Attorney General John Suthers was cleared of assault allegations Friday following an investigation by the Larimer County Sheriff, but his accuser now is charged with a crime.
Robert Trucker, 49, of Brighton, is charged with false reporting to authorities, which is a misdemeanor.
He received a summons to appear Dec. 20 in a Larimer County courtroom.
Trucker is a Democratic activist and promoter of a bail-bonds initiative that Suthers, the Republican incumbent, opposes.
Trucker’s cell phone voicemail was full on Friday and he couldn’t be reached for comment. A message left with Safe Streets Colorado – supporters of the bail-bonds initiative – was not returned. A call to Trucker’s attorney was also not returned Friday.
On Oct. 12, the two men attended a political rally near Loveland and began discussing the bail-bonds initiative near a popcorn machine.
Suthers says he never touched Trucker, that the conversation was not heated and he was munching on a bag of popcorn during the discussion.
“He is happy other witnesses corroborated his telling of events,” said Andrew Cole, Suthers’ campaign manager. “He is sad that Mr. Trucker felt the need to stoop to this level for the media attention.”
Suthers has said he only closed the viewscreen of Trucker’s video camera after Trucker continued to point it at him when he asked Trucker not to tape him.
Trucker claimed the attorney general poked him in the chest with his finger, berated him and slapped him on the shoulder and arms.
“He did this several times and it hurt me,” Trucker wrote in his police report.
The day after the rally, Trucker reported the incident to the sheriff’s office.
He also held a news conference and claimed he had a recording of the incident.
An audio recording reviewed by the Denver Post was garbled and neither an assault or an argument can be heard on the tape.
“A video recorded with Trucker’s (videocamera) was reviewed,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Eloise Campanella wrote in a statement. “Other witness statements were taken including one from an uninvolved witness who had read the article in the newspaper about the incident and came forward with a detailed account. Neither the video recording nor any of the witness statements supported Trucker’s allegations.”
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com
