Man arrested for recording deputy gets an apology and $80,000 after bodycam proves him right

A simple decision to hit “record” on a cell phone ended with handcuffs, an apology – and an $80,000 payout.

In Adams County, Colorado, a deputy’s ego and misunderstanding of basic constitutional law are now on full display thanks to bodycam footage.

Reporter Jeremy Jojola of 9NEWS and attorney John Bryan, who runs The Civil Rights Lawyer channel, both walked through what happened.

Their combined reporting turns this from just another bad arrest into a clear warning about what can happen when an officer can’t handle being filmed.

A Routine Drive Turns Into A Constitutional Lesson

In his 9NEWS report, Jeremy Jojola explains that the incident happened in February 2024 on Highway 85 near 104th Avenue in Adams County.

Deputy Walter Berlinski had just finished a traffic stop when he noticed another vehicle pulled over nearby. Inside that van was Barry Zatkalik, holding up his phone and recording.

According to Jojola, Zatkalik wasn’t part of the traffic stop at all. He had simply pulled over to film the deputy.

That alone is not a crime.

In fact, as attorney John Bryan stresses in his video, that is classic First Amendment activity: recording a public official performing public duties in a public place.

Filming A Deputy For Speeding

Bryan says Zatkalik is a former reserve officer with the Denver Police Department, trained and certified with full powers when he served.

That background matters, because he knew what he was seeing.

According to Bryan, Zatkalik first noticed Deputy Berlinski blow past him on Highway 85 doing roughly 80 mph in a 65 with no lights and no siren.

Jojola reports that Zatkalik decided to pace the deputy and record the speed on video, because he believed the deputy was driving recklessly and wanted proof for a complaint.

A short distance later, as Bryan describes, Zatkalik saw Berlinski had someone pulled over.

So he parked well ahead of the traffic stop, stayed in his vehicle, and pointed his phone out the window to record from a distance.

No interference. No shouting. No walking into the stop.

Just filming.

“For Speeding” – And Everything Escalates

Bodycam footage aired by Jojola shows how quickly the situation turned.

After finishing the traffic stop, Deputy Berlinski looks over, sees the phone, and tells another deputy, “He’s videotaping us. I’ll be in contact.”

He then walks up to Zatkalik’s van.

Bryan plays the clip where Zatkalik calmly asks, “Can I get your name and badge number?”

When Berlinski asks “For what?”, Zatkalik responds, “So I know who I’m making a complaint against.”

“For what?” the deputy asks again.

“For speeding,” Zatkalik says, telling him he has him recorded doing 80 in a 65 with no lights or siren.

That should have been the end of it: officer gets criticized, citizen goes on his way, complaint gets filed.

Instead, as both Jojola and Bryan show, Berlinski’s tone shifts.

“OK, license, registration, proof of insurance,” the deputy demands.

From that moment, you can almost see the line in the sand.

From Consensual Encounter To Handcuffs

In his breakdown, Bryan explains a critical legal point: until that moment, this was what courts call a “consensual encounter.”

The deputy was free to walk up and talk, and Zatkalik was free to film and speak his mind.

But to turn that into a detention, the deputy needed reasonable suspicion that Zatkalik had committed a crime.

Bryan notes that nothing in the video shows any crime at all. Zatkalik did not block the stop, did not interfere physically, and did not threaten anyone.

So when Berlinski demanded license, registration, and insurance, Zatkalik – knowing his rights as a former officer – refused.

He told the deputy no, repeatedly, and asked for a supervisor instead.

According to both Jojola and Bryan, that’s when the deputy escalated and threatened an “obstruction” arrest.

Bodycam shows Berlinski telling him, “Then now you’re obstructing,” and warning that he’ll arrest him if he doesn’t comply.

Zatkalik holds his line and says, “You do that, buddy, and I’ll sue the [expletive] out of Adams County.”

The deputy then yanks him out of the van, handcuffs him, and puts him in the back of a patrol car.

At this point, the only “obstruction” visible on camera is someone daring to film and criticize an officer.

Other Deputies Don’t Buy The Arrest

Once backup arrives, the story shifts.

Jojola’s report highlights a key moment: another deputy on scene questions Berlinski directly about the obstruction charge.

On bodycam, that deputy asks if Zatkalik ever walked up to the traffic stop.

