ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office arrested Empire's deputy police chief in relation to a domestic violence investigation, the Empire Police Department said in a release Friday.
The department said it fired Keith Sandford following his arrest for "violating department policies."
According to the arrest affidavit, Sandford is being held on suspicion of domestic violence and aggravated assault for an altercation reported by his wife.
On Sept. 7, a deputy with the sheriff's office received a call from a person reporting an altercation with her husband that took place four days prior — the officer later went to a hospital to meet with the victim, who was identified as Sandford's wife, per the affidavit.
The victim said she and Sandford got home from a get-together and started arguing after he got "upset about an interaction [she] had with another person," the document states. She said Sandford then struck the back of her head with his fist, causing her to fall onto the floor and lose consciousness "for what she believed to be a few minutes."
The affidavit says once the victim regained consciousness, Sandford was on top of her, pressing his forearm against her throat and "causing her to have trouble breathing." She was reportedly able to kick him off and barricaded herself in the bedroom. The next day, Sandford was gone.
The affidavit states the victim provided the responding deputy with footage from a camera in the living room that has audio that corroborates her claims.
Exams at the hospital found she "had sustained serious bodily injury to her throat from being strangled by Keith during the altercation" and had a concussion as well, the document reports.
The victim also had a large bruise on her knee from her fall and smaller ones on her arms "that appear to be finger marks from being grabbed," as stated in the affidavit. She also reportedly felt pain when swallowing the day after the altercation and has been getting frequent headaches and nausea since.
After his arrest, Sandford denied strangling his wife and said he'd "slapped her" after she hit him first, per the affidavit. Sandford was reportedly not injured.
Sandford is currently on a no-bond hold at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility.
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