On the Sullivan Scandal – From Distinguished to Damaged

This morning I was reading through a resume typed up by Pat Sullivan himself when he applied to be head of security at the Cherry Creek School District about 10 years ago.

The long list of recognitions (see screen shot below) is quite simply amazing.

A screen capture from Sullivan's resume. Wow.

To say Sullivan was distinguished is an understatement.

For references, he put town two chiefs of police, a district attorney and an FBI special agent in charge.

Flash forward to today.

I saw a frail-looking suspected meth user walk out of his own namesake—the Patrick J. Sullivan Detention Center—after seven days in lockup.

Wow, what a week.

Exactly a week ago tonight I was doing a live shot and reporting on the demise of one of the biggest law enforcement icons in Colorado.

Even if Pat Sullivan is acquitted, his reputation is far from damaged.

There has been so much said about Pat Sullivan on the radio, in the newspapers and on television over the last seven days.

What else can be said tonight?

I do find it interesting we haven’t heard one peep from his attorney, defense team or anyone else who has chosen to publicly defend him on camera.

I’ve reached out to Sullivan’s attorney several times for the sake of balance, even before the gag order in this case was issued.

Nothing from him either.

Often silence can say so much more than a no comment.

What does the silence say in this case?

It’s quite understandable that Sullivan’s family may not even be remotely prepared to say anything publicly because of the devastating news.

I don’t blame them one bit.

Quotes on Patrick Sullivan’s Arrest

“This is a sadness for this organization. This is a sadness for men and women that serve with pride and integrity every day at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. And it’s a sadness for our community. But beyond, and well beyond the sadness, no one is above the law.”

-Current Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson

“Yeah, we’ve sat at Cheeseman [Park] in the back seat of his car, or his SUV and smoked the (expletive) out of a lot of dope.”

-William Hadley, Man on video claiming he did drugs with Sullivan

“When you look at the kind of people that he hung around with, all very young, all very troubled boys.  It’s hard to say if he was using them or as much as they were using him.  Pat had pension.  Pat had power.  Pat had stability.  What these kids did not have.”

-Andrew Pino, Boyfriend of Sean Moss

“I’ve heard that he used to be the sheriff of Arapahoe County, so it’s just quite shocking to know that a sheriff was next door to my house conducting in drug transactions.”

-Amanda Cardenas, Neighbor of home where Sullivan was arrested

“We are absolutely stunned….”

-Mary Chesley, Cherry Creek Schools Superintendent

“Sullivan was subsequently transported to the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. detention facility and booked….”

-Sullivan’s Arrest Report, as noted by Agent Matthew Hanagan of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Dept