GOLDEN, Colo. — Internal investigation records obtained by Denver7 show a Golden firefighter admitted to hanging a Black novelty doll from a rope inside a fire station stairwell, leading first to a demotion and suspension before he was later fired amid public backlash.
The novelty doll was a “Snoop on the Stoop," which is designed to model Snoop Dogg as a parody of the popular “Elf on a Shelf” doll. It was found hanging by its neck from a rope in March of this year.
The documents provide answers to some questions Denver7 has heard repeatedly from community members, such as why the firefighter was initially disciplined but not fired, and how the city’s response later unraveled into broader fallout that cost multiple city leaders their jobs.
Denver7 political reporter Colette Bordelon explains the documents she obtained in the video below:
According to a timeline compiled by the City of Golden, the doll incident may have occurred on March 3. That date was determined based on interviews with employees during the internal investigation.
On April 3, Jeff Hulse admitted to Fire Chief Kasey Beal that he was responsible for hanging up the doll.
Hulse was demoted from lieutenant to engineer on April 30. He also received a written warning and a 48-hour suspension without pay.
In the demotion notification, Beal said Hulse placed an anonymous letter on his desk "in an attempt to bargain or negotiate terms before ultimately taking accountability for your actions."
Beal believed the anonymous note demonstrated Hulse's lack of maturity. The fire chief continued to write that Hulse's "subsequent engagement with those conducting the internal investigation process was obstructionist and led to wasted time and City resources."
The note, which city leaders later determined was written by Hulse, said he planned to come forward, acknowledge his mistake, accept his punishment, and "certainly NEVER do it again."
Hulse continued, saying that his option to address the situation internally was "ripped away and replaced with fear of termination over what was a true accident and misunderstanding."
"While the display of the elf hanging from a rope is clearly inappropriate in hindsight, I can assure you this was not done with any harmful intent," the note from Hulse said.
The anonymous letter said that "it was intended as good-hearted fun," and Hulse said he only meant to move the doll to a new location.
"I'm more than happy to accept a punishment for my ignorant actions, but do not believe termination is the proportionate response. My hope is this letter provides enough context to cancel the investigation and promised termination," the letter reads. "If this matter were to return to an internal process, I would be more than willing to come forward and confess my mistake in person. I would only need clearly communicated, written confirmation within the department that termination will not be the outcome. From there, I will take responsibility and accept appropriate discipline."
According to the city's timeline, Hulse left the letter on Beal's desk on March 27, and he admitted to his actions a week later, on April 3. He was demoted within the month.
Hulse was fired on July 28 by the former City Manager of Golden, Scott Vargo, according to a communication obtained by Denver7. That was the same day that city leaders first addressed the doll incident publicly, via a statement prepared by Vargo and read by Mayor Laura Weinberg at a City Council hearing.
The statement said Hulse was fired after other employees expressed their disappointment with the city's initial handling of the incident.
"Their feedback made clear that our response did not adequately reflect the seriousness of this incident or the impact it had on our employees and community. We are grateful to the employees who spoke up," Weinberg said as part of the statement. "Their voices prompted us to reflect on our response and acknowledge that we fell far short in our responsibility to city staff and our community."
Vargo was fired on Aug. 11 after Golden City Council voted unanimously to terminate his employment.
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ccording to notes taken from an interview with Hulse on April 6 as part of the investigation into the incident, he said he was trying to have the doll "look out over the creek and didn't realize this is how it was going to be perceived." Hulse told the interviewer that he did not make the rope into a noose and that he used it to try to keep the doll in place.
Hulse said he heard through the grapevine that the city manager sent an email "who had one target in mind, to fire somebody." He said he left the anonymous letter to try and de-escalate the situation.
The interviewer noted that Hulse appeared "emotional, remorseful, and subdued" during their conversation.
"He did not exhibit behaviors that could have indicated that he was being deceitful or otherwise hiding or manipulating information," the document reads. "His contrition appeared to be genuine."
Denver7 also obtained notes from a number of interviews that were conducted with other employees as part of the internal investigation.
One of those employees said, "I think the incident was disgusting, regardless of whether the person was attempting to make a joke or not."
Another said they were "shocked, disappointed, and embarrassed that the incident occurred in Station 21."
And one fire department employee said, "After discussing the incident with the crews, I do not think this incident reflects a larger cultural issue in the department."
Notes from an interview with the employee who found the doll hanging from a rope say they were "livid" and immediately directed a crew to take the doll down. Then, the same employee said he saw the doll again on March 17 and remembered to report the incident in which it was hanging by a rope to the fire chief, who had just returned from vacation.
Beal, who was the fire chief at the time of this investigation, was terminated on Aug. 13. Two days later, Beal announced he plans to pursue legal action against the City of Golden, saying he turned the matter over to Human Relations within hours of learning what happened.
"No investigative report was ever shared with me, nor was I interviewed at any point," Beal said in the statement. "I was placed in a position to determine a level of discipline based solely on an oral summation of the investigation findings."
In a text message, Beal's attorney, Reid Elkus, told Denver7, "It is premature at this point to give a complete and full statement with respect to what the City of Golden did to my client, Chief Beal. However, at present it appears that the City of Golden may have violated Chief Beal's civil rights by unjustly terminating him when he was clearly engaged in protected activity."
Golden City Council Members Gerchard Pfau and Sandra Knecht comprise a temporary subcommittee tasked with selecting outside counsel for the third-party investigation into the March incident and the city's response. According to the City of Golden, they are considering four referrals and aim to select one within the next two to three weeks. They will then bring a final recommendation before the entire City Council.
Representatives with the City of Golden declined Denver7's offer to interview about the contents of the records or provide a statement for this story.
