A Loveland police officer is accused of wrongfully arresting a man for drunken driving in a lawsuit that details the officer’s alleged history of unjustified arrests.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Larimer County, claims Officer William Gates arrested Fort Collins resident Harris Elias for driving under the influence on Jan. 4, 2020, though the breath and blood tests Elias took showed zero intoxicants in his system.

The lawsuit calls Gates a “legitimately evil police officer” who has knowingly and wrongfully arrested at least four people in the last year for DUI by claiming they smell of alcohol and have watery eyes, only for their test results to come back clear.

“Officer Gates prides himself on having some of the highest DUI arrest rates in the State of Colorado. He is heard regularly boasting about it to drivers he is arresting on his various bodycam videos,” the lawsuit said. “Officer Gates knew that LPD valued his DUI arrest numbers far more than the quality of any of his DUI arrests.”

Gates has received awards from the police department and Mothers Against Drunk Driving for having the highest DUI arrest numbers, the lawsuit said, and he has earned extra income through the arrests by being granted overtime shifts to work DUI enforcement.

On Wednesday evening, the Lakewood Police Department said it was aware of the lawsuit.

“Any complaint leveled against our personnel is taken seriously,” the department said in a statement. “Chief Bob Ticer has authorized an internal investigation. Once that investigation is complete, we will share the findings with the public.”

According to the lawsuit, Elias was driving home from a dinner party at around 10:30 p.m. when Gates pulled him over for driving under the speed limit and not signaling a lane change, which Elias said was not true.

Elias exercised his right to remain silent and refused to answer Gates’ questions, saying he believed the officer was untrustworthy. Soon after, Gates arrested Elias, claiming he smelled an “overwhelming” odor of alcohol and that Elias’ eyes were bloodshot, the lawsuit said.

At the police station, Elias took a breath test, which showed a 0% blood-alcohol level, the lawsuit said. Gates then demanded Elias take a blood test, which also came back with zeros two months later. The police department dismissed the case against Elias on March 3, 2020, the day after the blood results came in.

“At the time he formally arrested Mr. Elias, Officer Gates did not have probable cause to arrest him for DUI. He also knew it. He didn’t care,” the lawsuit said. “Officer Gates had been that night roving the streets of Larimer County with the sole task of looking for and charging citizens with DUIs.”

Though the case was dismissed, the DUI arrest has permanently impacted Elias’ life by hurting his career as a pilot licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration, the lawsuit said.

After the arrest, the FAA opened an investigation into Elias’ pilot’s license and Elias must now report and explain the arrest on every medical renewal with the FAA for the rest of his life, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also claims Gates violated the police department’s policy by regularly muting his body-worn camera and that the police department was aware of and encouraged Gates’ wrongful arrests due to the department’s culture of abusing power.

The police department has a recent history of problematic actions. The department’s violent arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia resulted in a $3 million settlement in September. In August, the department was sued after an officer fatally shot a family’s dog for walking up to him.

Attorney Sarah Schielke of the Life and Liberty Law Office filed all three of the lawsuits.