Matthew Herkalo

Week of June 15, 2026: Two Domestic Violence Convictions End with Probation and Deferred Sentence

Andrew Fraieli

Andrew Fraieli

— 9 min read
Week of June 15, 2026: Two Domestic Violence Convictions End with Probation and Deferred Sentence
Welcome to my weekly sum-up. Every Monday I 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 I could find. Additionally are officers with otherwise obvious misconduct from around the same time.

This week had another large bunch of actions going as far back as November 2025. We see two Timnath officers resign in lieu of termination within almost a week of each other, two Denver County deputies terminated on the same day in April, and two Boulder County corrections officers resign or be terminated within a month of each other. We also have multiple domestic violence-related criminal charges.

Image courtesy of Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Collin Spiringer (CO-6660-2047)

  • Resigned while under investigation from Jefferson County Sheriff's Office on April 1
  • Jefferson County SO did not respond to a request for relevant documents before publishing. Jefferson County refused a CORA request, sending the request to the Sheriff’s Office.
  • Recruited to Jefferson County SO as a detentions deputy in 2018

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page
Image courtesy of public Facebook page. | Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Jacob Meckley (CO-135662)

  • Resigned in lieu of termination for cause as an officer with Timnath Police Department on June 9
  • Timnath PD did not respond to a request for relevant records before publishing

Sources:

    • POST Database

Hector Villa (CO-000-052)

  • Resigned while under investigation as a corrections deputy with Boulder County Sheriff's Office on April 9
  • Hired by Boulder County SO Feb. 10, 2025
  • Boulder County SO did not respond to a request for relevant documents before publishing

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Boulder County Sheriff’s Office
Image courtesy of Boulder Police Department. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Matthew Herkalo (CO-717-014)

  • Subject of a criminal charge while an officer with Boulder Police Department on June 16
  • Arrested on June 15 on one count of domestic violence-related harassment through striking, shoving or kicking, and one count of official misconduct.
  • According to an arrest affidavit acquired by the Daily Camera, Erie Police responded to a call of a loud argument between Herkalo and a woman. The woman initially said that nothing physical happened and she was worried Herkalo would lose his job, but later said he threatened to break her jaw. She then received a text from Herkalo while speaking with police that said he “just looked up the call” and knew two people had reported the argument, and asked whether officers were asking about threats. The argument happened while off-duty.
  • Of the City of Boulder, Boulder Police Department and Boulder County Court, none responded to requests for relevant documents before publishing.
  • Herkalo was hired by Boulder PD in July of 2024 and, according to a Boulder PD news release, he is currently on unpaid administrative leave.

Sources:

Image courtesy of Denver Sheriff's Department. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Darrel Killebrew (CO-207-231)

  • Terminated for cause as a deputy with Denver Sheriff's Department on April 9
  • The City and County of Denver did not respond to a request for relevant documents before publishing.
  • Arrested on October 13, 2025 by Colorado Springs Police Department for domestic violence-related charges of criminal mischief, third degree assault, harassment, two counts of child abuse, and second degree tampering.
  • All charges were dismissed by plea besides harassment — a misdemeanor — of which Killebrew pleaded guilty. He received a deferred sentence of two years and various fines.
  • Hired by Denver Sheriff’s Department in November 2023

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Court records

Evelyn Flores (CO-008-700)

  • Resigned in lieu of termination for cause as a deputy with Boulder County Sheriff's Office on March 11
  • Hired in November 2024
  • Boulder County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for relevant documents before publishing

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Boulder County

Michael Romero (CO-010-985)

  • Terminated for cause as a detentions deputy with Lake County Sheriff's Office on April 7
  • Hired May 2022
  • Lake County SO did not respond to a request for relevant documents before publishing

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Image courtesy of Garfield County Sheriff's Office. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Talon Peck (CO-004-945)

  • Terminated for cause as a deputy with Garfield County Sheriff's Office on May 5
  • Garfield County SO did not respond to a request for relevant records before publishing.
  • Arrested May 26 by Garfield County SO for domestic violence-related charges of harassment, two counts of child abuse, and second degree tampering.

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Court dockets
Photo courtesy of Denver Sheriff's Department. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Willie Smalls (CO-413-448)

  • Terminated for cause as a deputy with Denver Sheriff's Department on April 9
  • City and County of Denver did not respond to a request for relevant records before publishing.
  • Previously arrested by the Denver Police Department on Oct. 1, 2024 for domestic violence-related charges of second degree assault through strangulation, third degree assault through knowingly or recklessly causing injury, and three counts of protection order violations. Smalls pleaded not guilty to the second degree assault and was found not guilty by jury trial on May 28, and he pleaded guilty to and was convicted of third degree assault. The protection order violations were dismissed by the District Attorney. He was sentenced to two years probation.
  • Smalls was arrested by Lakewood Police Department on April 25, two weeks after he was terminated, for domestic violence-related charges of third degree assault and two counts of child abuse. His next court date is Sept. 7.
  • Hired by Denver Sheriff’s Department July 2023

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Court dockets
    • Denver Sheriff’s Department

Romare Cola (CO-032-885)

  • Terminated for cause from the Larimer County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 27, 2025
  • Larimer County and Larimer County SO did not respond to a request for relevant documents before publishing.

