AURORA, Colo. — A former Aurora Police officer pleaded guilty in one of his two criminal cases on Friday and was immediately sentenced to two years of probation.
Douglas Harroun was charged with multiple counts related to the assault of a disabled woman on Jan. 11, 2023, while he was off duty. He pleaded guilty to a single count of reckless endangerment, court records show.
He was arrested after witnesses reported watching him punch a physically disabled woman several times during an argument in the parking lot of the Caliber at Cornerstar Apartments on Briarwood Circle in Aurora.
According to an arrest affidavit, Harroun and his wife were driving back to their apartment, and the victim, a 49-year-old woman, was walking her dog in the middle of the road as they approached their parking garage.
RELATED: Former Aurora officer now charged in on-duty shooting lied about circumstances, affidavit says
Harroun saw that the victim's dog was not on a leash and had to drive slowly behind the two because they were in the middle of the road, the affidavit says. At one point, the victim stopped walking and turned around to yell at Harroun for following her. The three got into an argument, and Harroun and his wife got out of their car, the affidavit says.
The affidavit says witnesses saw Harroun punch the victim in the face. She fell to the ground, and Harroun got on top of her and punched her in the head four or five more times.
The victim went to the hospital with injuries that police said were consistent with what witnesses described.
At the time of the assault, Harroun was on paid administrative leave after he shot and injured a man while responding to a domestic violence call on Dec. 31, 2022.
He was later arrested and charged in connection with that shooting, which happened in the 1200 block of North Chambers Road in Aurora. According to an arrest affidavit, an investigator who reviewed body camera footage of the shooting said he did not observe "any aggressive posturing" or movements that would justify using deadly force.
RELATED: Former Aurora officer now charged in on-duty shooting lied about circumstances, affidavit says
The same document says Harroun claimed he was being assaulted by a woman at the time he fired his weapon, but bodycam footage did not show that.
He's charged with assault with a deadly weapon and second-degree assault - reckless and is currently set for trial in early November.
