Aurora police sergeant arrested, facing assault, tampering charges

An Aurora police sergeant was arrested last week and faces charges of third-degree assault with injuries and second-degree tampering, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office. The Aurora Police Department says the officer is now on restricted duty.

Aurora Police Sgt. Matthew Schlauger, 34, was arrested on Wednesday in Aurora after an APD supervisor requested assistance from the sheriff's office.

He was taken to the Arapahoe County Detention Facility and released on a personal recognizance bond the following day.

The arrest stems from an argument between Schlauger and an alleged victim that turned physical. He's accused of taking a woman's phone from her and refusing multiple requests to give it back around 9:45 p.m. that night.

At one point, the woman elbowed Schlauger in the face, which he later told responding officers was accidental. Investigators, however, said in an arrest report that Schlaugher twisted the woman's hand several times, causing her pain and breaking several nails, which investigators found on the floor.

They also found "small amounts of blood spatter" and then a large amount of blood elsewhere. That's when deputies took Schlauger into custody.

CBS News Colorado doesn't identify victims or alleged victims of crimes and certain details of the arrest report have been omitted in an effort to avoid indirectly identifying the woman Schlauger is accused of assaulting.

Court records show Schlauger hasn't yet retained an attorney, and no contact information for him was listed in public records.

A mandatory protection order was granted by the judge, prohibiting contact between Schlauger and the alleged victim.

He was hired by APD in 2016.

Both charges are misdemeanors, but if he's convicted of the assault charge, Schlauger would lose the ability to be a law enforcement officer in the state of Colorado.

He's due back in court on Dec. 1.