Cops punished over missing guns, Taser

Two guns and a Taser recently were stolen from Denver Police Department officers’ cars, leading to punishment for two veteran cops.

One gun — a 9mm Glock pistol — has been recovered. A shotgun and the Taser remain missing, according to disciplinary letters issued to the officers.

On Dec. 10, Detective James Edinger reported that a Glock handgun, a shotgun, police badges, a watch and money were stolen from his department-issued vehicle, his disciplinary letter said. In a report to the Lakewood Police Department, Edinger said there were no signs of forced entry so he must have accidentally left the doors unlocked when he got home.

The Glock was personally owned but approved for use by a police officer, the letter said. The shotgun also was personally owned.

Denver police found the Glock and a badge the next day when they responded to a disturbance call on the southwest side of the city.

Edinger lost two vacation days for losing the weapons and badges, the letter said.

Officer Ramona Barraza, however, was suspended without pay for 10 days after her Taser was stolen from her unlocked car, according to her disciplinary letter. Her punishment was more severe because of past disciplinary issues.

Barraza told investigators that she had given her car keys to a friend, who needed to retrieve belongings from the car and the friend had left the doors unlocked, the report said.

In a third February disciplinary case, a lieutenant was punished after a large bag of methamphetamine also went missing when officers were supposed to be guarding a crime scene.

Lt. Philip Epple was the highest-ranking officer on scene on Sept. 26, when police served an arrest warrant and discovered the methamphetamine in the suspect’s house. Epple told the officers to place the meth on the kitchen counter and then instructed officers to get a search warrant before seizing the drugs, his letter said.

Epple instructed one officer to stay at the house to protect the crime scene, but when officers returned with a search warrant, the meth was gone, the letter said. The officer admitted that he had allowed a woman inside to get her car keys but said he did not see her take anything.

Investigators determined the woman most likely called another person, who sneaked inside a back door and took the meth, the letter said.

Epple lost two vacation days, his letter said, and he has been placed on administrative leave. The officer left to guard the house has not been punished.

On Monday investigators conducted a drug raid at Epple’s Denver home, according to source with knowledge of the investigation.

The current investigation, however, is not connected to the missing methamphetamine, said Sonny Jackson, a police department spokesman.