Ex-Aurora Police Officer Facing Five Criminal Charges, Resigns From Department

Ex-Aurora officer John Haubert officially submitted his resignation from the Aurora Police Department after facing assault charges from an arrest he was involved in on July 23, 2021.

Haubert and fellow officer Francine Martinez were both facing criminal charges because Haubert used excessive force on a suspect during the arrest and Martinez had a duty to intervene but didn't. Haubert is facing five charges while Martinez is facing two.

In a press conference held by Chief of Police Vanessa Wilson on July 27, body camera footage from the initial incident was released. In the video, Haubert is seen strangling the suspect for 39 seconds and hitting him repeatedly on the head with his weapon. Chief Wilson said in the press conference that the suspect was not armed.

In a report from 9News, quoting Chief Wilson from the press conference presenting the body camera footage, she said:

We're disgusted, we're angry, this is not police work. We don't train this. This is not acceptable.

The report from 9News sourced the affidavit from the incident. According to the affidavit, the suspect made no threatening motions or actions towards Haubert and even tried to remove Haubert's hands from his neck. Alledgedly, Haubert told the suspect, "If you move I will shoot you".

After the press conference, Chief Wilson had ordered an expedited Internal Affairs Investigation to follow through with the incident after the arrest warrants had been issued.

In the afternoon of July 29, ex-officer Haubert officially resigned from the station and submitted his letter directly to Chief Wilson. However, the Internal Affairs investigation is still ongoing. Once that is completed, the case will go through the review process and Chief Wilson will make her final decision about whether or not Haubert violated department directives. She will then decide how Haubert would have been disciplined had he not resigned.

Once Chief Wilson has come to a conclusion, the information will be released to the public.