An on-duty, armed and uniformed Aurora police officer who passed out drunk while driving an unmarked patrol car in March but avoided criminal charges and kept his job is now facing new scrutiny from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

District Attorney George Brauchler said Wednesday his office is looking into the March 29 incident and the subsequent investigation by Aurora police. The actions of Officer Nathan F. Meier could warrant criminal charges.

“I don’t have any reason to second-guess the Aurora Police Department’s conduct in the investigation at this point, but I’m interested in knowing what information exists,” Brauchler said. “That interest stems from the fact it involves an officer in that agency.”

The March 29 incident began around 3:45 p.m. when two people called 911 after they discovered Meier unconscious in the driver’s seat of his unmarked car in the middle of East Mississippi Avenue near Buckley Air Force Base, according to an Aurora internal affairs evidence summary obtained Wednesday by The Denver Post.

The car was running, the vehicle was in gear and Meier’s foot was on the brake, according to the internal affairs summary.

Firefighters who responded to the 911 calls could not rouse the officer and were forced to break the car’s window to get to Meier. Aurora police officers who responded smelled alcohol on Meier, according to the summary.

He was taken to a hospital by ambulance because he was completely unresponsive, the evidence summary stated.

The internal affairs report said Meier showed up to work that day at 10:17 a.m. — more than two hours late for his 8 a.m. shift — and left police headquarters at 2:03 p.m. The report said “no one knew (his) whereabouts” prior to the incident.

In a later interview with internal affairs, Meier admitted that he went home during his shift and drank vodka. He told internal affairs investigators he was impaired by the vodka and did not remember anything after drinking until he woke up in the hospital, according to the summary. He also provided investigators with medical records that “indicated his level of alcohol consumption,” according to a statement from Aurora police.

A review of Colorado court records shows no criminal charges were filed against Meier in connection with the March incident, which was first reported by Denver’s CBS4. The incident comes to light as some Aurora city council members are trying to create a new independent, civilian-led police oversight agency amid increased concerns about police misconduct and high-profile use of force incidents.

Aurora police refused interview requests Wednesday, but said in a written statement that officers did not launch a DUI investigation in part because of federal health care privacy laws.

“Due to an inability to exclude a medical condition, and absent confirmatory information, a DUI investigation was not conducted,” the statement said. “No blood test was done since there was no felony committed and a blood draw could not be forced.”

The statement noted that Meier’s blood was drawn by hospital staff as part of his treatment, and said the odor of alcohol on the officer was “very faint,” “did not linger” and “was not prevalent.”

Brauchler said his office was never alerted to the incident, which he said is not unusual in misdemeanor cases, which are typically investigated and charged solely by local police agencies. But he said he asked his office to make inquiries about the incident after learning about it Wednesday.

The officers could have sought a search warrant for Meier’s blood, he said.

“If they chose not to do that, they probably went through an analysis of, ‘Do we think we have probable cause to involuntarily take his blood while unconscious?’ ” he said.

Brauchler said he needed more information to decide whether his office will bring charges against Meier, and he noted statements Meier made to internal affairs investigators can’t be used against him in a criminal case.

The internal affairs report shows the Chief’s Review Board recommended Meier be found responsible for several policy violations, including unbecoming conduct, conformance to law, neglect of duty and alcohol impairment.

Aurora police said in the statement that Meier was demoted to the rank of officer from the rank of agent, and received an unpaid suspension that caused him to lose $20,000. The statement said Meier was given “stringent rules” to follow going forward, including an agreement that any “similar or significant” infraction would result in Meier being fired.

Meier admitted to his “poor choices” and cooperated with internal affairs investigators, according to the statement.

Meier is still employed as an Aurora police officer and is assigned to the Investigation Bureau for Economic Crimes and Pawn Detail. He did not return a request for comment Wednesday.

Aurora Councilman Juan Marcano called the incident a “bad look” on Wednesday and said he is seeking more information about what happened.

“I don’t like double standards for law enforcement,” he said. “If you were a civilian, that would have gotten you charged with multiple counts.”

He added that he learned about the incident Tuesday night and said it ties into ongoing efforts by the Aurora community to discuss accountability of local police.

“If we are going to have trust with our community and our officers, we need to have accountability,” he said.

All other council members and Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday.

Meier applied to join the Aurora department in 2001. On his job application, Meier said he had been certified as a paid, full-time police officer in 1994 and had previously worked for the Greeley Police Department and the University of Northern Colorado Police Department.

Without identifying the employer or employers, Meier also acknowledged on the application that he had previously been fired, received a formal written reprimand and had been investigated by his employer for improper conduct or illegal activities that resulted in him being found in violation of the employer’s policies, regulations, rules or any state or federal laws. He also acknowledged being found guilty of a misdemeanor and said on the form that he had “engaged in undetected theft of goods or property.”