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FBI investigating former Westminster officer convicted of sexually assaulting woman while on duty

Curtis Lee Arganbright.jpg
Posted at 10:03 PM, Jul 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-16 00:05:36-04

DENVER – The FBI is investigating a former Westminster police officer convicted of sexually assaulting a woman while he was on duty in August of 2017.

Curtis Lee Arganbright, who was sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years’ probation after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual contact and official misconduct, could now face federal prison time for violating the victim’s civil rights, particularly the woman’s constitutional right to bodily integrity, according to Jeff Dorschner with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In a search warrant application filed in U.S. District Court of Colorado, the FBI wants to search the evidence locker at the Denver’s FBI branch for the handcuffs, gun and clothes confiscated from Arganbright’s patrol car and work locker following the assault on August 24, 2017.

In the documents, FBI Special Agent Goland Peterson states those items were lawfully obtained by the FBI. Additionally, he states Arganbright gave oral and written permission for the Broomfield Police Department on August 24, 2017 to search his work locker, as well as his patrol car and his home for any times, but revoked consent for the FBI to go through them during a hearing in 17th Judicial District Court of Colorado in June of this year.

Peterson says he believes the warrant is necessary to establish probable cause that the items constitute evidence related to the offense in the case.

An affidavit obtained at the time of his arrest states Arganbright had agreed to give a 36-year-old woman a ride home from St. Anthony Hospital in Westminster. The affidavit for his arrest says the woman had checked herself into the hospital the night before for treatment related to alcoholism.

At some point on the way back to her home in Broomfield, however, he allegedly made advances toward her, then pulled off the road near W. 144th Ave. and Zuni Street and “forced the woman to engage in sex acts,” the district attorney’s office said.

Investigators found DNA evidence on the victim, the affidavit says, and on the side of Arganbright’s patrol vehicle.

He was suspended without pay during an investigation into the incident and resigned about two months after the allegations came to light. Arganbright had worked for the Westminster Police Department since 2013.