Top 5 Police Blunders: Denver Cops' Hit Streak Continues

​You can't keep a good man down, which is why you need to thwack him extra hard with the nightstick then light'em up with the taser a few times. If Denver's Broncos were as aggressive as their cops, they'd lead the league in Unsportsmanlike Conduct. As is, their hijinks have graduated them to the top spot on this week's Top 5 Police Blunders...

​5. Reading Police Department

We have to admit we admire James Palange's dedication. He could be sitting around the house playing Madden on his XBox, but instead chose to work. The 36-year old Mohnton police officer has been in limbo since he accidentally shot a plainsclothes cop during a shootout while working for the Reading, Pennsylvania police department in June of 2004. While on paid suspension from the force, he got another job working at $24/hour for the city of Mohnton. Together he's making over $100,000 in combined salaries and benefits.

Palange has no idea why the city hasn't resolved the issue, and would love to return to the force where he was a six-year veteran. He claims he had no idea there were undercover cops in the area when he mistook Officer Michael Wise II for a suspect, and is appealing his dismissal. Which is pretty much where things have stood for six years. Wise's widow settled her suit with the city in 2005. We know the wheels of justice turn slowly, but isn't it a bit ridiculous to continue to pay a suspended officer $60 grand/year for six years?

​4. Carey Wells and Johnny Walls

You ever get the impression it's entirely too easy to be a cop? We're not talking the demands of the job -- which are estimable -- but more the process. In the case of Kinloch, Missouri Police Chief Carey Wells, he wasn't even a cop (anymore). It seems he'd been charged in 2004 with having sex with a 15-year old girl, but had been acquitted when he claimed ignorance of her age.

However the licensing board believed the girl's mother who said she'd warned him of her age. He appealed and forestalled the revocation of his law enforcement license for five years until last October. The mayor of the 500-person town only discovered this after a local television station brought it to his attention, and he immediately fired the 33-year-old Wells.

Cedar Grove, West Virginia officer Johnny Walls had a different problem -- he just couldn't seem to get certified. Walls took a job in Chesapeake, WV (pop. 1,643) in October 2003, but never completed the basic training course required for certification. No matter, because in January 2005 he was promoted to chief, which doesn't require certification. According to current Chesapeake Police Chief Jack Ice (great cop name!), Walls left after a two or three incidents got him in hot water.

He took a job with the Lincoln County State Police in '07, but when it was revealed that he wasn't certified and he again failed to complete the required coursework, he quit, became certified in Ohio, then took a job in Winfield, WV in '08. (What does this say about Ohio law enforcement standards?)

However, upon review, Winfield rejected Walls' certification and required he take classes in West Virginia. He finally became certified in 2008, after almost five years of law enforcement, and in July last year became the Chief of Cedar Grove, WV's (pop. 862) police force.

Last week, he took grabbed an 80-year old man on an ATV, pulled him off his vehicle and slammed him face-first onto the asphalt in front of several witnesses, causing a bloody gash on the man's forehead. Walls is now on paid leave and under investigation for police brutality. No confirmation to the rumor that Denver's PD has been scouting him and is considering picking him up on waivers.

​3. Martin Montgomery

Who knew domestic disturbances could be such a swinging good time? Well, Martin Montgomery, for one.

In 2008, he responded to a call involving a pair of drunk lesbians. He discovered one of the women was wanted on a warrant, and placed her in handcuffs after calling off the responding units. He then released the woman from her handcuffs on the condition that two perform a sex act while he watched, to which they complied.

The second occurrence also involved an argument between two women who had been drinking. He gave the victim a ride to her home, then followed her inside and forced her to commit multiple sex acts. Indeed, the 29-year old Montgomery had such a good time, he showed up at her door a week later and asked if she was "still interested."

Maybe he'd forgotten to ask "was it as good for you as it was for me," after their first encounter. The woman said she quickly closed and locked the door. She may have also showered several times.

On Monday, Montgomery, who has a wife and two step-children, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

​2.  David Bisard

Indianapolis, Indiana police officer David Bisard woke up on the wrong side of the bed a couple weeks ago when he hit two motorcycles. Of course, he may not have woken up at all, judging from the 0.19 he registered more than two hours after the accident, when the his blood alcohol test was belatedly administered.

He'd already taken his kids to soccer camp in the cruiser and gotten an oil change, before returning home, showering and reporting to work at 8:30 a.m. It was almost 11 a.m. when he and his K9 partner received a call for assistance in serving a felony warrant. Though it wasn't a real emergency, he revved it up to 65 or 70 in the 40 mph zone and flipped on the lights.

