The Associated Press
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — A former Arapahoe County sheriff accused of offering methamphetamine in exchange for sex from a male acquaintance won accolades during his tenure and once was hailed as a hero for his daring rescue of two wounded deputies during a hostage standoff.
But current Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said more charges are being considered against former sheriff Patrick Sullivan after Sullivan was arrested on Tuesday over allegations he offered methamphetamine in exchange for sex.
Robinson said the 68-year-old former sheriff faces a distribution charge and was being held on a $250,000 bond. Sullivan was sheriff of the suburban Denver county from 1984 until he retired in 2002.
Authorities said they had a tip about the exchange and arrested Sullivan without incident after the former sheriff gave meth to the man.
Arapahoe County’s jail is named for the former lawman, the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility.
In 2002, Sullivan was praised by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo in the congressional record on his retirement. Tancredo cited Sullivan’s work in promoting homeland security, for being named Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriff’s Association in 2001, and for his work as law enforcement chairman of the Colorado George W. Bush for President committee.
After his retirement, Sullivan became head of security for the Cherry Creek School District.
In the 1989 hostage standoff, Sullivan rescued two deputies after crashing his truck through a fence and protecting them while they were loaded into the vehicle. Arapahoe County Deputy Daniel Thomas and Deputy Arthur Hilton were treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds and shrapnel wounds from flying glass.
During the rampage, Eugene Thompson Jr., described by authorities as a 20-year-old man with an insatiable appetite for cocaine, killed two women with a semiautomatic machine pistol, raped another woman, and wounded two deputies and a hostage before fatally wounding himself in a 10-hour reign of terror.