Deputy who let inmates order Uber Eats fired, Colorado reports say. Orders hid drugs
A Denver deputy thought he demonstrated “humanity” by letting two jail inmates order food from Uber Eats, a Colorado investigation showed.
But the prisoners had conspired with a friend to have illegal drugs smuggled into the jail in the orders, disciplinary reports obtained by McClatchy News found.
A disciplinary letter said the deputy, who did not know about the drugs, “unfortunately became an unwary tool in their scheme.”
He was fired April 29 after he was accused of violating numerous jail policies by allowing the orders, the documents said..
“I made a mistake,” the deputy said, according to disciplinary records. “I take full responsibility for my actions. I was in the wrong and went against my better judgment, and for that, I apologize.”
The deputy allowed two inmates, one accused of murder, to order burritos and Chinese food via Uber Eats or Grubhub as a gesture of gratitude for keeping their part of the Denver Downtown Detention Facility clean, documents said.
The deputy told investigators he checked the orders and found nothing amiss, the documents reported.
After the second order, in which the inmates also ordered food for him as a gift, the deputy told them the outside food orders had to stop, the documents said.
The two inmates shared the smuggled drugs with a third prisoner, who used them to attempt suicide, according to the documents. He survived.
The sheriff’s disciplinary report said the deputy’s “loss of objectivity” in allowing the outside food orders showed his “lack of fitness” to be a deputy.
The deputy said at his disciplinary hearing that when the inmates jokingly asked to order out for food, he saw it as a chance to demonstrate his “humanity” as deputies sometimes do on the street by buying people coffee or meals, according to the documents.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Deputy who let inmates order Uber Eats fired, Colorado reports say. Orders hid drugs."