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Social media photos show ‘sick’ deputies partying in Las Vegas

Posted at 9:29 PM, Jul 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-09 21:38:05-04

DENVER -- Two Denver sheriff’s deputies are being disciplined after they called in sick to work while they were on a trip to Las Vegas last summer, according to KDVR.

Photos posted on social media show Deputies Daniel Trujillo and Diego Villalpando-Hernandez in a group of people in Las Vegas on June 18, 2017, the day they called in sick.

According to the records, Villalpando-Hernandez worked on the department's Saturday Work Program, which starts at 5 a.m. - he called in at midnight causing the work program to be cancelled that day.

The cancellation of the program forced another employee who was scheduled to work that day to take paid time off so she could be compensated for the hours she was supposed to work.

When confronted by the department, Villalpando-Hernandez said that what he did was a "selfish act" and that he should have communicated more with his supervisors and got the approved time off, according to the records.

Trujillo told investigators that he needed a break from what was going on in his life at the time.

"I took this trip because my friends in the department saw that I needed an escape from what I was currently dealing with," Trujillo said according to the documents. "I just needed an escape anywhere."

Trujillo was docked 10 percent of his pay for 10 pay periods as a punishment for the incident by the Denver Safety Manager’s Office, that's the equivalent to a 10 day suspension.

"I was dealing with quite a bit for quite a while. And this whole trip was just to decompress," Trujillo added. "I wasn’t even planning on going. My ticket was – and my hotel room was purchased for me. I shared the room with a couple other deputies. And we’re all really close friends. We just – I needed that camaraderie.”

Villalpando-Hernandez was fined 10 percent of his pay for 10 pay periods and was suspended for six days by the office – the equivalent to a 16 day suspension.