A second federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss Fort Collins from a lawsuit alleging the city’s own failures contributed to a police officer’s repeated wrongful arrests of motorists who were not actually intoxicated.

Carl Sever is one of several arrestees who filed suit over their encounters with Jason Haferman, the former “DUI officer” for Fort Collins Police Services. Sever’s complaint described how Larimer County prosecutors dismissed the drunk driving charge against him after his blood test results showed no intoxication — one of many instances in which Haferman wrongly arrested motorists for driving under the influence.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney rejected the city’s motions to dismiss itself in two other cases involving Haferman. She found the allegations credibly showed police supervisors should have reviewed Haferman’s work after the blood test results for his arrestees started coming back negative, but the city did nothing.

In a July 9 order, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang similarly rebuffed the city in Sever’s lawsuit. She noted that while Sweeney’s reasoning was not binding on her, Wang found it persuasive.

“Here, the sheer volume of DUI charges originating from Officer Haferman that were allegedly dismissed after chemical testing came back negative for any drugs or alcohol alone suggests the need for review of his performance during DUI arrests and implementation of any necessary corrective measures,” she wrote. And yet, Fort Collins “did not effectively intervene or re-train him to prevent further baseless DUI arrests.”

In 2022, KDVR reported Haferman had made roughly one dozen drunk driving arrests in which subsequent testing showed no drugs or alcohol. In one instance, a Larimer County judge acquitted an arrestee of Haferman’s by finding the officer’s testimony “lacks credibility” and was “contrary to the evidence.”

At the end of that year, facing a disciplinary hearing after an internal investigation, Haferman chose to resign. District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin had previously raised his own concerns that Haferman’s handling of DUI cases needed to “dramatically improve.”

“I communicated to (Fort Collins police) in August of 2022 that my office would no longer be prosecuting cases in which former Officer Haferman was an essential witness,” McLaughlin said upon Haferman’s departure.

Sever’s complaint alleged that on July 23, 2021, Haferman pulled him over after seeing Sever take a “wide turn” and drive 10 mph under the speed limit. Haferman smelled alcohol on Sever, even though Sever allegedly had been sober for years.

Sever, who was 74, acknowledged he had a traumatic brain injury and took medicine, including marijuana medicinally for sleeping. Haferman then asked Sever to perform roadside sobriety maneuvers. When Sever needed to put his foot down quickly after standing on one leg, Haferman allegedly asked if there was “any reason why that one is so difficult for you?”

Sever agreed to a breath test, which allegedly registered a value near zero. Nonetheless, Haferman arrested Sever on suspicion of DUI. Haferman then took him to the hospital for a blood draw, after which Sever was booked into the jail. He was released at 6 a.m. the next morning and had to walk 4.5 miles to retrieve his car.

The blood test came back negative for drugs or alcohol and the district attorney’s office dismissed the charge.

As it argued to Sweeney, Fort Collins contended to Wang that Haferman’s alleged actions did not reflect “official or unofficial City policy” for which it could be held liable. Wang disagreed, finding Sever credibly alleged the city’s deficient supervision of Haferman led to Sever’s wrongful arrest.

“Plaintiff alleges a ‘sustained pattern’ of DUI arrests made without probable cause by Officer Haferman, and the City’s alleged failure to take disciplinary or corrective action increased the likelihood of future violations by Officer Haferman,” she concluded.

The case is Sever v. City of Fort Collins et al.