Denver District Attorney Beth McCann filed misdemeanor criminal charges Friday against a Denver sheriff's deputy related to an alleged assault on a jail inmate.
Sheriff's Sgt. Randolph Romero, 50, is accused of third-degree assault, a first class misdemeanor.
According to investigators from the District Attorney's Office and the Denver Police Department, Romero "took an inmate down to the ground without evident cause" inside an elevator in the Downtown Detention Center on March 18. The inmate was handcuffed at the time and wearing a spit hood. He reportedly suffered a wrist injury during the incident. Two other deputies were inside the elevator at the time, but they were not involved in the incident and are not charged.
Romero is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 5.
The reluctance of former DA Mitch Morrissey to file criminal charges against law enforcement officers in use of force cases was an issue during the campaign, and McCann said she would file charges in cases where she thought they were appropriate. She also promised to hold community meetings and answer questions about the decision when charges were not filed, which she did recently in Montbello.
