DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver police officer suspended for his conduct during the George Floyd protests in 2020 now faces two domestic violence charges.
Twenty-six-year-old Diego Archuleta has been charged with criminal attempt to commit assault in the second degree – a felony, and assault in the third degree – a misdemeanor.
According to a probable cause statement obtained by the Problem Solvers, Archuleta got into a verbal argument in his car with a female passenger on the night of Sept. 1.
The female victim told police Archuleta grabbed her around the throat and shoved her into the car door. The victim then claimed Archuleta squeezed his hand around her neck, hard enough to restrict her breathing. The woman was able to fight back and get out of the car and call 911. Police said there were visible abrasions and red marks on her neck.
The victim told police she was “scared that if he did not let go she would have passed out.”
An officer who responded to the scene said Archuleta failed a roadside field sobriety test but refused to take a chemical blood alcohol content test.
FOX31 reported on Archuleta’s six-day suspension in May after Denver released a discipline report showing Archuleta and another officer used unnecessary force during the George Floyd protests near the Capitol last summer.
Archuleta admitted spraying his OC fogger twice in the direction of the a driver who was “chastising officers” and said, “What, they gonna kill this guy?” when Arculeta was walking near her SUV.
Denver police told the Problem Solvers Archuleta has been suspended without pay following department policy for a felony arrest.