Shakeup at Park County Sheriff's Office after fatal shooting of deputy

Additional stories to follow up on previous post:
Family of fallen Park County Sheriff's deputy Nate Carrigan files intent to sue
Deputy's parents say their son didn't have to die
TheDenverChannel.com Team , Liz Gelardi
Aug 15, 2016

The notice of suit alleges the Park County Sheriff's Department did not follow policy when it sent in regular deputies to remove a barricaded and dangerous suspect. Wirth was known to law enforcement and had previously threatened to kill cops.

The wrongful death of Deputy Carrigan and the injuries to Kolby Martin are due to "grossly negligent conduct of command staff" at the sheriff's department, according to the legal documents.

The sheriff is expected to release new information from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation's report next week, according to Park County Undersheriff, Dave Wohlers.

Family of slain deputy blame sheriff for death
Anastasiya Bolton, KUSA
August 15, 2016

Court paperwork details the basis for the lawsuit – that Sheriff Wegener made the final decision to follow Martin Wirth into the home he was being evicted from, even though he “threatened to harm any individual trying to evict him,” and that decision ran counter to department policy.

The paperwork claims that Park County Sheriff Office Policy and Procedures at that point, required Wirth be treated as a barricaded subject. Non-SWAT officers like Carrigan and Kolby Martin should not have been sent into the home. It says that the death of deputy Carrigan and the injuries to Kolby Martin are, “due to the grossly negligent conduct of command staff at the Park County Sheriff’s Office, failure to properly train and supervise, failure to adhere and follow the basic National Standards as it concerns the treatment of a barricaded suspect and a high risk eviction.”

"The basic laws of law enforcement, once they go back in, you surround it and you have the person come out,” Grant Whitus, a former SWAT team leader for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, said. “That could go on for hours and you made need to use gas to have the person to come out. You certainly have the SWAT teams involved with it when something goes that wrong. And that's what should have been done that day."

“This isn’t about money,” said John Carrigan, Nathan’s father, “we are not looking for money. We’re looking to remove Fred Wegener as the sheriff and his command staff from their jobs. What we’re hoping is to get the information out on what actually happened, the murder of Martin Wirth and the killing of our son, as well as the lies told by the sheriff about it.”

Sheriff answers questions about deputy's death
Victoria Sanchez, KUSA
August 23, 2016

PARK COUNTY - Ever since the shooting death of Park County Sheriff Corporal Nate Carrigan, a community and many along the Front Range have had questions about what happened and why it happened.

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener sat down with 9NEWS for the first time since the deadly shooting to answer questions about what happened that day six months ago.

“Nobody thought that when we’d go in to get him that he would ambush our officers," Wegener said.

He said usually just two deputies are sent to serve an eviction but the deputies knew Wirth was a threat.

Read more and watch the video here: www.9news.com/news/local/sheriff-answers...utys-death/306460478

Park County authorities, aware of Martin Wirth’s threats, considered SWAT operation before deadly eviction
Martin Wirth, Cpl. Nate Carrigan died in a shootout during an attempted February eviction
By Jesse Paul | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Tom McGhee | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
PUBLISHED: August 24, 2016

FAIRPLAY — The Park County Sheriff’s Office knew that Martin Wirth had made a litany of threats against law-enforcement officers and considered, but ultimately rejected, making his deadly February eviction a “SWAT call,” newly released documents show.

Wirth commented that any encounter with law enforcement would become the “OK Corral.” He had also said that he wasn’t going to leave his home unless he was dead and wasn’t afraid to take law enforcement with him, according to 294 pages of documents from state investigators reviewed Wednesday by The Denver Post.

Despite the threats, Park County officials decided a SWAT operation “wasn’t necessary,” summoning instead a team of six deputies for the eviction and staging medical personnel nearby.

The release of Colorado Bureau of Investigation documents and audio from post-event interviews and crime-scene analysis provides the first full look into the details leading up to, during and after the shootout.

Can't wait to see what the paperwork shows this is also so sad.

Judge tosses lawsuit by PCSO sergeant ousted after Carrigan shooting

A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has dismissed a lawsuit against the Park County Sheriff’s Office and others filed last year by former Park County sheriff’s sergeant Welles Tonjes after he was disciplined following the Feb. 2015 shooting in Bailey that left Cpl. Nate Carrigan dead.

In an order dated Feb. 21, Magistrate Judge Kelly H. Rankin formally dismissed the remaining defendant — the Park County Sheriff’s Office — and the lawsuit after issuing in early January a 39-page memorandum opinion that found that while Tonjes plausibly alleged “denial of due process property interest, violation of First Amendment right to expressive association, breach of contract and promissory estoppel,” he didn’t adequately prove that the Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Fred Wegener deprived him of his “constitutionally protected liberty interest in his good name.”

Read more here: www.canyoncourier.com/content/judge-toss...er-carrigan-shooting
By Sal Christ
Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Contact reporter Sal Christ at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 303-350-1035. Follow her on Twitter at @decriture

Former Sergeant Releases Tell-All Following Lawsuit Settlement
CBS4 Denver
March 11, 2018

On Saturday, Welles Tonjes sent a tell-all letter to CBS4 saying:

Two years have passed since the death of Cpl. Nate Carrigan. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends on this anniversary. I miss my friend.

A year ago, the firm of Benezra & Culver, P.C., filed a lawsuit on my behalf in the United States Federal Court against the Park County Sheriff’s Office. The case has been settled and I appreciate the assistance this professional law firm provided for me and my family. I thank you for your efforts, and for your results.

Sheriff Wegener’s Rebuttal
Park County Sheriff's Office
March 13, 2018

To say the ‘press release’ is highly inaccurate in many ways is a gracious understatement. Some of the information presented is suspect. Some is blatantly wrong. The timing of this release is highly suspect. The idea seems to have been to get it in the paper just before the Assembly of Delegates, without any time for any sort of public rebuttal. At least one of the candidates in the upcoming election is running a vigorous and energetic campaign against me. Despite the fact that I’m not actually running. The candidate has built his platform on criticizing the very agency he proclaims to want to lead. In point of fact, the ‘press release’ was distributed by Amy Mitchell, who is currently serving as the campaign manager of Monte Gore’s run for Sheriff. Ms. Mitchell is also closely associated with the Park County Republican Committee, which raises some ethical questions as well.

Gore was so completely oblivious to the severity of the shooting and its aftermath that he arrived to the PCSO that day without his badge shrouded. He was operating in ‘condition white’, which is a term used in law enforcement to denote a complete and total disconnect from reality. He was completely useless to me as an Undersheriff, when I needed help the most. In fact, he was concerned only with the amount of responses he was getting to his media and computer presence.

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Park County, Sheriff Over Deputy Nate Carrigan’s Death
By Brian Maass, CBS Denver
April 2, 2019 at 2:04 pm

DENVER (CBS4)– A federal judge in Denver calls the 2016 line of duty death of Corporal Nate Carrigan “unquestionably tragic” and “terrible and unnecessary.” She simultaneously has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Carrigan’s family against Park County, former Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener and former Park County Captain Mark Hancock.

Senior Judge Marcia Krieger dismissed all claims of the Carrigan family in an order dated March 29.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” said Reid Elkus, an attorney who represented the Carrigan family in the case. ”We knew this was going to be an uphill climb.”

Retro facts for RAMAGE...….end result just announced....reviewed and dismissed.