Week of June 29: Pueblo County Sheriff’s Sergeant Voluntarily Relinquishes Certification After Theft Conviction
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 has a few additional actions for officer terminated months ago, if not more, and some new documents on a previously reported on officer.
Derek Schroeder (CO-137-541)
- Received a credibility report while with Lakewood Police Department on July 2
- According to termination letter:
- States that, in March, Schroeder threw a glass at the back of the head of a peer in a bar bathroom in Jefferson County and lied about it when asked by Jefferson County deputies.
- At the time, the deputies were called as the person did not know who threw the glass at him. Schroeder told deputies he was in the bathroom when he head a glass break, but did not say he threw it. Video evidence showed Schroeder holding a glass and entering the bathroom after the man. A Jefferson County sergeant asked Schroeder if he threw the glass and he said no. The next day Schroeder admitted to the peer that he threw the glass after being upset from losing a sports bet. Schroeder reported this to his supervisor. In later reports, Schroeder “asserted that clarity was achieved after a period of rest and sobriety,” but “the evidence indicates that, at the time of the incident, you were lucid and capable of coherent thought and communication.”
- Schroeder admitted he lied to deputies, and was found to have violated multiple Lakewood Police internal policies including:
- Conduct Unbecoming
- Conformance to Laws
- Cooperation with other Officers and Agencies
- Integrity
- Violation of Rules
- Terminated for these violations.
Sources:
- POST Database
- Termination letter
Jason Hanratty (CO-133370)
- Voluntarily relinquished certification on July 1 while sergeant with Pueblo County Sheriff's Office due to theft between $2,000 and $5,000
- Initially charged with felony theft between $5,000 and $20,000 and official misconduct. Theft charged was amended to between $2,000 and $5,000 and official misconduct dismissed through a plea deal. Pleaded guilty to the lesser theft charge on May 22, and sentenced to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service.
- According to a Pueblo County SO press release, Hanratty was vice president of the sheriff’s employee’s labor union and after an investigation by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, he was found to have diverted $17,000 in union funds to his personal accounts. He resigned on April 15.
Sources:
- Court records
- POST Database
- Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office
Richard Sonnenberg (CO-114707)
- Terminated for cause as a Sergeant with Idaho Springs Police Department on June 17
- Named in 2021 lawsuit against two Idaho Springs police officers for the tasing of an elderly man.
- The City of Idaho Springs and Idaho Springs Police Department did not respond to requests for relevant documents before publishing.
Sources:
- POST Database
- Westword
Kenneth DeGuelle (CO-133705)
- Issued a credibility report as a trooper with the Colorado State Patrol on July 1
- Terminated for cause as a trooper with CSP on Sept. 15, 2025
Sources:
- POST Database
Kevin Conner (CO-2831-0994)
- Issued a credibility report as a trooper with the Colorado State Patrol on July 1
- Terminated for cause as a trooper with CSP on Aug. 28, 2024
Sources:
- POST Database
John Trentini (CO-129804)
- Issued a credibility report as a trooper with the Colorado State Patrol on July 1
- Terminated for cause as a trooper with CSP on Aug. 5, 2024
Sources:
- POST Database
John Vela (CO-0140-9438)
- Issued a credibility report as a trooper with the Colorado State Patrol on July 1
- Terminated for cause as a trooper with Colorado State Patrol on Feb. 26, 2026. Investigated by the 7th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for an attempted traffic stop in August 2024.
- Around 2 a.m., Vela clocked a vehicle speeding at 71 mph in a 45 mph zone in a business district in Montrose. Vela caught up with the vehicle, put on his lights and sirens, continuing to follow the car at “a high rate of speed” for eights blocks and through multiple green lights until they reached a red light and the car struck a third vehicle driving across the intersection. Vela slowed before hitting anything. District Attorney Anna Cooling found Vela’s actions to be “reasonable, appropriate, and justified…” As such, “the prosecution cannot prove Trooper Vela operated his fully marked patrol vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner, without due regard for the safety of any persons and property,” so no criminal charges were filed.
Sources:
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.
Brian Tate (CO-160-705)
- Terminated for cause as an officer with Golden Police Department on Feb. 2, 2026
- Updates: Termination letter
- States that Tate interfered with a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office criminal investigation while off-duty.
- According to disciplinary summaries received by Golden Police Department, they received a complaint against Tate on Nov. 26, 2025 which led to his dismissal. Golden PD claims it was involving conduct not involving a member of the public and not while on duty so they denied releasing the complaint itself.
- Golden PD gave the same reasoning for not releasing a November 2022 complaint that led to a four day suspension and two year performance plan
- The only released complaint involved an accusation of Tate being unprofessional in his handling of the report by a mother of an assault against her son.
- Applied to Golden PD January 2022
Sources:
- POST Database
- Golden Police Department
- City of Golden
- Termination letter
