A Denver police officer was accused of harassment this month after Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies say he attacked his wife during an argument at their home near Littleton.
Matthew Miller, 38, called police March 9 to report he had been assaulted by his wife, whom dispatchers heard screaming in the background of the call, according to Miller’s arrest affidavit.
Miller’s wife could be heard saying that Miller was pinning her down and requested medical attention. Miller also refused to move away from his wife and at one point said he was looking for his handcuffs.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found Miller holding his wife’s hands behind her back in their garage. Miller’s wife told deputies that he had been drinking throughout the day and approached her aggressively when she asked him about ice and water that she found on the floor of their home. She said Miller was yelling at her, and she threw a towel at him out of fear.
He then pushed her to the ground, and she dropped her hat and phone, which deputies found on their bedroom floor.
Miller said both he and his wife had been drinking that day, and his wife started “coming at” him and yelling about the ice and water while he was sleeping. He said he pushed his wife after she punched him in the face.
Miller’s wife was treated by paramedics for a sore shoulder, and deputies noted she had a scratch on her right forearm. Miller appeared to be uninjured.
A form attached to the affidavit noted, based on statements made by Miller’s wife, that he had threatened to kill himself in the previous week and was “more angry or violent” when intoxicated. The form also indicated there had been no prior incidents of domestic violence between the two.
Miller is scheduled to be arraigned April 16. A Denver police spokesperson wrote in an email Friday that Miller is working in a non-patrol role pending the outcome of the case.
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