A Longmont Police Department officer is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit over allegations he falsified information in a financial crimes case, leading to a man’s arrest on suspicion of stealing from his mother.
Robert Lewandowski of Austin, Texas, is suing Officer Stephen Desmond, claiming Desmond violated his Fourth Amendment rights by maliciously prosecuting him.
Lewandowski alleges he was arrested, charged and prosecuted over false allegations that he stole stock from his mother, changed his mother’s will to make himself the sole beneficiary, made himself power of attorney and stole cash and other funds from her bank account, according to an amended complaint filed in federal district court in September. Lewandowski’s mother lived in Longmont at the time.
He was found not guilty on six counts of felony theft and one count of felony money laundering by a Boulder County jury in 2021, according to court records.
Lewandowski’s lawsuit claims Desmond “ran with” made-up stories by Lewandowski’s sister and failed to investigate them or consider other evidence, including Lewandowski’s sister later walking back her statements.
“…Desmond had no probable cause to pursue this malicious prosecution against Mr. Lewandowski, yet he fabricated evidence in his sworn arrest warrant affidavit to convince the state in the criminal trial that there was probable cause when there was in fact none,” Lewandowski wrote in the lawsuit.
Desmond missed or ignored key facts, like Lewandowski using a bill pay service on his mother’s Wells Fargo account to pay her bills — which Desmond claimed was him transferring her money into his own bank account — and that they did not have a joint Capitol One bank account, according to the complaint.
Longmont Public Safety declined to comment on the lawsuit because of the ongoing litigation. Desmond’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment and Desmond did not comment on the case.
A federal magistrate rejected Desmond’s motion to dismiss the case in December, and on Jan. 10, Desmond’s attorney filed an objection to the magistrate’s decision, according to court records.
Desmond’s attorney argued the federal court is ignoring the Boulder County District Court’s decisions in the case, including finding probable cause in the initial criminal case and ruling that none of Desmond’s statements were intentionally or recklessly false.
Lewandowski is seeking a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.