By Marilyn Robison
Rocky Mountain News
DENVER — A retired Denver police detective has been charged with impersonating a police officer after he allegedly identified himself as a Denver detective to serve a subpoena to an Aurora police officer.
Frank Rino, who retired this year after more than three decades with the Denver Police Department, was serving the subpoena for a defense attorney in an attempted murder case, according to court documents.
Rino, 64, is free on bail pending an appearance in a Denver court on the felony charge.
“This is an injustice,” defense attorney Don Lozow said. “It’s an unjust case that should never have been filed.”
Rino was “doing me a favor” in serving the subpoena on Aurora police officer Paul Jerothe on Oct. 21, Lozow said.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Rino went to Jerothe’s Denver apartment to serve the subpoena after he discovered that the officer was off that day. Jerothe said he was sleeping after working a graveyard shift and thought Rino said he was a Denver detective when Rino called him on his cell phone, the affidavit says.
After he invited Rino into his apartment, the affidavit says, Rino told him he was a retired Denver detective who now works as a private investigator.
When he returned to work several days later, Jerothe found a voice mail message from Rino in which Rino identified himself as a Denver detective, according to the affidavit.
Copyright 2008 Rocky Mountain News