Police arrested a Good Samaritan who stopped to help crash victims. Now the city owes him $50,000
Jesse Cunningham had to fight for everything the arrest cost him
On July 30, 2021, Jesse Cunningham and his family were on their way home to Nebraska after a Colorado vacation when they saw a horrible motorcycle accident on the highway. Cunningham, who was medically trained, got down to help. However, minutes later, his act made him a target for a wrongful DUI arrest. Officer Jason Haferman thought he smelled alcohol on Cunningham. The father of two insisted the officer use a breathalyzer to test him, but Haferman declined. He was arrested, but three months later, the city of Fort Collins had to let him go after his blood tests and daughters' answers proved him innocent. Cunningham then sued the police officer who'd arrested him and cost him a promotion at work. After five years, recently, the city ended up paying Cunningham $500,000, CBS Colorado reported on July 21, 2026, garnering 78,467 views, 1,900 likes, and 869 comments.
Mental and emotional distress
Cunningham managed to save the life of one of the motorcyclists, but Officer Haferman arrested him after he "failed" the Roadside Sobriety Test and never conducted the breath test. Cunningham told CBS NEWS, "Just the audacity of how I felt the situation had turned. I was in shock. I couldn't believe what was going on." Haferman not only arrested him for DUI, but also for suspicion of child abuse.
The arrest had long-term effects on the Cunningham family. It cost him a promotion at work, and Child Protective Services opened an investigation because of the child abuse suspicions. They interviewed his daughters in their home in Nebraska and contacted their doctor. Later on, Cunningham provided a blood sample, and he had to provide regular urinalysis tests. Finally, three months later, the lab test results arrived.
Won't be bullied by the law
The reports showed that Cunningham did not have any alcohol or drugs in his system the night he was arrested. He said, "Now I can with 100% surety say that I was innocent that evening." Instead of keeping quiet, Cunningham decided to sue Officer Haferman for his wrongful arrest, and explained why he decided to go legal: "There are certain things in life and certain things that I know you have to draw a line in the sand, and I need to stand up and do what's right. This is one of those line-in-the-sand moments."
While the city of Fort Collins did not admit to any wrongdoing, it settled the case by paying Cunningham a whopping $500,000. Sarah Schielke, Cunningham's attorney, pointed out, "Cities don't pay half a million dollars to settle a case when they believe they made a good DUI arrest."
Sober DUI arrests
Surprisingly, this was not the first wrongful DUI arrest Officer Haferman had made. He had made nine wrongful arrests within a span of a year. Every single individual who was arrested was tested, and the reports revealed they did not have drugs or alcohol in their system. Haferman's case is just one of the few. On January 7, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) revealed that they had undercounted wrongful DUI arrest cases. Initially, they told WSMV4 Investigates that the number was 609 between 2017 and 2023, but the actual number was 2,218. Additionally, there were 419 wrongful DUI arrests made in 2024.
Labreesha Batey, one of the people arrested for a sober DUI, said, "It’s really hard for me to relive that experience. Seeing it over and over again just brings me to tears." Haferman eventually resigned from his job in 2022, a day before the Chief let him go.
Cop should pay
People in the comments criticized Officer Haferman for arresting Cunningham and refusing to do a breath test. @TheOldGuy-249 wrote, "What he had to go through, his wife, and his kids, it should have been at least a minimum of a two million dollar settlement." @aaronfreiboth2031 added, "The settlement should come out of the cop's paycheck. The taxpayers shouldn't be responsible for useless cops not properly doing their jobs."
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