Colorado Springs – Federal immigration officials tried to deport Jereme Lamberth two years ago but released the man now accused of killing a police officer when a federal judge declared him a U.S. citizen, authorities said Thursday.
Lamberth, 30, who also goes by the last name of Schweinhardt, is the son of an American military father and a German-born mother who never married. He immigrated to the United States as a child with his family but did not follow the procedures necessary to formally obtain his citizenship, officials said.
As a criminal convicted in 1995 on charges of theft and trespassing, he could have been deported under federal law.
When his mandatory February 2004 release date from a Colorado prison neared, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, placed a detainer hold on him, said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok.
“As an immigrant from Germany and convicted criminal, he was taken into ICE custody,” Rusnok said Thursday. “ICE immediately placed him into removal proceedings.”
Schweinhardt was held in a detention facility in Colorado.
But during an October 2004 hearing in Colorado, Rusnok said, a federal immigration judge determined that Schweinhardt was a U.S. citizen based on the citizenship of his father.
“As a U.S. citizen, ICE no longer had any grounds to hold Mr. Schweinhardt,” Rusnok said.
Federal officials released him from custody on Oct. 28, 2004.
On Wednesday, authorities say, he shot and killed Colorado Springs police officer Jared Jensen, 30, as the officer tried to capture Lamberth, a fugitive accused of stabbing his sister 13 times earlier this month.
An autopsy showed the plainclothes detective died of a single gunshot to the head. He was shot on the ground while holding an open pair of handcuffs in his right hand, police said.
During an advisement hearing Thursday, Lamberth waived a reading of the first-degree murder charge that is expected to be filed against him.
Lamberth’s public defender said she intended to ask a judge to limit media access and prohibit law enforcement officers from discussing the case.
He is due back in court for a formal filing of the charges March 6.
Meanwhile, witnesses say they can’t believe a police officer was killed in what appeared to be such a cold-blooded way.
Brandon Chavez, 21, was asleep in his house on the corner of Hancock Avenue and Costilla Street when he was awakened by the sound of two gunshots.
He ran out of his house and saw Jensen lying in the dirt.
“I was kind of half asleep,” Chavez said. “I told my friend, ‘Call the cops,’ and the suspect was looking back at me. He was pretty calm about the whole situation.”
Chavez said the suspect walked west on Costilla and did not show panic or fear.
“The cops just missed him by a minute,” Chavez said.
Jensen was wearing a red sweatshirt and blue jeans.
“The thing that I thought was weird is there was no badge exposed. No necklace with a badge,” Chavez said.
Officers swarmed the area and taped off the neighborhood.
At the scene Thursday, residents and fellow police officers paid their respects. They left a police teddy bear, a Colorado Springs Police Department T-shirt and flowers.
Employees of the J.W. liquor store nearby left a hotel-sized bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey on a bus bench with a large American flag.
Among the visitors were four undercover officers and Jensen’s boss from his unit, Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence.
“He loved his job,” Lt. Tish Olszewski said.
“One of his goals when he came on to the department was to work Metro VNI within five years of coming into the department, and he did that. You have to be an outstanding officer to be selected.”
Olszewski said she personally selected him to be on the team.
“He’s genuine, he’s caring and he loved his community,” she said. “To get into metro VNI you have to do a good job on the street.”
She said Jensen’s brother, Jeff, a sergeant in the police department, probably had some influence over Jensen’s decision to become an officer. Jensen’s love of acting might have had an influence, too, since undercover work required some acting ability, she said.
Jensen was married, had three cats and was an avid golfer. He was the favorite uncle to many nieces and nephews.
Jensen was a member of the Police Accountability and Service Standards Team, which focuses on areas of the city with high crime and nuisance problems, such as drugs and prostitution.
Jensen was singled out several times for excellent police work, including a time in October 2004 when he was commended along with another officer for arresting a man wanted in a stabbing. Jensen and another officer stopped the man as he tried to get away in a Jeep Cherokee and held him at gunpoint.
Olszewski said Jensen was a safety-conscious officer.
“He was always respectful of the public. He always had a big ol’ smile on his face when I saw him. What a gift to enjoy and love your job. He could not wait to get out there on the street and start working,” she said.
“He was courageous and brave and smart, and he knew his job.”
