An arrest warrant on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a peace officer was issued Wednesday for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is accused of interfering with authorities attempting to serve a search warrant on her a day earlier at a bagel shop in Grand Junction.
Her legal team, in response, said law enforcers used "excessive force" and "manhandle[d]" her during the incident.
Grand Junction police briefly detained Peters on Tuesday while local prosecutors seized a tablet computer allegedly used by Peters to record a court hearing involving her deputy clerk a day earlier, contrary to a judge's instructions.
The incident isn't related to numerous state and federal investigations into allegations that Peters, a Republican serving her first term as county clerk and recorder, was involved in a security breach that resulted in sensitive data from the county's election system being posted online last summer.
Redacted Peters Arrest Affidavit
A spokeswoman for the Grand Junction Police Department told Colorado Politics on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. that it didn't appear that Peters had been contacted or arrested on the new warrant.
"Peters has an active warrant for her arrest," Callie Berkson, the public information coordinator for the police department, said in a text message. "To the best of my knowledge she has not been contacted or arrested at this time."
A spokesman for Peters's legal defense fund, Republican political consultant Rory McShane, in a statement issued late Wednesday accused authorities of continuing to use "excessive force and harassment" against Peters and said officers had gone beyond the scope of the search warrant by seizing other items.
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According to an arrest affidavit filed by Grand Junction Police Officer Vaughn Soderquist, Peters kicked at another officer while she was being handcuffed, striking the Taser and an ammunition pouch on his belt. Moments later, after officers had escorted Peters outside, the officer wrote, she "continued to actively resist and was just going limp and attempted to crumple to the sidewalk."
Police had responded to a request for assistance from investigators with the county district attorney's office who said someone — later identified as Peters — was blocking their attempt to obtain an iPad under a search warrant. According to the warrant, investigators were seeking to determine if Peters had recorded portions of a court hearing after the judge had reminded Peters that use of electronic recording devices was prohibited in the courtroom.
The hearing was in a case involving Peters's former chief deputy clerk, Belinda Knisley, who was suspended last year by Mesa County based on allegations she had created a hostile work environment.
"The iPad DA investigators were trying to seize for the search warrant was being passed around between patrons who were seated at the table," Soderquist wrote. As the customers continued to play keep-away with the device, Peters stepped between the officer and the seated customers.
Redacted Peters Arrest Affidavit
The affidavit says the officer then "took the female suspect by her left bicep and tried to move her to the right," and then she "began actively resisting and was placed in handcuffs for obstructing officers" as another officer told her not to resist.
"As I was attempting to double lock the handcuffs Officer Tafoya was attempting to get a car key/fob out of the suspect's right hand," the affidavit continues. "At this point the suspect attempted to kick back with her right leg to strike Officer Tafoya. She missed Officer Tafoya's body but did contact Officer Tafoya's Taser and magazine pouch which were located on Officer Tafoya's belt. I told the suspect, 'Do not kick! Do you understand!?' Sgt. Church also asked the suspect to 'please relax' which she yelled 'No!'"
According to McShane, a spokesman for Peters's legal defense fund, her attorneys are "evaluating the legal options in response to the excessive force used against Clerk Peters."
After officers "took custody of the iPad," McShane said, "they also handcuffed Peters and wrestled her car keys away from her. The warrant did not allow the officers to search Clerk Peters’ car after the iPad was taken — which Clerk Peters clearly stated. Officers proceed[ed] to manhandle Clerk Peters, leaving bruises, contusions, and injuries to her wrists and arms. They kept the keys, along with the iPad."
Added McShane: "This continues the theme of excessive force and harassment that Clerk Peters has dealt with for months, including battering rams used on homes during searches."
Officials deny claim by Mesa Clerk Tina Peters that force was used in search of her home
Initially, the arrest affidavit issued on Wednesday says, the DA's investigator said he had probable cause to charge Peters with tampering with physical evidence, a felony, but prosecutors later decided to exercise their discretion and not file felony charges.
Portions of the interaction between Peters and law enforcement officers inside the restaurant was recorded on a video posted online Tuesday by Colorado Politics news partner 9News. Another video clip, depicting Peters attempting to whisper something to the person holding the recording device after officers escorted her onto the sidewalk, appeared Tuesday on the podcast Steve Bannon's War Room. Bannon, a Peters supporter and former top aide to former President Donald Trump, described law enforcement as "the Gestapo" during the show and said the incident was "a shot across the bow" in efforts to take over local election boards.
After viewing the video posted by 9News, which appears to show Peters kicking at the police officer, Pam Anderson, a former Jefferson County clerk and a candidate in the Republican primary for Colorado Secretary of State, told Colorado Politics that she was disturbed by what she'd seen.
"Sadly, the video shows a lack of professionalism from a public official," Anderson said in a text message. "I am from a law enforcement family, we expect more of our elected officials to follow the law and respect our law enforcement professionals trying to do their job."
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Via a spokesman, Colorado Republican Party Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown said: “We believe all elected officials should be an example to citizens in respecting law enforcement and the rule of law.”
The spokesman, state GOP executive director Joseph Jackson, said Burton Brown hadn't been in contact with Peters since the incident at the bagel shop.
Peters has been accused of helping facilitate breaches in election system security, ignoring election rules and defying orders from Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat. Peters also faces ethics and campaign finance complaints involving gifts she's allegedly accepted above legal limits.
Last month, Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, a Republican, and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, announced that the Mesa County grand jury was investigating allegations of tampering with Mesa County election equipment and official misconduct.
Peters maintains her innocence, arguing that she was taking necessary steps to preserve election records. She also denies she committed the ethics and campaign finance infractions alleged in complaints.
A Mesa County District Court judge found in October that Peters and Knisley allowed the introduction of a security vulnerability into the county’s voting system equipment and ruled that she had breached her duties.
