by Jo Ellen Nott

Back on April 25, 2021, while attempting to remove handcuffs and leg shackles from an unruly and apparently intoxicated detainee, Denver Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Rodriguez broke out a pair of nunchucks. Then he proceeded to break the man’s wrist. After a subsequent disciplinary action – which took over a year and a half to process – Rodriguez received his punishment:

Suspension. For a whole three days.

The excessive force incident caused the Denver Sheriff’s Department to ban deputies from carrying and using nunchucks, also known as Orcutt Police Nunchaku (OPN). The policy change which went into effect at the end of October 2021.

Coincidentally, it was a former law enforcement officer from Denver who invented OPN devices in the 1980s. They resemble traditional nunchucks but are not supposed to be used to strike or hit anyone. Rather, law enforcement officers should subdue subjects by using the device to apply pressure to a joint of the person who is resisting.

In Rodriguez’ discipline letter from the Denver Department of Public Safety, it was noted that the unnamed detainee became combative in an intake cell and tried to bite guards, ignoring their verbal commands. At that point Rodriguez used the OPN to restrain the man. But then the detainee continued to fight back with his upper and lower body and even “lifted a deputy off the ground with his legs.”

During the struggle, several baggies of drugs were found tied to his waistband. A jail nurse administered Narcan, believing the detainee was overdosing. An ambulance was called after the nurse took his vitals and noted his pupils had no reaction. At the hospital, the arrested man tested positive for several drugs. But he was also treated for a damaged artery, undergoing emergency surgery for his broken wrist.

In the excessive force investigation, Carl McEncroe, a civilian review administrator with the Denver Department of Public Safety, wrote that Rodriguez “should have tried other methods to control the man instead of applying increasing pressure with the nunchucks because the arrested suspect did not appear to respond to pain.”

“Rodriguez was justified in using force to control the man,” McEnroe concluded, “but [he] should have used less forceful tactics.”

Rodriguez will serve a suspension for the incident from February 2 through 4, 2023.  If he violates department policy again before December 20, 2023, he will be suspended for an additional seven days.

Sources: Denver Post, KDVR, KUSA

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