LOVELAND, Colo. — A Loveland Police officer was terminated days after he was accused of striking a woman in the face during his response to a call, the Loveland Police Department said Wednesday.
Around 8:30 p.m. Saturday Loveland Police officers responded to reports of a woman wandering in and out of traffic and speaking incoherently in the area of North Garfield Avenue and East 29th Street.
Officers placed the woman into protective custody and took her to the Medical Center of the Rockies for additional evaluation.
Once there, the handcuffed woman was escorted to an examination room where she was verbally abusive toward health-care workers and spat at a nurse and an officer, Loveland Police said.
The officer responded with an "inappropriate use of force," by striking the woman in the face, which resulted in minor injuries to her face, said Police Chief Tim Doran. The woman was medically cleared and taken to the Larimer County Jail on charges related to her actions at the hospital.
The officer’s partner immediately intervened, removed him from the room and radioed for a supervisor to respond to the scene, according to police.
That evening, the officer was placed on administrative leave, and the next day, Doran spoke with the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office and asked for a criminal investigation into the incident. The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency on the case.
On Tuesday, the officer was formally terminated.
"I made the decision to terminate this employee who was still in the department's one-year probationary period that each officer must complete before becoming a full-fledged officer," Doran said. "This termination is separate and independent of the criminal investigation."
Due to the ongoing investigation, Loveland Police is not identifying the officer or releasing body-worn camera footage at this time.
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