The motorcycles were in the left-ward of the two lanes, unable to move because of cars to their right and immediately in front of them. The left turn lane was open, however, and officer Bisard had begun to swerve that way when he smacked into two of the three stopped motorcycles, turning them into crash test dummies that flew onto the car in front of them. One person died and two others were put in critical condition, one of whom remains in a coma. (None of them were wearing a helmet.)

Not only was Bisard apparently something of a drunk, he was a real cowboy as well. The nine-year vet had more vehicle pursuits than any other officer in Marion County during 2003 and 2004, and he'd had five on-duty crashes while pursuing suspects, though none was especially serious.

Ironically, while working for the Noblesville Police Department in the '90s, he received awards from Mothers Against Drunk Driving two years in a row. (You couldn't make stuff like this up.) In April he received a medal of honor for killing a bank robbery suspect that was carrying an AK-47.

Bisard would be facing much more serious charges had his blood draw been taken at a proper medical facility, a procedure the special Fatal Alcohol Crash Team on the scene, by nature, should've been aware of. Instead of 7 felony charges, he now only faces reckless homicide and two lesser charges of criminal recklessness. Three lieutenants with a combined 83 years on the force were demoted and reassigned in the wake of the screwed-up investigation.

Perhaps one day something will be done about cops who recklessly endanger the rest of us by speeding to calls that don't necessarily require their immediate help. In this case, it's nothing short of criminal -- his intoxication's just the cherry on top.

​1. Denver Cops

Denver cops take their job seriously, but unfortunately they seem to have taken their cues from Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland's character on 24. After making headlines last week for the 2009 brutal beating of Michael DeHerrera, which was captured on closed circuit surveillance video, four more cases of brutality came to the fore.

An Aurora, Colorado man, Irman Jones, has accused cops of knocking him out with their flashlight and tasering him during a traffic stop in 2008. He's filed a lawsuit, and in the wake of the FBI's investigation of the DeHerrera case, has called for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to have the FBI look into his case as well.

Another man, Jared Lunn, had his case reopened last week by Denver Public Safety Manager Ron Perea hours before the embattled official tendered his resignation. Lunn, a volunteer firefighter, was assaulted in 2008 while carrying a pizza to his car. That's when a drunk man punched him, knocking the pizza from his hands after accusing Lunn of flirting with his girlfriend.

When Lunn spotted officer Eric Sellers, he asked the officer to arrest the man. Sellers said no and told him to get in his car and get out of there. As he turned to get in his car, Lunn muttered, "Way to protect and serve."

Let no man tell a Denver cop how to do his job. Sellers allegedly put him in a cartoid choke hold, kicked his legs out from under him, and slammed him to the ground all the while swearing at him. After Sellers let him go, one of the officers supposedly said to one of Lunn's friends, "Your buddy just got fucked up by the toughest cop in Denver." (Clearly it's a cut-throat competition.) The 15-year veteran of the force initially received a 45-day suspension, but now the case will be re-investigated, offering the possibility of greater (or maybe lesser) sanction.

But Denver's finest never rest, so it wasn't long before another case surfaced -- this one also captured on video. Mark Ashford claims to have been beaten black and blue while walking his dog. He says he saw the cops pull over a vehicle for running a stop sign. When he told the driver he'd testify that he saw him stop, the cops came over, detained him and demanded his I.D.

Ashford says he tried to take their picture, at which point they slammed him into the nearby fence and punched him, before forcing him to the ground. (Who knew they were so camera shy, given their prior performances?) The case is still under investigation. (See the video here.)

As if that weren't enough, Denver jail deputies are now on the hook for homicide after they jumped on, and ultimately killed a 5'5", 135-pound crackhead while in custody. While being processed for possession of drug paraphernalia, 56-year old Michael Booker tried to retrieve his shoes, a short distance away.

A deputy ordered him to immediately go to his holding cell, and when he refused and tried to explain, shaking off the deputy's hold, he was immediately jumped by several deputies. Three held him down while one put him in a chokehold for two minutes. Another tasered him for at least 8 seconds, while one deputy had his body weight on his back continuously for four minutes, according to the coroner.

They took his unconscious body to the cell and dropped him in it, facedown. A short time later a deputy noticed he wasn't breathing and tried CPR, but Booker was already dead. (Yes, there's video of this too, though it hasn't been released yet.) The five deputies involved were placed on suspension while the investigation continues.

All in all, another terrific week for Denver law enforcement, the kind that would make the thugs of Leninist Russia sit up and take notice.

Read last Thursday's Top 5 Police Blunders: Atlanta Pays $4.9 million To Family of 92-Year Old Killed In Bogus Drug Raid.