Aurora Officer Found Drunk and Unresponsive On Duty Not Charged, Still Employed

It is extraordinarily uncommon for any chief of police to publicly criticize their counterpart at another agency, but this is an extraordinarily uncommon scenario.

First, the story:

On March 29, 2019 two citizens separately called 911 to report that an Aurora, Colorado police officer was unconscious and unresponsive in the driver's seat of what would turn out to be Agent Nate Meier's unmarked police vehicle. The unmarked cruiser was stopped in the middle of East Mississippi Avenue in Aurora, just east of the south gate of the Buckley Air Force Base.

Meier could not be roused, which ultimately resulted in his window being broken by Aurora Fire Rescue, and responding officers noted the smell of an alcoholic beverage about Meier. Agent Meier was on duty, in uniform, armed with his duty weapon, and operating a vehicle when this occurred. When Meier was found his car's engine was still running, the vehicle was in gear, and Meier's foot was on the brake.

During a subsequent internal affairs interview Meier admitted that he had left work, gone home, and drank vodka "from a bottle" — all while on duty. Meier claimed to have no recollection of anything that happened from that point until he woke up in the hospital.

Although the internal affairs investigation concluded that Meier had violated four department policies, he has not faced any criminal charges. Meier was demoted from "agent" to "officer" and received an unpaid suspension whose duration has not been publicly specified. In response to widespread criticism, Aurora Police Department issued a statement (included in this video), which states in part: "Questions have been raised as to why this was not a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) investigation and why he was not charged with a DUI-related charge. Due to an inability to exclude a medical condition, and absent confirmatory information a DUI investigation was not conducted."

If after seeing the available evidence you find APD's explanation difficult to swallow, you are not alone. In a highly unusual move, Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith posted to Facebook a scathing criticism of APD's response to this incident, writing - among other things - that "Meier should have been criminally charged and fired, and those who swept it under the rug should be held accountable." Smith noted that other Colorado counties, his own included, have fired and arrested officers found breaking the law "like any other citizen," and stated "This kind of BS behavior by the officer and lack of action by the department are inexcusable and are a slap in the face to the 14,000 brave and honorable peace officers across the state."

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler announced last week that he had directed his staff to begin an inquiry into the actions - and inactions - of the Aurora Police Department.

*The intro to this video directs viewers to the video description. Although the on-screen text indicates that you are about to see all of the body-worn camera footage and reports associated with this incident, I have reason to believe that there may exist additional documentation that is (a) relevant, and (b) not exempt from disclosure. I am actively pursuing that material and if it is not exempt I WILL get a copy of it — whatever it takes. This video contains all of the audiovisual material that is available, apart from the silent pre-event buffer for each video, which did not capture anything material and has been removed.

**I am aware that other media outlets cite unnamed sources as stating that Meier's blood alcohol concentration was over 0.45%. I have requested that APD confirm or deny that figure. I will not repeat that figure as fact without verifiable evidence.

***Less related, a surprisingly large number of people have emailed me asking to hear the rest of the new intro track. You got it, folks. The rest of the track begins at 24:56.

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