Edgewater City Council meets to discuss allegations about police department

The Edgewater City Council was set to meet privately on Thursday to discuss claims being made by the district attorney about the Edgewater Police Department. Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King has asked Colorado's top prosecutor to investigate past behavior in the department and is alleging bullying and retaliation.

The town of 5,000 is on the edge of Sloan's Lake west of Denver's city limits. It may be small but it has its own government and police force. Now, that department is under scrutiny for conduct between 2016 and 2021.

Eric Sonstegard became chief a year ago and says this involves past behavior.

"An incident that occurred long before most of the people on this police department were even here," he said. 

Nathan Geerdes was a sergeant on the department. Now he faces sexual assault charges involving a former female officer.

There are allegations the department tried to cover up the incident that occurred at the time of a 2019 department Christmas party. Sonstegard says those allegations are from the past.

"We are on a new path and we're continuing to get dragged back into the past," he said.

The district attorney wants the Colorado Attorney General's Office to investigate whether there was a pattern and practices of bullying and retaliation in this department in the past.

"We will share with whoever needs to know what is going on in the Edgewater Police Department now and what our expectations are moving forward," Sonstegard said. 

Geerdes resigned from Edgewater and now has additionally been charged with lying to another police department where he was later hired.