DENVER — Attorneys for a United Airlines pilot who was wrongfully arrested by Denver police for indecent exposure in his room at the DIA Westin hotel have filed a civil lawsuit on the pilot's behalf against the hotel's operator.
The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court, stemmed from an incident in September 2018 when Denver Police Department (DPD) officers entered the hotel room of Andrew Collins, and handcuffed and arrested him after he was seen standing naked at his hotel window.
The criminal charge against Collins was dismissed in January 2019. Last November, Denver paid $300,000 to Collins to settle his allegation that the arresting officers violated his civil rights.
RELATED: Motion filed to dismiss case against United pilot accused of indecent exposure at DIA hotel
In the lawsuit, Collins and his attorneys, Craig Silverman and Keith Scranton, request damages for Collins' emotional distress and humiliation, and for his economic losses that resulted from the incident.
The lawsuit also requests that the court order the Westin to tint or mirror the windows on the north side of the hotel, which faces the Denver International Airport terminal, or to warn guests that they are visible in their rooms to people inside the terminal.
Collins didn't know he was visible from the terminal, which was more than 100 yards away, when he stood naked at the window of his hotel room on Sept. 20, 2018, according to the lawsuit.
The curtains in his room on the 10th floor were open when Collins had undressed to shower but then took a call. He walked naked in his room and talked on his phone with his hands-free Bluetooth device.
He couldn't see into the terminal through its opaque green windows, which were hit directly by morning sunlight. He had no reason to think anyone could see into his room, or that his hotel windows were not tinted or mirrored, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit goes on to say some people in the terminal alerted DPD to an unclothed man standing at a hotel window on the 10th floor. Hotel employees allowed DPD officers to enter rooms on that floor without a search warrant and did not call Collins or warn him that he was visible from the terminal.
"Rather, hotel staff stepped back and allowed overly zealous officers ... to bang on the door and yell that police were going to enter the room with or without the guest's permission," the lawsuit states.
Collins was partly clothed in pants when DPD officers rapped on his door. Collins opened the door, and was handcuffed, searched and arrested. He spent two days in jail before being served a summons for indecent exposure, a misdemeanor.
When the criminal case went to court, it fell apart as the arresting officers said they found no evidence that Collins had been involved in any illegal activity. Prosecutors dropped the charge.
The arrest and criminal case caused damage to Collins' career, harmed his family and ruined his chances to serve as president of the Air Line Pilots Association, a position for which he was a candidate at the time of the incident, the lawsuit states.
Collins, who lives in Leesburg, Va., and has been a commercial pilot of more than 25 years, was suspended from work while the criminal case was pending.
"By being held accountable, it is Captain Collins' hope that the DIA Westin will correct the missteps that led to his constitutional rights being violated," the lawsuit states. "Captain Collins also seeks damages for the harm that the DIA Westin's employees caused him."
The DIA Westin, which part of the Westin hotel chain that is owned and operated by Marriott International, has 21 days to respond to the lawsuit.
RELATED: Motion filed to dismiss case against United pilot accused of indecent exposure at DIA hotel
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Local stories from 9NEWS
