DENVER — A Denver sheriff's deputy faces several charges after his girlfriend's leg was broken during an argument at her Aurora home, an arrest affidavit from the Aurora Police Department says.
Ernest Parker was arrested by APD on charges of domestic violence-related second-degree assault, and criminal mischief for damaged property, the department said.
The woman was at her with another person when Parker knocked on her door and wanted to come inside to talk. She said that she and Parker had been dating for about two years.
She said she waited for Parker to leave and said her guest wanted to move his vehicle which was parked in her driveway in front of the garage. She reported that she opened the garage door to make sure that Parker had left.
As she closed the door, she said she saw Parker run toward it as it was closing, the affidavit says. He then used his hands to hold the door open, which resulted in the door being stuck open, according to the victim.
She stated that Parker entered the garage and they began to argue. At one point they moved to the home's sunroom where the arguing continued, the affidavit says. In that room, the victim said Parker pushed her with his hands onto a chair.
The victim said they went back to the garage where Parker pushed her with his hands down to the ground. At that point, the victim said Parker left out the open garage door and she crawled back into her home from the garage.
She said she let her guest know she was injured and he took her to the hospital, where it was determined that she had a fracture to her left leg.
Investigators spoke with the victim's guest whose story matched the victims with the exception of what happened in the garage. He said he stayed in the kitchen of the home and did not witness the argument.
In a statement to police, Parker said he had knocked on the victim's door but no one answered. He said he walked to his car and saw the garage door open and walked toward it. He said he held it open to enter the garage but said it had been previously damaged from his girlfriend driving into it. An officer who responded to the home said he had not noticed any damage on the door from a collision.
He admitted that he had pushed his girlfriend onto a chair and said he "pushed her in chest area with both hands" and said she "sat on the ground." While on the ground, she began "screaming for help," Parker said.
During the argument, Parker said, his girlfriend slapped him in the face causing a minor cut to his lip.
The Denver Sheriff's Department immediately put Parker on investigatory leave, they said. The Office of the Independent Monitor has been notified and the Public Integrity Division has opened an investigation.
Parker became a deputy sheriff in 2019 and is assigned to the Downtown Detention Center, the department said.
He was booked into the Arapahoe County Jail Friday morning.
RELATED: Denver detective's handling of domestic violence report under investigation in wake of murder
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