Berlinski admits he did not.

“Then you don’t have obstruction,” the other deputy tells him flatly.

Bryan focuses heavily on that line, calling it devastating.

It shows that even fellow officers on scene knew there was no legal basis to arrest a man who stayed in his vehicle, filmed from a distance, and refused to hand over ID in a consensual encounter.

While Zatkalik sits in the back of the patrol car, cuffed for about 20 minutes, another figure appears: Detective Sergeant Eric Broadheim, a supervisor with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

Bryan plays the video of Broadheim opening the car door and calmly asking for Zatkalik’s side of the story.

Zatkalik explains in detail how he saw the deputy speeding, recorded it, then filmed the traffic stop, and was suddenly being arrested for simply asking for a name and badge number.

He also tells Broadheim he wants the cuffs off, the deputy’s information, and an apology.

Forced Apology And Quiet Settlement

According to both Jojola and Bryan, Broadheim then walks back to talk to Deputy Berlinski.

Bryan notes that the supervisor mutes his own bodycam at that point, so we don’t hear the conversation – but we do see the outcome.

Soon after, Zatkalik is out of the patrol car, the handcuffs are removed, and Deputy Berlinski is ordered to apologize.

On video shown by Bryan, the deputy hands over his card and says, “Didn’t mean it to go this route. Unfortunately it did. So that is my… my apologies.”

Zatkalik fires back, “You ought to know better,” and is then told he’s free to go.

In Jojola’s report, the supervisor also tells Zatkalik, “It will be handled… I’m sorry. I will apologize for the sheriff’s office.”

That apology turned out to be more than just words.

Jojola reports that civil rights attorney Maddie Shaefer sent a legal letter to Adams County outlining the wrongful arrest and First Amendment retaliation.

Zatkalik never even had to file a formal lawsuit.

Adams County quietly agreed to pay him $80,000 in a pre-suit settlement.

As Shaefer told 9NEWS, her client was “several feet away in his vehicle, filming from a distance, not obstructing at all.”

“The only thing that he was obstructing,” she said, “was the officer’s unlawful attempt to arrest him in retaliation to his First Amendment-protected activity.”

A Pattern, Not A One-Off Mistake

Jojola also uncovered something else: this wasn’t Deputy Berlinski’s first time making bad headlines.

In 2019, 9NEWS reported that Berlinski was arrested for suspected drunk driving and later pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired, a lesser charge than DUI.

Despite that, Jojola says, he kept his job as a deputy.

Now, after an illegal arrest caught on camera and an $80,000 settlement paid by taxpayers, Adams County Sheriff’s Office still won’t say what, if any, discipline Berlinski faced.

Spokesperson Shea Haney told 9NEWS the incident was “investigated” but the agency will not disclose the results or any punishment.

Bryan points to that secrecy as part of the larger problem.

He argues that in almost any other job, costing your employer $80,000 because of a reckless power trip would get you fired.

But when it comes to law enforcement, he says, officers too often keep their jobs – and the public keeps paying for their mistakes.

Why This Case Matters For Everyone With A Phone

Both Jojola and Bryan frame this case as bigger than one deputy and one driver.

It’s about whether regular people are allowed to record public officials without fear of being arrested for hurting someone’s pride.

Bryan reminds viewers that the First Amendment still protects filming police, criticizing them, and documenting their behavior from a safe distance.

He stresses that people who are arrested in retaliation can still sue under the Constitution – and cases like this prove those rights are very real, not just words on paper.

At the same time, the bodycam video Jeremy Jojola obtained shows something important: cameras don’t just protect the public from officers.

They also expose bad decisions inside agencies that might otherwise never see the light of day.

Without that footage, this story would sound almost unbelievable.

With it, you can see the entire thing unfold – the demand for ID, the bogus obstruction threat, the handcuffs, the other deputy saying, “You don’t have obstruction,” and the forced apology after a supervisor realizes what just happened.

The lesson is simple, but powerful.

Recording police is legal.

Standing up for your rights may get you hassled, or even wrongfully arrested.

But as this case shows, if you have the video, the law – and sometimes an $80,000 check – can catch up eventually.

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The article Man arrested for recording deputy gets an apology and $80,000 after bodycam proves him right first appeared on Survival World.