Sources:

    • POST Database
Image courtesy of the Bethke Elementary School. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Andrew Tope (CO-130330)

  • Resigned in lieu of termination for cause as an officer with Timnath Police Department on June 1
  • Timnath PD did not respond to a  request for relevant records before publishing.
  • Named defendant in two lawsuits related to on-duty conduct:
    • M.P. et al. v. Jones et al
      • Tope along with another Timnath officer, Gabriela Ponce, were stationed as School Resource Officers at Bethke Elementary School in 2020. According to the lawsuit, on Jan. 28, 2020, 11-year-old student M.P. — whom, the lawsuit states, has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and an emotional disability — returned to a classroom without permission of his teachers. While being escorted out, M.P. allegedly took off his jacket and started “swinging it around” and Tope, standing nearby, responded by grabbing M.P. and carrying him to a separate room. There the lawsuit states M.P. became upset, and due to his emotional disabilities has a hard time regulating his emotions. Teachers attempted to calm him down, succeeding but with “periods where he would escalate,” it continues, before “SRO Tope and SRO Ponce burst into the room unannounced and uninvited and violently forced M.P. to the ground and forcibly placed M.P. in handcuffs behind his back.”
      • M.P. and his parents sued for excessive force, unlawful seizure and violating his rights under federal disability law. They later settled out of court.
    • Vazquez et al v. Andersen et al
      • Former Windsor mayor John Vazquez filed a lawsuit in October 2018 against Timnath officers Forest Andersen and Andrew Tope claiming Andersen smashed him on the hood of his patrol car and kneed him in the groin while Tope stood by. Vazquez was walking home from dinner, the lawsuit states, when he saw Tope’s patrol car and asked for a ride. It states that Tope instead followed Vazquez down the road, turned on his lights and soon Andersen arrived and “interrogated” him. Vazquez had criminal charges brought against him, but was acquitted by a jury. The lawsuit never went to trial as it was settled for $250,000.

Sources:

Image courtesy of Pueblo Police Department. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Dominic Pino (CO-984-804)

  • Issued a credibility report from Pueblo Police Department on June 18.
  • Previously resigned while under investigation as an officer with Pueblo Police Department on April 24
  • According to an investigation summary:
    • On Oct. 13, 2025 Pino responded to a call about a “family  disturbance/possible menacing.” A woman told Pino on the phone that her  mother was holding a knife when she arrived at the home.
    • Pino told the woman that he would write an arrest warrant due to domestic violence laws.
    • Ten days later, Pino wrote in a report that he had completed a “blue sheet”  — probably cause arrest affidavit — for the arrest of the domestic  violence offender, and sent it to the District Attorney’s Office.
    • Pino “never completed, sent, or attached a blue sheet” to the case report.  The report he did write took those ten days to submit for approval, was  denied for him to adjust, and he then waited 21 days before resubmitted  it and immediately approving it himself. The report clarifies he did not have the authority to do that.
    • If Pino had not resigned, he  would have been found to have violated internal policies on  “untruthfulness” and terminated for cause.
  • Former  agencies include Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office starting only months  before applying to Pueblo PD, and the Colorado Department of Corrections  from 2018 to that point in September 2020.

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Job application
    • Investigative summary

David Green (CO-202-163)

  • Resigned while under investigation as an officer with Colorado Springs Police Department on June 3
  • Hired September 2021

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Colorado Springs Police Department

Scott Himschoot (CO-0602-8324)

  • Voluntarily relinquished certification on June 16. States employing agency at time of offense as Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, giving statute of C.R.S.24-31-902 without clarifying what subsection. C.R.S.24-31-902 is state law pertaining to the use of bodycameras by officers and repercussions for failure to follow the law.
  • Previously terminated for cause from Chaffee County SO on Jan. 12, 2023
  • Arrested by Salida Police Department in 2011 for disorderly conduct

Sources:

    • POST Database
    • Court records
Image courtesy of Weld County Sheriff's Office. Photo illustration by Andrew Fraieli

Alex Porter (CO-002-455)

  • Arrested June 18 by Weld County Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy for domestic violence-related charges stemming from a May 25 offense date. Charges include stalking — repeatedly follow, three counts of harassment through strikes, shoves or kicks, criminal tampering, first degree official misconduct, and two counts of third degree assault.
  • According to a Weld County SO news release, the office learned of the allegations through a week long internal investigation. He is currently on unpaid administrative leave according to the news release.
  • Porter was hired in April 2022

Sources:

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