Sarah Schielke - The Life & Liberty Law Office | COLORADO COPS BEAT UP GOOD SAMARITAN FOR "NOT TALKING" @LifeLibertyLaw | Uploaded June 2020 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
Loveland Police Officers beat up good Samaritan Preston Sowl because he refused to submit to their questioning. Literally. That's it. He had committed no crimes.
Everyone has a constitutional right to refuse to submit to police questioning.
This happened on September 22, 2019. Preston Sowl and his wife saw a downed motorcyclist blocking the exit, trapped under his bike and bleeding. They and several others stopped to render aid and called 911. While the motorcyclist was receiving medical care, Officer Paul Ashe of the Loveland Police Department arrived on scene. Officer Ashe approached Preston and demanded Preston speak to him and answer questions. Preston exercised his constitutional right to decline such questioning. Preston told Officer Ashe he knew his rights, that he did not have to participate in questioning, and that Officer Ashe needed to leave him alone. Officer Ashe did not leave him alone. Instead, Ashe retaliated by falsely arresting Preston for the crime of Obstruction and then violently handcuffing and arresting him with two fellow Loveland Police Officers, Officer Benjamin DeLima, and Detective Clint Schnorr, who was a supervisor. The officers slammed Preston to the pavement and violently twisted his arms behind his back causing his left shoulder to fracture and dislocate. Preston also suffered a torn rotator cuff, and bleeding contusions to his head, knees, legs, arms and wrist. After assaulting Preston, Officer Ashe taunted him, saying things like "I told you. I told you. All you had to do is talk to me" and "That's what happens when you don't cooperate."
Preston's injuries ultimately required complete shoulder replacement surgery. The district attorney’s office dismissed the case and charges against him. No officer or supervisor involved in the violations of his civil rights has been disciplined.
Now, in addition to filing a civil lawsuit against the officers involved and the Loveland Police Department, Mr. Sowl is sharing this experience with the media and public in order to expose the Loveland Police Department’s insidious culture of oppressing citizens and their First Amendment rights, its pattern of needless escalation in even the most garden-variety of encounters with the public, and its unacceptable practices of retaliatory arrests and excessive force.
"Clearly, not even bodycams will stop Loveland police officers from doing whatever they want, to whomever they want," says Preston's attorney, Sarah Schielke of The Life & Liberty Law Office. "Think about that. That is how invincible these officers feel. That they could do this to a good Samaritan - knowing its being recorded - it is a terrifying testament to how bad things have gotten."
“As we all well know, corrupt and lawless police officers have a long history of being protected by their colleagues and insulated from accountability. Sadly, as this incident shows, it is no different in Loveland,” Ms. Schielke adds. “A badge is not carte blanche to be a bully. It is an obligation to protect and serve the public. And these officers did neither.”
Unedited Ashe bodycam video viewable here: youtu.be/24FpjooATVc
Loveland Police Officers beat up good Samaritan Preston Sowl because he refused to submit to their questioning. Literally. That's it. He had committed no crimes.
Everyone has a constitutional right to refuse to submit to police questioning.
This happened on September 22, 2019. Preston Sowl and his wife saw a downed motorcyclist blocking the exit, trapped under his bike and bleeding. They and several others stopped to render aid and called 911. While the motorcyclist was receiving medical care, Officer Paul Ashe of the Loveland Police Department arrived on scene. Officer Ashe approached Preston and demanded Preston speak to him and answer questions. Preston exercised his constitutional right to decline such questioning. Preston told Officer Ashe he knew his rights, that he did not have to participate in questioning, and that Officer Ashe needed to leave him alone. Officer Ashe did not leave him alone. Instead, Ashe retaliated by falsely arresting Preston for the crime of Obstruction and then violently handcuffing and arresting him with two fellow Loveland Police Officers, Officer Benjamin DeLima, and Detective Clint Schnorr, who was a supervisor. The officers slammed Preston to the pavement and violently twisted his arms behind his back causing his left shoulder to fracture and dislocate. Preston also suffered a torn rotator cuff, and bleeding contusions to his head, knees, legs, arms and wrist. After assaulting Preston, Officer Ashe taunted him, saying things like "I told you. I told you. All you had to do is talk to me" and "That's what happens when you don't cooperate."
Preston's injuries ultimately required complete shoulder replacement surgery. The district attorney’s office dismissed the case and charges against him. No officer or supervisor involved in the violations of his civil rights has been disciplined.
Now, in addition to filing a civil lawsuit against the officers involved and the Loveland Police Department, Mr. Sowl is sharing this experience with the media and public in order to expose the Loveland Police Department’s insidious culture of oppressing citizens and their First Amendment rights, its pattern of needless escalation in even the most garden-variety of encounters with the public, and its unacceptable practices of retaliatory arrests and excessive force.
"Clearly, not even bodycams will stop Loveland police officers from doing whatever they want, to whomever they want," says Preston's attorney, Sarah Schielke of The Life & Liberty Law Office. "Think about that. That is how invincible these officers feel. That they could do this to a good Samaritan - knowing its being recorded - it is a terrifying testament to how bad things have gotten."
“As we all well know, corrupt and lawless police officers have a long history of being protected by their colleagues and insulated from accountability. Sadly, as this incident shows, it is no different in Loveland,” Ms. Schielke adds. “A badge is not carte blanche to be a bully. It is an obligation to protect and serve the public. And these officers did neither.”
Unedited Ashe bodycam video viewable here: youtu.be/24FpjooATVc
