Several Colorado Republicans are pushing a story from a nearly 20-year-old police report saying Jared Polis, a Democrat running for governor, shoved a former employee.
After a report from the conservative Washington Free Beacon about the incident was published Tuesday afternoon, several GOP groups emailed the 9NEWS newsroom about the story, including Better Colorado Now and the Colorado GOP. The story also gained considerable traction in some conservative circles on Twitter.
9NEWS obtained the Boulder police report from 1999. Polis was never charged.
At the time, Polis suspected a former employee, who was working as a secretary, of stealing from him. The two were at a Boulder office when, according to the report, Polis blocked the door to stop her from leaving which is when she hit him with one of her bags.
The report says Polis “put both of his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back to prevent her from leaving." She had company documents in her bag, the report states.
The Boulder County District Attorney's Office said she was charged and eventually pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets. The police report said bruises on the secretary’s arms didn't match what either she or Polis told officers that day.
But a welt on her thigh that the woman claimed was from being pushed backward "was conducive with the file cabinet in front of the door. There was also a key protruding from the upper right-hand corner of cabinet that could have produced the welt."
The DA said Polis never faced any charges. Court records show a temporary restraining order was vacated around two and a half weeks after it was first filed.
Polis Campaign chair Lisa Kaufmann released this statement that said, in part:
"Jared Polis was a victim of a crime, was the person who called the police, and was found to have done nothing wrong."
It is unclear from the police report who called 911 first. One section of the report says it was Polis. A second account from the woman said she tried to call 911 multiple times.
