LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A former Lakewood police agent has been arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a vacant parking lot while on duty, the Denver District Attorney’s Office said on Thursday.
Randall Shaun Butler, 37, is charged with two counts of sexual assault for conduct committed while on duty. He was put on administrative leave and later resigned from his position.
He had been with the Lakewood Police Department since January 2013.
The incident allegedly happened around 11 p.m. on Nov. 16 in the area of 10th and Sheridan when Butler offered to drive a woman in his patrol car to a more secure location near her home.
The victim told police that Butler pulled up to her and asked if she was okay following an argument with a friend at a bar near 7th and Sheridan, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by FOX31.
The victim told authorities that as she started walking home, the same police officer turned on his sirens and asked her if she needed a ride.
Because she didn’t feel safe in the area, she agreed to a ride and sat in the backseat of the patrol car, the victim told authorities. The officer said he could only take her to 20th and Sheridan.
As they were driving north on Sheridan, Butler allegedly told the victim he was going to drop her off at 25th and Sheridan instead, according to the affidavit.
Butler allegedly drove the victim to a vacant parking lot at 25th and Sheridan and he opened the back door for her. She thanked him for the ride and he asked for her number, which she gave to him.
“I told him that he shouldn’t do this (sex) and then he had the nerve to ask if I had a condom,” the victim said according to the affidavit.
That’s when he allegedly sexually assaulted her on the back seat of the police car.
He then left the victim and drove away, authorities said.
According to the affidavit, she ran to a nearby 7-Eleven store where she called her mom to tell her she had been sexually assaulted by a cop.
She later went to a hospital where she said a nurse “made her feel like pure trash,” according to the affidavit. The nurse told her that she would have to contact police and go to another hospital for a test.
A few days later, on Nov. 20, she contacted Denver police via their website SeekThenSpeek.org to report the assault.
When Denver police started investigating the incident, they spoke to a Lakewood police sergeant who said that Butler told him that he had picked up a woman to give a courtesy ride to while on duty.
Butler claimed that the woman was coming onto him and starting kissing him and said that his impulses got the best of him,” according to the affidavit.
The sergeant said that nobody in the department had previously expressed concerns about Butler and that the department does not have a policy against giving someone a courtesy ride outside of the city, the officer just has to get approval from a supervisor.
Anyone with information or other allegations against Butler is asked to contact the Lakewood Police Department at 303-763-6800.
Butler is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
This story is developing. Refresh this page for the latest.
