The Oak Creek police chief is on restricted duties following an incident at a local bar where patrons and the bar’s owner allege the chief acted inappropriately in an attempt to intervene in a performance by an all-male entertainment group known as “The Magic Hunks.”

The Magic Hunks perform nationwide and took the stage at the Colorado Bar on Jan. 21.

According to witnesses, Oak Creek Police Chief Ralph Maher was in uniform and on duty inside the Colorado Bar just before the performance began. The witnesses said Maher took an aggressive presence throughout the evening as he attempted to stop the performance on multiple occasions.

Video reviewed by the Steamboat Pilot & Today shows Maher standing near the stage before abruptly slamming his hand down and storming toward the performers in an apparent attempt to break up their dancing.

Oak Creek Town Manager David Torgler said Monday that Maher “has been placed on restricted duties as these concerns and complaints are investigated.”

Torgler noted that while Maher continues to be paid, his duties “are primarily office duties,” and he is not partaking in patrols or wearing his uniform. The town manager said the incident where Maher maintained a presence at the Colorado Bar was an attempt by the police chief to enforce state liquor regulations pertaining to entertainment hosted by a licensed establishment.

Listed in the state’s code of regulations, the liquor rule states that no owner, employee or agent of a licensed establishment “shall engage in or permit any person to perform acts of or acts which simulate … sexual intercourse, masturbation, sodomy, bestiality, oral copulation, flagellation or any sexual acts which are prohibited by law.”

Colorado Bar owner Lauren Verbosky said Maher reached out to her about the regulations prior to the show, but she maintained the performance did not violate the rules. She said the town has not issued any violations to her bar as a result of the event.

Verbosky, who has run the Colorado Bar for the past three years and filed a complaint with the town over Maher’s actions, pointed out The Magic Hunks went on to perform at Schmiggity’s in Steamboat Springs without incident the night after they took the stage in Oak Creek.

“As a woman business owner, I do not feel that Chief (Maher) has any of the businesses (in Oak Creek) … in his best interest,” Verbosky said, adding that she does not “feel protected.”

In January 2015, Maher was sworn in as Oak Creek’s chief of police. Prior to taking the job, he spent 19 years with the police department in Fountain, which is just south of Colorado Springs. His experience also includes a 10-month stint as the chief of police in Yuma.

Under advice from legal counsel, Oak Creek Mayor Nikki Knoebel said Tuesday she would not comment on the incident. Maher also declined to comment.

Last week, Knoebel and Oak Creek Town Council members heard from several community members, including Verbosky, who expressed concerns over Maher’s behavior during the Magic Hunks event, and in other encounters with the police chief.

Routt County resident Lynda Ledwell attended the Magic Hunks performance and said Maher’s presence left her and other women in the crowd uncomfortable.

“I am going to go ahead and start with the intrusion, and how humiliated the women must have felt in the building on the stage, almost targeted,” she said.

Ledwell added that another Oak Creek officer arrived at the bar and attempted to calm the clearly agitated police chief down.

“My concern, as a citizen in this county, was that the officer left the building with an out-of-control officer in there, and that is highly concerning to the public,” she said.

Rodger Bratton told council members he was working security during the show and standing near the backdoor next to Maher.

“No one was doing nothing wrong and I don’t know what he had seen, but he slammed his hand down, he went from being totally nice to losing his temper,” Bratton recalled of Maher’s actions. “He jumped onto the (dance) floor and started screaming at the dancers.”

“I became concerned for (the owners). I was actually telling them to call the sheriff on your guys’ cop because he was so out of control,” Bratton added. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Verbosky’s father, Barry, was also at the event and said he told Maher he was going to call the sheriff’s office and asked him to leave the establishment.

“He said I am the authority in this town — the sheriff has no control over me,” he recalled Maher telling him.

Beyond the alleged incident at Colorado Bar, community members also told Oak Creek officials about interactions with Maher where they felt he acted unprofessionally.

“Your chief is a liability,” Routt County resident Levi Wisecup said. “Any confrontation that he comes upon, if he is challenged, he can’t remain composed.”

Wisecup explained an instance where Maher came to his property, which is located outside of the town of Oak Creek, to complain that his music was too loud, adding that he said, “we are respectful of the neighbors, and as soon as I said that and challenged him, he just went over the top.

“He does not conduct himself professionally and I feel that it is time the town has done something about it.”

This article was updated to reflect Oak Creek chief of police Ralph Maher’s experience to show he was formerly the chief of police in Yuma. The member of the public who spoke at the meeting is Lynda Ledwell.