Twin Colorado K9 cops resign, theft charges apparently dropped
Twin brothers — one the chief of a small-town Colorado police department, the other one of its officers — both resigned their positions this year as they headed toward trial on criminal charges.
The pair pleaded not guilty months ago to felony theft charges. Now, both cases against them appear to be dismissed and sealed.
Both men operated a single private business specializing in the training of police dogs, or K9s, as officers commonly refer to them. State investigators accused the men of training police dogs for other police agencies while on duty with their own police department, also while using resources belonging to their own police department.
Aaron and Adam Fresquez were charged with theft by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in October 2024. The charges reflected an amount between $5,000 and $20,000 that was allegedly due to the Town of Center but privately pocketed.
Chief Aaron Fresquez also received a misdemeanor citation for official misconduct. He had been promoted to the position of chief exactly two years earlier.
Neither of the men, then 35 years old, was arrested, but the Town of Center immediately placed both on administrative leave.
Both pleaded not guilty to the charges in April, and in June, both resigned from their positions at Center PD while under investigation.
They were scheduled to stand trial at the beginning of November.
It is not known what precisely happened with their cases. The Clerk of Courts for the 12th Judicial District in Saguache, where the cases were being prosecuted, responded to a formal records request with "No such public record exists for the cases." That is an expression often used to describe a judge sealing the case's records after some sort of resolution has been reached and it has been closed.
The district attorney's offices for the 12th and 6th Judicial District (in La Plata County, brought in to prosecute the Fresquez cases) were contacted by CBS Colorado with requests for information. Neither responded.
A CBI spokesman could offer no official explanation, either.
Center PD Lt. Eidy Guaderama was named interim chief of the department after the Frezquezes were suspended last year. A permanent chief of police does not appear to have been selected yet, based on the department's website.
