Grand Jury Investigating Denver Officer

DENVER (CBS4) - A county grand jury is now investigating the conduct of the lead Denver police detective in a string of racially-motivated downtown Denver assaults, robberies and muggings.

The development follows a series of CBS4 investigations into the actions of veteran Det. Paul Baca. In one case, tapes seemed to suggest Baca exaggerated and fabricated injuries inflicted on a victim in an attack Aug. 23, 2009 in LoDo. The victim of the attack, Allen Andes, said Baca "pressured" him to lie about his injuries.

In another LoDo case, Denver District Court Judge Edward Bronfin wrote that Baca used "false statements" to obtain an arrest warrant for Aaron Puller, one of three dozen suspects rounded up and jailed in the 2009 assaults. Puller was jailed on $1 million bond. In his written ruling, Bronfin dismissed all charges against Puller saying, "The assertions contained in the affidavit for arrest to the contrary thus cannot be true. Accordingly, the court concludes that there are false statements in the Affidavit for Arrest."

In April Denver authorities asked the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office to look into the accusations against Baca. A spokesperson for the Jeffco District Attorney's Office declined to answer questions about when, or why prosecutors referred the Baca case to a Grand Jury.

-- Written by Brian Maass