This week a lawsuit was filed by an unidentified young woman in Custer County, Colorado against officers of the Custer County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), including CCSO Deputy Michael Kear and CCSO deputy Miles DeYoung. The lawsuit charges excessive force, and relates to an incident that occurred in January 2022 when the girl was only 16 years old. It identifies her only as LZ; who on January 18, 2022, one week after her sixteenth birthday was reported to have run away from home.
Among the many questions that the lawsuit raises, is why law enforcement officials would walk into a scene with all the hallmarks of sexual assault and human trafficking and choose to repeatedly tase a teenage girl while letting her alleged victimizers go without any investigation. It begs the question: were these men known to the deputy and not charged because of that, or some other reason?
The lawsuit filed on the girl’s behalf by the Mehr Law Firm recounts that officers located the 16-year-old in a trailer in Westcliffe with two adult men, including 51-year-old Ray Running-Eagle. According to the lawsuit, “By all appearances, Mr. Running-Eagle and his [also middle-aged] unidentified male companion were having a party on a Tuesday afternoon where the only guest was a 16-year-old girl.”
This in itself is highly unusual. When CCSO officers responded to the incident, instead of focusing on the situation which presented risk for the girl, they appeared to have ignored some obvious oddities.
First, two middle-aged men were illegally harboring a reported runaway teenage girl, and second, giving her alcohol might just be contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Third, the fact that the situation put her at risk for sexual assault and human trafficking doesn’t appear to have been considered by law enforcement.
Kear let one of the two men leave the scene without even identifying him. Then he declined to arrest Running-Eagle although, at the time, there was an outstanding warrant for Running-Eagle’s arrest.
“This is a 16-year-old runaway in a trailer with two middle-aged men. She’s isolated, intoxicated, and afraid, with no ID and hiding in a closet,” said Attorney Kevin Mehr who represents LZ. “These are all red flags for sex trafficking. But these officers ignore them and proceed to use their tasers like cattle prods on an underage victim cheering each other on the whole way.”
Body-camera video* released today shows that, instead of investigating the multiple crimes that the men could have been charged with, including Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and Human Trafficking, Kear and DeYoung handcuffed LZ, dragged her to a patrol car and tased her. Her lawyer says this occurred although she was restrained and offered no threat. He added that she had earlier asked to be allowed to sit in the patrol car and Kear had denied that request.
At the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, the behavior of law enforcement became even more threatening to the girl. Kear, DeYoung, Deputy Megan Robbins and Sergeant Scott Hinshaw forced LZ into a restraint chair designed for prisoners who have demonstrated a substantial risk to themselves or others.
Then, the lawsuit says, at the urging of the other officers, Kear is reported to have tased LZ a second time — while she was handcuffed. This caused LZ to urinate on herself, convulsed, and then hyperventilated. But instead of providing medical assistance, instead of having rape tests done, instead of calling anyone to be her advocate, the lawsuit reports that Kear threatened to tase her again.
“This kind of treatment would be excessive against a hardened criminal,” said Tyler Jolly, who also represents LZ. “To treat a 16-year-old girl and the victim of a sex crime like this is absolutely disgusting.”
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office requested that LZ be charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest. But that charge was dismissed by District Attorney Linda Stanley’s Office.
The lawsuit adds that neither Ray Running-Eagle nor his still unidentified companion were ever investigated for harboring a runaway, or for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, or sexual assault, or human trafficking.
Why would the sheriff’s office not make the obvious charges — and who were they protecting? It surely appears that they may have been playing fast and loose with the law and that the young girl was not who they were protecting.
Click here to view a copy of the lawsuit.
*Editor’s Note: Ark Valley Voice has filed a request for the release of the body camera footage.
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