Aurora – A lawyer representing an off-duty police sergeant accused of using racial slurs against a disabled woman and her daughter said Tuesday that the allegations are baseless.
Attorney David Osborne, who represents Sgt. Charles DeShazer, said his client “never used a racial slur in any shape or form” during a June 17 confrontation in which the woman and child were forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Criminal charges were dropped Monday against Loree McCormick-Rice and her 13- year-old daughter, Cassidy.
The mother and daughter said DeShazer cursed at them and used a racial slur in the parking lot of a grocery store. McCormick-Rice went back inside to complain, and DeShazer, who was in uniform, waited outside in an unmarked car for the pair, she said in court Monday.
McCormick-Rice said DeShazer stopped her car and brutalized her and her daughter.
“My client is frustrated and outraged by the statements that have been made by McCormick-Rice,” Osborne said Tuesday outside Aurora police headquarters. “Every statement she’s made becomes more and more exaggerated.”
City Attorney Charlie Richardson dropped charges against McCormick-Rice and Cassidy after watching the mother testify at a court hearing Monday.
Attorney David Lane, who represents McCormick-Rice, said they plan a civil suit against DeShazer to be filed in federal court based on alleged police brutality and civil- rights violations.
Meanwhile, police are calling for an Incident Review Board – made up of four citizens and four police officers – to look at the case. The board will write a report based on its findings and forward it to Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@ denverpost.com.
