Week of Aug. 24, 2026: Kiowa County Deputy — Recent Runner-up in Republican Primary for County Sheriff — Arrested for Domestic Violence
Welcome to our weekly sum-up. Every Monday we send out a short summary of the last week’s officers that have landed on Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training public database of law enforcement misconduct and actions. These actions from POST are not necessarily only those that have happened in the last week, but those that have been added, and consist of any other context we could find. Additionally are officers with otherwise obvious misconduct from around the same time.
This week we have three deputies and officers arrested for assault, and four corrections officers or detention deputies terminated, and more.
Brandon Skalak (CO-134778)
- Subject of a criminal charge as a deputy with the Adams County Sheriff's Office
- Charged with assault as per Brighton’s municipal code
- Hired in Nov. 2012
- Brighton Municipal Court did not respond with relevant documents by publishing
Sources:
- POST Database
Darrien Ahrendsen (CO-037-810)
- Resigned in lieu of termination as a deputy with Weld County Sheriff's Office on July 20
- Arrested Aug. 11 on domestic violence-related charges of third degree assault knowingly or recklessly causing injury
- Arapahoe County Court did not release responsive documents before publishing
- According to a summary of an internal affairs investigation, between May 4 and June 23, Ahrendsen was “involved in disputes with his significant other in which police response occurred,” and during those investigations, Ahrendsen “failed to conduct himself in accordance with the standards outlined in the Weld County Sheriff’s Office Standards of Conduct policy.”
Sources:
- POST Database
- Court documents
- Weld County Sheriff's Office
Joshua Robertson (CO-0464-2961)
- Subject of a criminal charge as a deputy with Kiowa County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 13
- Arrested Aug. 6 on domestic violence-related charges including third degree assault through knowingly or recklessly causing injury, child abuse through knowingly or recklessly causing injury and reckless endangerment
- According to his arrest affidavit, a woman identified Robertson as her “ex” to another Kiowa County Sheriff’s deputy who responded to a call of a disturbance at her house. She said that an argument broke out inside while Robertson had possession of a 3-year-old son — it is unclear who’s son it is, if not both.
- The affidavit states that “during the argument things turned violent,” and the woman “was pushed at the doorway where the three parties ended up on the floor” and Robertson “struck” the woman “around the left eye while [the 3-year-old] was being struggled over by both parties.
- According to the affidavit, Robertson admits to striking the woman in the face “in an effort to get her to release” the child. It continues that a half-brother, age 8, called 911 from another room “when he heard things get physical.”
- Robertson was runner-up in the recent two-man republican primary race for Kiowa County sheriff
Sources:
- POST Database
- Court documents
- Arrest affidavit
Michelle Reed (CO-135808)
- Terminated for cause as an officer with Woodland Park Police Department on Aug. 3
- Hired by Woodland Park PD March 2024
- Neither Woodland Park nor Woodland Park PD responded to a Aug. 25 request for relevant records by publishing
Sources:
- POST Database
Pedro Malave (CO-133443)
- Resigned while under investigation as chief of Log Lane Village Police Department on July 10
- Neither Log Lane Village nor Log Lane Village PD responded to an Aug. 25 request for relevant documents
- Previously resigned in lieu of termination from Commerce City Police Department “after using his police cellphone to send and receive thousands of sexting messages with four different women while he was on duty.”
Sources:
- POST Database
- CBS News
Cory Bantock (CO-006-139)
- Terminated for cause as a jail deputy with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 13
- Neither Lincoln County nor Lincoln County SO responded to an Aug. 25 request for relevant documents
- Hired by Lincoln County SO in March of this year
Sources:
- POST Database
- Lincoln County
Joseph Connelly (CO-118815)
- Retired while under investigation as a commander with Sheridan Police Department on July 20
- Internal documents show that a formal complaint was filed on June 22 against Connelly, with the location as the police department and “date/time of alleged incident” as from Sept. 22, 2024 to June 10, 2026
- Sheridan PD denied the complaint and internal affairs report to Blue Surveillance stating that it is ongoing
- Connelly states in his resignation letter that “unfortunately, the last year here took an extreme toll on me personally, physically, mentally and professionally, leading me to make this decision.”
- Hired by Sheridan PD around 2004
- Previously employed by Buena Vista Police Department and Littleton Police Department
Sources:
- POST Database
- City of Sheridan
- Sheridan Police Department
John Carter (CO-6324-7434)
- Resigned while under investigation as an officer with Thornton Police Department on July 24
- Thornton PD did not respond to an Aug. 25 request for relevant documents
- Carter’s resignation letter cites an internal affairs investigation that began on Dec. 31, 2025 as the reason he is resigning, stating that the investigation “has remained unresolved for an extended period,” and that “this delay has caused significant personal and financial hardship and prevented me from working overtime or special assignments.”
