Error in the documents leads to the police stopping two men

DENVER – Police body cameras and dashboard videos captured tense moments as deputies and police officers pointed their guns at two electricians initially believed to be driving a stolen vehicle, but documents show a record-keeping error led to the ordeal.

9NEWS Investigates learned of the incident in June after Denver police released disciplinary documents. The felony arrest occurred in April 2023.

Video obtained by 9NEWS shows officers from Larimer and Boulder counties stopping a white van after hitting it with a GPS tracking arrow.

Jason Pettison and Ben Drysdale were in the car. The police pointed their guns at them and shouted at them, ordering them to get out with their hands up.

“Really a lot of confusion. I have no idea what’s going on,” Pettison said in an interview with 9NEWS. “It’s kind of a surreal experience.”

“I mean, it was just pretty, pretty scary. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on,” Ben Drysdale said of the experience.

Deputies and police handcuffed Pettison and Drysdale and placed them in the back of police vehicles. Video shows the two men looking confused as a deputy began to explain that their patrol vehicle had been flagged as a stolen vehicle by Denver police.

According to records, Pettison reported items stolen from his work van to Denver police a month before being arrested for a crime, but the police report shows the officer marked the entire van as stolen.

License plate readers then captured images of the van as it drove through Larimer County and alerted deputies and police officers, who had to stop the perpetrator.

Disciplinary records show Denver Police Corporal Christopher Johnson was suspended for two days without pay for making an error in taking Pattison’s report.

“Either I misinterpreted something or there was a miscommunication and I didn’t ask the appropriate questions,” Corporal Johnson says in the disciplinary documents.

“I wasn’t mad at the police officer at all, but they were just doing their job. That’s what you see on their screen. So it’s nothing against them,” Drysdale told 9NEWS.

Pattison expressed hope that Denver police would provide training to the officer who made the paperwork error.

A statement from Denver Police Department said follow-up training has been put in place as a result of the incident:

“In addition to the suspension, Officer Johnson’s supervisor conducted a review/debriefing of the incident both after the incident was reported and after the disciplinary process. In addition, the DPD’s Professional Development Division put together a training module specific to the officer’s violation that included additional training and a review of understanding. Completion of the training module is documented by the supervisor and kept in the officer’s personnel file. Assigning follow-up training is standard practice in ongoing IA cases to ensure officers understand proper procedures and enforce policies.”

Additional reporting by Jeremy Jojola:

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