GREELEY — Mayor Ed Clark today won his court fight against a 15-year-old boy who accused Clark of assaulting him for joyriding on his motorbike in the neighborhood the two share.
But Clark also vowed never to go near the boy again and to call police when he witnesses a possible criminal act.
“Barring him coming into my home and trying to kill me, I’ll never touch him again,” Clark said.
Weld County Judge Timothy Kerns admonished both Clark and 15-year-old Remington Stitt for allowing tensions to escalate in their Greeley subdivision just before the June 23 incident. Stitt and his parents claimed Clark grabbed the teen off his motorbike and threw him to the ground before police could arrive.
Clark and his neighbors, however, claimed Stitt and his friends were cursing and driving recklessly through the neighborhood and Clark was justified in essentially making a citizens arrest. Clark, in testimony Thursday, denied he slammed Stitt to the ground but held him down briefly to keep him away from the motorbike.
Stitt’s parents got a temporary restraining order against Clark on June 24 and were seeking to make it a permanent order against the mayor. Kerns denied the request for a permanent injunction against Clark and dismissed the temporary restraining order.
Clark – a former Greeley police officer – said if the court ruled against him, he could have lost his job as a security officer at a Greeley charter school. Clark has also been cleared of any criminal charges relating to the incident.
Kerns dismissed arguments by Clark’s lawyers that he was justified in detaining Stitt because he was acting as a law enforcement officer in his capacity as mayor. Clark’s actions, Kerns said, were “not reasonable. The police could have handled this.”
Stitt was also at fault for criminal and delinquent behavior, Kerns said. He was cited by police for operating a motor vehicle without a license and driving an off-road vehicle on city roads.
There was also long-standing animosity between Stitt and Clark’s family including allegations of threats, Kerns said.
“All the testimony points to a history of conflict among these parties,” he said.
Stitt and his family declined to comment. Clark said he looked forward to just worrying about being the Greeley mayor.
“These last six weeks have been horrible for my family,” Clark said. “Next time, I will call police.”
