The latest? Dorn has resigned from the DPD.
Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson has confirmed to CBS4, which first reported about the steroid investigation into Dorn, that she's resigned from the force. By doing so, Jackson said the inquiry into her alleged use of the substance is likely at an end.
Her resignation should also get her out from under a situation involving Nick Lynch, who sued over a 2008 incident during which he was beaten by several police officers outside a LoDo bar; the officers weren't punished after an Internal Affairs investigation determined there wasn't enough evidence to prove they'd acted improperly.
The complaint argued that the City of Denver's policies encourage excessive force. But last month, as the Denver Post reported, a jury did not find Denver liable.
That didn't mean the officers in question were off the hook, though. Jurors determined that the cops in question had indeed covered up the matter -- and while it doesn't appear that Dorn took part in the actual attack on Lynch, she is named in the suit. Moreover, Independent Monitor Nick Mitchell subsequently said that he would look into all of the officers' activities with an eye toward possible discipline.
Look below for our earlier coverage of Dorn, including information about a previous police-brutality complaint against her -- one that was settled out of court.
Original post, 7:10 a.m. May 9: Back in 2010, we told you about a brutality lawsuit against Abbegayle "Abbe" Dorn, a Denver police officer who'd previously appeared as a contestant on the TV program American Gladiators.
That case was eventually settled. But now, Dorn has another concern: She's reportedly under investigation by the Denver Police Department for steroid use.
We've got details of both cases below, along with assorted photos of Dorn -- a number of them showing her in bodybuilding mode.
In addition to her work for the Denver police, Dorn has moonlighted as a model. Here's one example shared in 2010 by KDVR....
...and here's an image of her posing for Illegal Street Wear, as seen in a 2009 blog post that shows how she "gets Illegal:" She also took part in bodybuilding competitions, as seen in shots from BodyBuildingWeekly.com, a site that's currently offline. Here's the first.... ...and here's another: Still, she got more attention in these parts for her appearance on NBC's American Gladiators circa 2008 -- and for the aforementioned lawsuit, which was filed against Dorn and other officers by Rohit Mukherjee. It's on view below in its entirety, but here's an overview.In April 2010, as we've reported, the lawsuit says Mukherjee was hosting a going-away party; he'd decided to move back to India "to gain international business experience before returning to the United States for graduate studies in business administration."
At about 11:30 on the evening in question, the lawsuit states that two men knocked on Mukherjee's door and asked him to turn down his music. He said "okay" and began to close the door when the men demanded his identification, then subsequently admitted that they weren't police officers. Instead of complying, Mukherjee told the men to leave and threatened to call building security if they hassled him again. He reportedly turned down the music immediately thereafter.
Approximately half an hour later, the suit contends, Mukherjee's sister, who'd just left the bash, phoned to say police were outside the building -- and soon enough, they were banging on the apartment door. When Mukherjee opened the door, a male officer ordered him outside -- and when he declined to comply, the suit says "the yet-unidentified male police officer violently pushed the front door to Plaintiff's apartment into the Plaintiff, then within a second a female officer, later identified as Defendant Denver Police Officer Abbegayle Dorn, pinned Plaintiff against the door and began to choke Plaintiff with her forearm."
Mukherjee says he told Dorn he couldn't breathe, at which point one of the male officers allegedly threw him to the ground, face first.
What happened next?
Continue for more about the steroids investigation targeting Denver police officer Abbe Dorn. According to the lawsuit, the third officer entered the room, and in combination with Dorn and the other male cop, they pulled Mukherjee's arms behind his back with a baton and "bent one of his legs back while another stood on his ankle and rocked back and forth while standing on his ankle."Then, after handcuffing Mukherjee, the officers allegedly "pushed him face first on the carpeted floor in a wheelbarrow-like fashion causing contusions and scrapes to his face."
Other party attendees reportedly began recording these actions using cell-phone cameras. But the suit says Dorn "approached the people holding cell phones and physically took them without permission, walked into the kitchen of the apartment and placed them in a bowl of water in an attempt to destroy the evidence."
After that, Mukherjee alleges more mistreatment, including finger twisting and head-smashing as he was led down the corridor while in custody. He claims one male officer declared, "I was trying to break his fucking face."
These allegations ultimately led to an out-of-court settlement of $30,000, according to CBS4, which has the scoop on the latest Dorn inquiry. The station's Brian Maass cites three law-enforcement sources who say the FBI investigated Dorn more than a year ago for "possible connections to steroid purchases."No charges were filed as a result of these efforts, but an internal Denver Police Department probe into similar issues appears to be ongoing. DPD spokesman Lieutenant Matt Murray wouldn't talk about the specifics of the investigation, but he confirmed that one is underway. He added that during this process, Dorn has been taken off the street and assigned to administrative tasks.
Dorn offered no comment to CBS4, but Maass's sources tell him she could face termination if it's determined that she procured and used steroids.
Continue for more photos of Dorn, as well as the 2010 lawsuit and a 2008 American Gladiators promo clip in which she can be seen working out.More from our News archive circa September 2010: "Abbe Dorn: Pics of Denver cop & ex-American Gladiator contestant being sued for brutality."
