Rocky Mountain News
DENVER — The checkered life of Joseph Bini has taken a serious turn for the worse.
The former Denver policeman, who has weathered suspension from the force, accusations of petty theft and two bouts with cancer, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting at least one juvenile girl in the downtown nutrition store owned by his wife.
According to the arrest affidavit released Wednesday, the alleged crime took place on May 21.
Two underage female runaways entered the GNC store in the Denver Pavilions and began talking to Bini, 39, who was working there, the affidavit says.
They told police that Bini offered them $20 if they would perform a sex act in front of him. When the girls agreed, Bini “took them in the back room and went out front and locked the front door,” the affidavit says.
At one point, the girls told police, they noticed Bini was masturbating. When they became scared and told Bini they wanted to leave, they said he replied, “What you all got to remember is I got the keys just for one more minute.”
After the girls performed for the additional minute, Bini allegedly said, “It’s not worth 20 dollars,” but gave them the money and let them out.
Bini was subsequently picked out of a photo lineup by one of the girls.
The embattled cop first made headlines in 1999 when he signed a search warrant that launched a no-knock drug raid at a Denver rooming house. The warrant, however, contained the wrong address, resulting in the death of Ismael Mena, a Spanish-speaking Mexican immigrant who thought the police were thieves and reached for his gun. Police said they shot him in self-defense.
Bini said the wrong address was the result of an error on the printout, not carelessness on his part. He was allowed to plea bargain a felony perjury charge down to a misdemeanor and was punished with a year of probation, community service and three-month suspension.
Although there was an outcry from segments of the community, Bini returned to the force.
Shortly after returning, he was diagnosed with cancer. He overcame the disease and went on to become a competitive bodybuilder. Over the years, he divorced and remarried Marina Lopez, another bodybuilder.
Bini’s comeback from cancer made him something of a poster child for the police department. Police Chief Gerald Whitman appointed him to run a support program for officers who were injured or seriously ill.
Efforts to reach Bini for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Bini is free on a $75,000 bond. His first court appearance is set for June 16.
Copyright 2008 Rocky Mountain News