod said, according to the documents.
After leaving Diggins’ home, Sherrod flipped his car in the area of East 26th Avenue and Watkins Road.
After he called the Colorado State Patrol, a trooper suspected he’d been drinking and asked him to complete roadside tests.
“He did not complete them as a sober person would,” the trooper wrote, according to the records.
A test showed Sherrod had a blood-alcohol level of .134 – well above .08, the point at which a person is presumed intoxicated under Colorado law.
Diggins told investigators that he saw Sherrod at the party, but “we had a lot of people there, so I wasn’t monitoring who was drinking and who wasn’t drinking.”
Contact 9Wants to Know investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
>More stories from Kevin Vaughan below
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