Sources:
- POST Database
- Thornton
David Smith (CO-325-231)
- Terminated for cause as a detention deputy with El Paso County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 12
- El Paso County SO did not respond to an Aug. 25 request for relevant documents before publishing
- Charged with Driving Under the Influence, Careless Driving, Accident Driving Under the Influence and Prohibited Use of Weapons on July 21 by Colorado Springs Police Department
- Hired by El Paso County SO in Sept. 2024
Sources:
- POST Database
- El Paso County Sheriff’s Office
Joseph Holloway (CO-124184)
- Resigned in lieu of termination for cause as a commander with Jefferson County Sheriff's Office on May 19
- Jefferson County SO released a job application to Blue Surveillance, but, without stating a reason, failed to release other requested documents including internal affairs investigations, disciplinary actions and complaints, and has not responded to multiple follow-ups
- Hired by Jefferson County SO in April 2000
Sources:
- POST Database
- Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
Victor Perez (CO-003-260)
- Resigned in lieu of termination for cause as a control operator with Logan County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 12
- Neither Logan County nor Logan County SO responded to an Aug. 25 request for relevant records before publishing
- Hired by Logan County SO in June 2023
Sources:
- POST Database
- Logan County
Jeremiah Patterson (CO-4184-4814)
- Resigned while under investigation as a trooper with Colorado State Patrol on July 24
- Previously arrested by Loveland Police Department on June 19 for domestic violence-related charges including two counts of sexual assault no consent through force, threat or other; two counts of sexual assault no consent; and one count of second degree assault through strangulation
- Loveland PD news release states that a victim came to them with allegations of sexual assault from 2024, and that it occurred off duty.
Sources:
- POST Database
- Colorado State Patrol
Christopher Lenert (CO-177-833)
- Terminated for cause as a detentions deputy from Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 11
- Jefferson County SO did not respond to an Aug. 25 request for relevant records before publishing
- Convicted for driving under the influence in April 2015
- Hired by Jefferson County SO May 2022
Sources:
- POST Database
- Jefferson County
- Colorado Bureau of Investigation
Daniel Battenhouse (CO-009-380)
- Terminated for cause from the Colorado Department of Corrections on July 21
- CDOC failed to explain redactions to various internal statement forms and, without explanation, did not supply other requested documents such as a termination letter and internal affairs investigations
- CDOC has not responded to two weeks of follow-up
- Internal documents CDOC did release state that Battenhouse brought his personal firearm into the corrections building twice against policy, once storing it in a black messenger back under his desk
Sources:
- POST Database
- Colorado Department of Corrections
Cecilia Salazar (CO-712-014)
- Terminated for cause as a deputy with Boulder County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 5
- Boulder County SO did not respond to an Aug. 25 request for relevant records before publishing
- Hired by Boulder County SO in April 2025
Sources:
- POST Database
- Boulder County
Michael Antorino (CO-597-901)
- Resigned in lieu of termination for cause as an officer with Greenwood Village Police Department on Aug. 17
- Greenwood Village PD did not respond to an Aug. 25 request for records before publishing
- Hired by Greenwood Village PD in November 2021
- Formerly with Arvada Police Department
Sources:
- POST Database
- Greenwood Village
Maria Maldonado (CO-254-455)
- Resigned while under investigation as an officer with Kersey Police Department on Aug. 5
- Kersey PD did not respond to an Aug. 25 request for relevant records before publishing
- Hired by Kersey PD in January 2026
- Previously resigned from Kersey PD in 2025 after four years of employment
Sources:
- POST Database
- Town of Kersey
Jennifer Deaton (CO-026-654)
- Terminated for cause from Routt County Sheriff's Office on June 24
- Neither Routt County nor Routt County SO responded to requests for relevant documents before publishing
Sources:
- POST Database
Joshua Smith (CO-202-357)
- Terminated for cause as an officer with Boulder Police Department on Aug. 24
- Boulder PD did not respond to an Aug. 25 request for relevant documents before publishing
- Hired by Boulder PD in May 2024
Sources:
- POST Database
- Boulder
Officer updates:
Records that must come directly from a law enforcement agency are not required to be released within three business days, as it is with CORA requests to municipalities. Sometimes an officer is added to the database later in the week, and there isn’t time for records requests to come before the newsletter has to be sent out. Sometimes the records we get back are resumes or job applications without much more information, but sometimes they are documents that do lend more important details. Whenever any of these updates come in, we’ll put them here.
Rodrigo Basurto (CO-013-836)
- Suspended without pay as an officer of Sheridan Police Department earlier this month
- Previously terminated for cause from Denver Police Department for replying in a group chat, regarding where to go for shooting practice, that they “should go to the migrant hotel on 6th and Federal and shoot them there lol plenty of targets in there.”
- Hired by Sheridan PD in May 2025
- Updates: internal affairs investigation report
- An investigation by Commander Joseph Connelly — who retired while under his own investigation from Sheridan PD less than a month after the one against Basurto concluded — found that Basurto accidentally fired his on-duty weapon through a table in the department’s “rollcall room” while “preparing to clean his weapon.”
- Basurto received a three-day suspension
