Colorado police sergeant fired for alleged "double dipping," criminal inquiry underway

The Lakeside Police Department has fired one of its police sergeants, alleging that the veteran officer had repeatedly been scheduled to work patrol in Lakeside as he was simultaneously being paid to work a $95 per hour off-duty security job at a Colorado Walmart, a CBS Colorado investigation has learned.

Former Sgt. Howard Prince, a 30-year police veteran, was fired from the Lakeside Police Department this month, but had also previously left or been fired from other departments in Colorado.

"He did not submit accurate records regarding hours worked, both regular and overtime hours," said Lakeside town attorney Tim Flynn, responding to the CBS Investigation. Flynn called it "a very serious matter."

Lakeside is a small town in Jefferson County, on Denver's western border, with fewer than two dozen residents, but it has a significant revenue base from its strip mall, which houses a Walmart and other retailers. The town has 15 full- and part-time police officers.

Prince had been a full-time police officer with the town since 2022, joining the police department with more than three decades of police experience.

A new chief, Kenneth Fountain, took over the Lakeside Police Department on Sep. 4, 2025. According to Flynn, Fountain initiated an audit of all employee time records for 2025, a week after he assumed control of the department. That audit raised red flags about  Prince's work schedule, according to Flynn.

Under Colorado open records laws, CBS obtained from Lakeside, Prince's 2025 work schedules and his schedule for working off- duty at the Lakeside Walmart.

Those documents show numerous days when Prince was "on the clock" for Lakeside, but also scheduled to work off duty at Walmart, including the following:

• On one day in February 2025, Prince was scheduled to work 10 hours on patrol with Lakeside from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. But on the same day, he was also scheduled to work off-duty security at Walmart from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and then again from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.
• On a day in March 2025, Prince was being paid by Lakeside to work from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., but was also slotted to work for Walmart from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m., overlapping his work shift.

"He violated policies in place," said Flynn.

Prince did not respond to multiple phone calls, text messages, and emails from CBS, but an attorney representing him said Prince had no comment on the investigation.

He was fired on Jan. 6 but has filed an appeal of that termination.

This is not the first police job for Prince that has ended in controversy.

He was a patrol deputy with the Mesa County Sheriff's Office for seven years before he was fired in 1995, according to court documents. He was terminated over allegations of abuse of power, insubordination, abuse of leave policies, and failure to report damage to a department vehicle. 

He worked for the New Castle Police Department on Colorado's Western Slope, where Prince was charged with assault, second-degree trespassing, and criminal mischief according to news accounts from 2008. Prince was off-duty when he became embroiled in a road rage incident that led to the charges.

Flynn told CBS Colorado that Lakeside has referred the Prince case to "an independent local law enforcement agency" for review to see if criminal charges are warranted.

Additionally, the town attorney said to prevent future problems, the department will now audit its workers' time records every six months and will review time records every two weeks.

Lakeside's previous police chief, who also served as mayor, Robert Gordanaire, was fired after he and his daughter, the town clerk, were indicted by a grand jury for selling vehicles belonging to the town and pocketing the profit. Both Gordinaire and his daughter pleaded guilty in 2025.