Snowmass Village – A Pueblo deputy district attorney was jailed earlier this week on suspicion of driving under the influence hours before the annual conference of the Colorado District Attorneys Council was to get underway.
Police said Karl Tameler, 41, made a pointed effort to let the arresting officer know he was a prosecutor and asked to telephone the district attorney, whose office would be handling his case, according to a police report.
Tameler was stopped Monday for allegedly driving 53 mph in a 25-mph construction zone in Aspen.
Tameler was visibly intoxicated, and Aspen police officer Dan Glidden, who pulled over Tameler just before 2 a.m. Monday, wrote in his report that Tameler “prominently displayed a law enforcement badge” when asked for his driver’s license, bragged about “the serious and major types of cases he had prosecuted” and referenced “the ‘huge’ amount of discretion an officer” has when making an arrest.
After failing a roadside sobriety test and electing to take a blood test at Aspen Valley Hospital, he was jailed for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Tameler was released with a summons to appear in Pitkin County District Court on Nov. 8. He could not be reached for comment.
His employer, 10th Judicial District Attorney Bill Thiebaut, read a prepared statement that said he expects “all employees to abide by the law.”
“However, I will say that Karl Tameler, who obviously has been humbled by this experience, is an excellent public servant and has been an asset to this office and the citizens of Pueblo.”
