DENVER – In an interview and subsequent debate questions about a 1999 incident with an employee, Jared Polis paints himself as the victim of a crime who, although regretful of the situation “didn’t do anything wrong.” There were several instances during Polis’ most recent interview with Fox 31’s Joe St. George in which Polis recounts the events in question, and his statements do not match what is outlined in police reports and court records.

According to Polis:

POLIS CLAIM: “I called the police. They responded. They, uh, arrested her.”

FACT: The Boulder Police Department issued a summons at the scene to the woman in question but she was neither arrested nor taken into custody.

POLIS CLAIM: “Ultimately, she, uh, served her term of probation and seeking counseling,”

FACT: The judgment order issued by the Boulder court included that she serve an 18-month deferred sentence, return the property taken, and to pay court fees and costs of $138. According to the court documents, she was not ordered to serve probation nor ordered to seek counseling, and after successfully completing the term of the deferred sentence the court granted the Boulder District Attorney’s motion to allow the withdrawal of her plea and dismissed the deferred sentence entirely.

POLIS CLAIM: “and she was ordered to pay restitution back to the company.”

FACT: According to court documents there is no reference to any order to pay the company any restitution, nor is there any mention of her stealing money in the first place.

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In fact, in the process of researching these claims and attempting to verify Polis’ statements that she was ordered to pay restitution or anything to his company, a civil case was uncovered in which Polis sued his former employee a full 14 months after the incident. Less than a year and a half later, the civil case was dismissed. This lends credence to the characterizations by friends of the woman in question that Polis’ hired big gun lawyers in an attempt to intimate her.

Ultimately, she was not arrested, not ordered to serve probation or seek counseling, nor was she ordered to pay restitution back to the company as Polis claims. Although Polis’ attempts to mischaracterize the facts and paint his former employee in a worse light are intended to distract Coloradans from the fact that he grabbed her, pushed her, and prevented her from calling the police, Polis’ effort to spin the account to his benefit doesn’t match up with either the description of the incident as recounted by the woman’s friends or the actual court records.

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