Second DPD Officer Fired In 2 Days Announced

DENVER (CBS4) - Denver's manager of safety fired yet another police detective Wednesday for lying during the course of a hit-and-run accident investigation.

Det. Jay Estrada was ordered terminated by Manager of Safety Charles Garcia. Police Chief Gerry Whitman had recommended in May that Estrada be fired.

On Tuesday, CBS4 reported the manager of safety ordered the termination of Det. Kenneth Briggle after Briggle spent 37 days in confinement last year.

Det. Estrada was fired for "commission of a deceptive act," although Garcia also tacked on 16 days suspension for "misleading or inaccurate statements" and fined Estrada the loss of 16 hours for violating a third departmental regulation.

According to the termination documents obtained by CBS4, Estrada "mislead his supervisor on an investigation and did not take the necessary steps to follow-up as required of his duties."

An earlier CBS4 investigation revealed the deception came during the December 2010 investigation into a hit-and-run case in the Stapleton neighborhood.

Multiple police contacts said Estrada mishandled information in the hit-and-run case that left 27-year-old Laura Gorham badly injured. She was pregnant at the time. Her unborn child did not survive the accident. Sources familiar with the case say Estrada received information related to the accident, did not pursue it, and then lied about it when commanding officers questioned him.

Estrada has been with the Denver Police Department 11 years.

No arrests have been made in the Gorham hit and run.

Nick Rogers, president of the Denver Police Protective Association, told CBS4 last month, "I am morally disgusted with this decision (the chief's recommendation to fire Estrada) due to the difficult circumstances this young officer has had to endure."

Rogers declined to specify the circumstances he was referring to.