A Colorado man who was jailed over DUI had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his arrest, according to a report obtained by CBS 4.
The Fort Collins Police Department arrested 36-year-old Derrick Groves, of Loveland, back in April for suspected DUI and other charges. Now, a newly-released laboratory report from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation reveals there were no substances were detected in his blood during the incident, reporters say.
Now Groves is planning on suing the police department and the officer who arrested him: Jason Haferman.
“I know for a fact I’m 100% sober, and this is not going to look good,” Groves told reporters. “I had nothing in my system."
On April 7, Groves says he was driving home from a friend's house when he lost control of his car and crashed. The driver claims he briefly looked at his phone and overcorrected his steering, causing his car to go over an embankment. Reporters say he wasn't hurt.
Officer Haferman responded to the incident and asked Groves if he was drinking. The 36-year-old told the cop he was "100%" sober, bodycam footage shows. Groves did admit he was on probation in connection to a 2020 DUI case.
The driver also agreed to roadside sobriety tests, but Haferman determined he was on drugs. The officer wrote in his report that Groves had "blood shot, glassy eyes" and that he may have been on marijuana or "other hallucinogens." Groves was taken to jail and held for 18 hours before he was released.
“I just felt like he was out there trying to get another DUI or something like that,” Groves told CBS 4. “It was terrifying. I’m going to jail for something I didn’t do.”
State investigators released Groves' blood toxicology results two weeks ago, which found that alcohol and 14 abuse drugs were "not detected" in his system. A second sample submitted by Fort Collins Police tested negative for substances, prosecutors added. As a result, the District Attorney for the Eighth Judicial District dismissed the DUi charge against Groves.
Fort Collins Police Chief Jeff Swoboda says the lab results "doesn’t mean there was absolutely nothing in someone’s system," noting that the screening doesn't detect some inhalants, prescription drugs, and synthetics.
“There are many substances that are frequent in our community that do not show up in that panel that is run,” Swoboda argues. “It’s not uncommon for an officer to make an arrest that eventually gets thrown out.”
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