House Speaker Barred From Girlfriend
Restraining Order Issued After Woman Says Dean Chased Her With Screwdriver
One of Colorado's most powerful politicians has been ordered by a judge to stay away from his former girlfriend, a political lobbyist.
The temporary restraining order against House Speaker Doug Dean (pictured, left) was
issued following a disturbance at the woman's house in Denver last week.
The Colorado Springs Republican said that he used a screwdriver to get into his girlfriend's house last week after she told him she was breaking up with him. Dean said that he wanted to get his belongings.
In her sworn testimony, lobbyist Gloria Sanak, 35, alleged that Dean, 41, climbed over a locked fence and used a screwdriver to jimmy a basement window at 1 a.m. last Thursday.
"He waited in the dark for 30 minutes until I arrived home," she wrote in court papers. "He had a screwdriver in his hand. He chased me down the street to a neighbor's house and refused to leave until police escorted him away."
Police went to the house but didn't arrest Dean.
Sanak said that she will ask that her restraining order be lifted.
Dean said afterward that there was never any threat of violence, and that he was only guilty of "bad judgment."
He told the Rocky Mountain News that he used a screwdriver to open a basement window, after discovering the locks on the house had been changed, because he wanted to get his cell phone charger and because he was worried about Sanak's well-being.
The couple had been dating for a little more than a year, after meeting at the Capitol where they both worked, according to the report.
He told the News that he and Sanak, who had been dating and were living in Sanak's house, broke up the evening of May 9 and Sanak asked him to move out.
They had been planning to marry in August.
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The temporary restraining order against House Speaker Doug Dean (pictured, left) was
issued following a disturbance at the woman's house in Denver last week.
The Colorado Springs Republican said that he used a screwdriver to get into his girlfriend's house last week after she told him she was breaking up with him. Dean said that he wanted to get his belongings.
In her sworn testimony, lobbyist Gloria Sanak, 35, alleged that Dean, 41, climbed over a locked fence and used a screwdriver to jimmy a basement window at 1 a.m. last Thursday.
"He waited in the dark for 30 minutes until I arrived home," she wrote in court papers. "He had a screwdriver in his hand. He chased me down the street to a neighbor's house and refused to leave until police escorted him away."
Police went to the house but didn't arrest Dean.
Sanak said that she will ask that her restraining order be lifted.
Dean said afterward that there was never any threat of violence, and that he was only guilty of "bad judgment."
He told the Rocky Mountain News that he used a screwdriver to open a basement window, after discovering the locks on the house had been changed, because he wanted to get his cell phone charger and because he was worried about Sanak's well-being.
The couple had been dating for a little more than a year, after meeting at the Capitol where they both worked, according to the report.
He told the News that he and Sanak, who had been dating and were living in Sanak's house, broke up the evening of May 9 and Sanak asked him to move out.
They had been planning to marry in August.
Copyright 2002 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
