Cop Accused Of Groping Female Drivers Misconduct Charges Filed After Two Women Say He Molested Them During Traffic Stops

Charges of official misconduct have been filed against a police officer accused of molesting two women he pulled over for alleged traffic violations late last year.

Daniel Arredondo, the subject of a six-month investigation by the Billings Police Department, was charged on Monday.

Arredondo faces two counts of official misconduct alleging he molested the female drivers, one of whom contends her bare breasts were touched during a pat-down search by him.

A third count accuses Arredondo of stealing a fellow officer’s coat issued by the police department.

Arredondo has been suspended from the department with pay since the investigation began in February. He denies any wrongdoing.

The woman who said her breasts were touched was detained on suspicion of drunken driving. A prosecutor’s affidavit says Arredondo conducted two pat-down searches and gave “special emphasis to the genital and breast areas, even patting his hands under her clothing and on her bare breasts.”

Arredondo also is accused of requiring the woman, then 39, to lower her pants to reveal an appendectomy scar.

The affidavit says Arredondo made inappropriate sexual comments toward the woman. He told her that he knew a drunken-driving citation was the last thing she needed, “and that he wished there was something he could do to help her out,” the affidavit says.

The other woman he is accused of molesting was stopped for alleged speeding. Arredondo is accused of rubbing her buttocks.

The affidavit says he did not ask for her driver’s license or vehicle registration, but did take her name, telephone number and address. Later, he showed up at her house uninvited and molested her, according to the affidavit.

The woman, 24 at the time, told investigators she was afraid to say “no” to Arredondo because he was a police officer.

Police Chief David Ward said that in the coming weeks, officials will review Arredondo’s status as an employee suspended with pay. Arredondo is entitled to an administrative hearing during that process.

Defense lawyer Robert Stephens said allegations against Arredondo were pursued because he and two former officers have a pending discrimination lawsuit against the city. Arredondo is Hispanic.