Prison guard sues over being accused of using “fake” license

A man who was accused of faking a government document when he presented a driver’s license at Denver International Airport that had run through the laundry has sued three Denver cops for false arrest.

Juan Valenzuela was fired from his job as a correctional officer at a Colorado prison because of the fiasco that began a year ago in a Transportation Security Administration line.

Attorney Raymond Bryant filed a lawsuit on Valenzuela’s behalf in U.S. District Court in Denver against Denver police officers Karl Coleman, Ligela Craven and Anthony Wilkerson.

Denver police spokeswoman Christine Downs declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Valenzuela was going through security on Feb. 15 when a TSA agent concluded his driver’s license was a fake even though the antitampering portion of the card was intact and he was identifiable, the lawsuit says.

The TSA agent summoned numerous police officers, who asked him why the card was damaged. He explained that the damage was caused by a washing machine.

Valenzuela offered other identification including his Social Security card, as well as his Crowley County Correctional Facility munitions card and his firearms qualification card, both of which had his name and photograph, the lawsuit says. His prison captain also verified Valenzuela was who he claimed to be.

But the three police officers disregarded all the evidence and arrested him for investigation of using a forged U.S. government identification card, a felony. He was in jail for three days. The charges were dismissed when a prosecutor examined the license.

Valenzuela was fired from his job at the state prison because of the arrest, and remained unemployed for five months as his family struggled to pay rent and living expenses, the lawsuit says.

Bryant said the prison couldn’t employ someone facing a felony forgery charge.

Crowley County Correctional Facility rehired Valenzuela after the forgery charges were dismissed, Bryant said.