JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. – Police documents show that the former Lakewood police officer charged in December with sexually assaulting a woman may have followed a similar pattern of attempted sexual assault that led to his arrest this week on new charges involving a different woman.
Lakewood police on Tuesday night announced the arrest of former officer Randall Butler, 37, on suspicion of attempted sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and other charges in regard to an incident that happened June 8 of last year.
Butler resigned on Nov. 26 after he was arrested on two counts of sexual assault and accused of sexually assaulting a woman whom he’d offered a ride to on Nov. 16. The woman had been stranded and Butler allegedly offered her a ride but took her to an empty parking lot near 25th and Sheridan and assaulted her instead, police documents say.
Butler’s latest arrest stems from an incident that happened months earlier but the alleged victim in the case would not have come forward had it not been for Butler’s prior arrest, according to an affidavit for Butler’s arrest.
According to the affidavit, Butler and his partner responded to an alarm call at a business on the evening of June 8. While there, Butler and the officer spoke with the alleged victim and two other women who worked at a nearby business.
After Butler and the other officer cleared the alarm call and the woman finished work, Butler offered to give the alleged victim a ride to a nearby bus stop, the affidavit says. It says the woman accepted, but during the ride, Butler started asking her inappropriate questions about her body and more.
When they reached the Saint Paul Lutheran Church near 25th and Wadsworth, Butler allegedly pulled into the parking lot and told her he could take her no further.
When he walked around the car to open the back door since it couldn’t be opened from inside, Butler allegedly brushed up against and groped the victim and made inappropriate sexual comments toward her, the affidavit says.
The woman was able to push past him and run away, according to the affidavit. In the days, weeks and months that followed, she told her boyfriend, manager and some coworkers about the alleged incident. She also spoke with an Arvada police officer who had worked a case she was involved in in the past.
The affidavit says that during that time, the victim both kept in touch with the Arvada officer while the two tried to figure out who the Lakewood officer was that had allegedly assaulted her. But Butler also continued to keep watch of her – allegedly driving by her workplace often enough that her manager noticed, and at one point watching her as she walked towards work so intently that the victim’s manager asked a coworker to go walk with her, according to the affidavit.
The Arvada detective, along with other officers and technicians, eventually used information from the victim, people she had spoken with and call logs to identify Butler as the likely culprit.
But the woman continuously feared to come forward, according to the affidavit, because she is a repeated felon and said she didn’t think anyone would believe her story against his.
When Denver7 announced Butler’s arrest in the other case, the victim in this case immediately contacted the Arvada detective to identify Butler as the culprit in her case as well. She also positively identified Butler in a photo lineup.
That combined information was enough for Lakewood police to seek a warrant for Butler’s arrest in the second case, which a judge signed off on and police executed this week.
A first advisement hearing was held Wednesday in the case, and formal charges are expected to be filed in the case by Jan. 15. In addition to the attempted sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact arrest charges, Butler is also being investigated for first-degree official misconduct and official oppression – both misdemeanors.
Court records show that Butler received a $5,000 bond in the latest case that he had yet to post as of Wednesday afternoon. A preliminary hearing for the other sexual assault case out of Denver is currently scheduled for Feb. 4.
“These despicable actions in no way represent the men and women of the Lakewood Police Department who are committed to serving and protecting our community with integrity,” Lakewood Police Chief Daniel McCasky said in a statement Tuesday. “We will do everything to assist the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office in prosecuting this case to its fullest extent. Right now, our top priority is the pursuit of justice for the victim.”
Lakewood police continue to seek other possible victims of Butler’s and ask anyone with information on him and his actions while he was an officer to call their tip line at 303-763-6800.