Two police officers suspended for leaking video of Denver mayor's son threatening an officer during a traffic stop
Two officers were suspended for "leaking" bodycam footage showing the son of Denver's mayor insulting a police officer during a traffic stop in March.
In the footage, 22-year-old Jordan Hancock, son of Mayor Michael Hancock, is seen screaming at and threatening officer Paul McClendon after he was pulled over for breaking the speed limit by driving at 65 mph in a 50 mph zone.
While the focus should have been on the uncivilized behavior of the individual trying to use his father's clout to threaten hard-working policemen, internal affairs instead launched an investigation to determine how the body-camera video was leaked to the press. Also, the Aurora Police Department upheld that McClendon did nothing wrong during the stop.
It was learned on Thursday that two officers, Paul Timmons and Judy Gurley Lutkin, were found responsible for leaking the footage and were subsequently suspended for a day, according to an announcement by the department.
The investigation conducted by internal affairs found that McClendon reportedly showed the body-camera video to Timmons, who then recorded it with his cell phone, reported Fox 31.
Timmons then showed the video to Gurley-Lutkin, who shared it with her husband. While it is not known if Gurley-Lutkin's husband then leaked the video to press, both Timmons and Gurley-Lutkins were suspended for the video being made available to the public.
On March 23, the 22-year-old was stopped for speeding in Aurora, which is about 20 minutes from Denver. And it wasn't just that - Jordan was driving without a license, according to authorities.
Once apprehended, Jordan cursed at the officer instead of cooperating with him as the ticket was being issued. Using homophobic slurs, the youth can be heard saying: "My dad's the mayor, you f****ing f****t."
He didn't stop there. Assuming a sense of entitlement, the young man goes on to threaten the officer even further: "Guess what? I'm about to get you fired you f***ing b****h."
That said, the officer knew what he was doing and struck Jordan with a reality check, informing him that he is in Aurora, not Denver. He added, sarcastically: "Your father is going to be proud." Furthermore, he wrote on Jordan's ticket: "Attitude very poor-see video."
Mayor Michael Hancock was markedly displeased with the uncouth behavior of his son. In a statement released in March, Hancock said his son had apologized to Officer McClendon and paid the $275 penalty for the speeding infraction. "We addressed this matter with Jordan and he has apologized to the officer," he said. "While we do not support nor condone his inexcusable actions and words during this traffic stop, we love our son dearly and support him."