AURORA, Colo. — Former Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said he made sure a DUI suspect who sideswiped him in Aurora, Colorado didn't get away.
Acevedo, who is now the police chief in Aurora, said the driver was going the wrong way when they crashed into his vehicle in the Denver suburb.
The driver took off, according to Acevedo, but he followed him until Aurora and Denver police officers arrived.
Acevedo's SUV was badly damaged but he said he feels lucky it wasn't worse.
"Glad to wake up this morning without body aches after being sideswiped by a DUI who came onto wrong side of roadway," Acevedo posted on Twitter.
Acevedo left Houston in 2021 to become Miami’s police chief. At the time, the city’s mayor hailed him as the Michael Jordan and Tom Brady of police chiefs.
But Acevedo created controversy by taking over the internal affairs unit that investigates police misconduct and making significant changes to his command staff. He was fired after six months on the job.
Acevedo later sued, saying his firing was in retaliation for speaking out against corruption and reporting abuses of power by elected officials.
Aurora fired its police chief as it was under scrutiny for the killing of Elijah McClain, 23, who was put into a chokehold by an officer and injected with a powerful sedative. The fatal encounter provoked a national outcry during racial injustice protests in 2020.
Acevedo became interim chief there in October and was named chief last month.
