Leader in School Board Recall Bid Facing False Complaint Charges

With a looming recall election swirling around the culture wars in a small Colorado town, authorities confirmed their arrest of a recall leader on false complaint charges.

The Woodland Park Police Department confirmed in a press release late last week their arrest of Samantha Peck, one of the leaders of a recall campaign aimed at the Woodland Park School Board.

Peck is charged with a misdemeanor charge of false reporting of an emergency to police and a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant.

Police say that on July 24, the police department received an emergency call from a person identifying herself as Ms Peck.

David Lane, a Denver lawyer representing Samantha Peck, says he’s investigating if her civil rights were violated when she was charged by Woodland Park police. (Courtesy of David Lane)

The caller said that someone she knew to be the wife of the school board’s vice president appeared to be drunk and getting into a car in a Safeway supermarket parking lot, preparing to drive away with a small child.

Officers responding six minutes later found the driver sober and without a child in the car, police said in the press release.

Peck, who was arrested on Aug. 2, is free on a $3000 bond.

Having retained Denver civil rights lawyer David Lane, Peck appears to stand by her story.

Lane, a Berkeley Law graduate who worked with the ACLU and Amnesty International in the past said, “we are investigating whether this is or is not a civil rights violation.”

“There are two conflicting versions of what happened,” Lane said. The police department’s version is one, but the other is that Peck “was seriously reporting someone who appeared to be impaired.”

“Ultimately, what we want to do is talk to witnesses and consult body

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