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Elizabeth’s former police chief, Melvin Berghahn, now helps lead the Edgewater Police Department.
ELIZABETH, Colo. — The Town of Elizabeth agreed to settle a lawsuit before it was filed by paying a man $150,000, his lawyers say.
The settlement stemmed from a call for service on Sept. 20, 2022. Sean Page told 9NEWS he was trying to corral his dogs that morning. He was asking a construction crew to turn off a machine that was spooking the dogs, he said. The dispute ended up with multiple Elizabeth Police officers responding, including the town’s former chief, Melvin Berghahn.
Body camera footage shows Page talking with Berghahn, and the tone of the conversation changes after Page refers to the construction workers as “a bunch of Republi-con scumbags.”
> Content Warning: This video contains strong language and violence involving a police officer.
You can’t tell exactly what happens on the body camera footage, but Page told 9NEWS he suffered a concussion and bruised ribs.
“I was not told I was being detained. I was not told I was under arrest. The chief of police just tackled me,” he said.
A judge later dismissed Page’s case, stating police violated his First Amendment rights, his lawyers said.
“I explained to him exactly what I was trying to do. ‘I need to put my dogs away. I never said I won’t talk to you.’ I wasn’t not cooperating with them. I was getting frustrated, because his demeanor and attitude wasn’t great to begin with, but again totally went south. I took maybe one step, or half a step, I turned, or something, and the next thing I know I’m being tackled,” Page said.
The Town of Elizabeth’s administrator has not yet responded to a 9NEWS request for comment Tuesday.
The town previously sued 9NEWS to keep a document secret, which showed the town planned to fire Berghahn. The reasons for the termination were unrelated to this incident.
Berghahn resigned, and joined Edgewater Police as a commander, the department’s second-highest ranking officer, a few months later.
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