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Aurora police officer on leave after being charged with assault, violating protection order

The 19-year veteran was ordered to relinquish her firearms after her arrest.

AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora Police Department (APD) investigator is on leave after being charged with assault – and then being arrested a second time and accused of violating a protection order, 9Wants to Know has learned.

Julie Stahnke, an APD officer since 2002, is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of criminal and internal investigations, said Agent Matthew Longshore, a department spokesman.

Both incidents involved Stahnke’s spouse. The couple is in the midst of a divorce, according to court documents.

A message left Monday morning with Stahnke’s attorney by 9NEWS was not immediately returned.

The first incident occurred Nov. 22 when Denver Police were called to a home in the central part of the city. Stahnke’s spouse alleged that an argument ended in a physical assault.

According to court documents, Stahnke’s spouse suffered visible bruises on her arm. Stahnke also was accused of intentionally spitting in her spouse’s face.

Denver Police arrested Stahnke on charges of assault and disturbing the peace, both misdemeanors.

A judge ordered Stahnke to relinquish any firearms she possessed, to stay away from her spouse, and to seek police assistance if she needed to retrieve any of her belongings from the home where the couple had been living.

Stahnke was placed on leave the next day, Longshore said.

On Nov. 27, Denver Police arrested her a second time after she went to the home she and her estranged spouse shared to retrieve a vehicle without first notifying authorities, as she’d been ordered to do.

She was charged with violating a court order in that incident.

Stahnke is due in court on Tuesday.

Credit: Aurora Police Department
Julie Stahnke

Contact 9Wants to Know investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.

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