Body camera footage released Tuesday by the Denver Police Department shows a trio of officers opening fire on two men inside an SUV after a high-speed chase in March.
On March 19, undercover Denver detectives had been watching a home in Aurora where the girlfriend of Mauricio Venzor-Gonalez, a prisoner who escaped from deputy custody at Denver Health earlier in the day, lived.
Around 6:20 p.m., officers saw an SUV with two people inside approach the house. The passenger, police said, was in a hoodie, and two detectives agreed that person was likely Venzor-Gonzalez, according to the Denver District Attorney's Office. Investigators later learned it was not him.
Twenty minutes later, the girlfriend got into her Subaru and left. Shortly after that, the SUV left as well. Officers pursued the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop shortly thereafter. Instead of stopping, the vehicle sped off and initiated a chase. Several more DPD and Aurora Police Department officers joined in the pursuit as it moved from Aurora to northeast Denver.
The men crashed their vehicle at 41st and Albion Street in northeast Denver and officers opened fire, hitting both suspects, according to law enforcement
In the released body camera footage, police can be seen following the SUV around a curve shortly before it crashed. DPD officer Austin Barela then gets out of the cruiser after hitting the SUV with his gun already out and begins demanding those inside show officers their hands. After several commands he opens fire, emptying his magazine, reloading it and then opened fire again as the SUV tried to pull away down an embankment off the road.
Another body camera video shows officer William Bohm with DPD approach the driver side of the vehicle demanding to see the occupants' hands. When shots begin ringing out, Bohm backs away from the vehicle while firing his weapon.
The third video released by DPD shows officer Susan Mercado arrive after shots were already ringing out. She came from the right side of the SUV and fired her weapon twice at it.
A separate officer involved in the chase shouted over the radio that they were 100 percent positive the passenger in the SUV was Venzor-Gonzalez, who was believed to have opened fire on a police officer during a traffic stop in December 2017, the DA said. It was Rafael Landeros. Officers also said over the radio that they believed the passenger dropped a gun out of the window of the vehicle - investigators later learned it was a Honeywell box with methamphetamine inside, the DA said.
According to the DA, officers Barela, Bohm and Mercado arrived on scene thinking a wanted attempted homicide suspect was in the SUV and that there may be more weapons inside it. Barela and another officer were right behind the SUV when it crashed and immediately began issuing commands, the DA's report said.
In his statement to the DA, Barela said he saw the pair gesturing to the center console and feared they could be going for a weapon. Barela fired on the SUV 34 times.
Bohm arrived slightly after Barela and moved toward SUV before backing off when Barela opened fire, according to the District Attorney. Unable to see Barela, Bohm thought he was being fired at, the DA said. He shot at the SUV 12 times. When Mercado arrived a short while after, she fired on the SUV twice, unable to see the firing officers and worried her colleagues were under fire from an attempted murder suspect, the DA's report said.
Nguyen and Landeros were rushed to a local hospital. Nguyen would later die from his wounds. Landeros was later released from care but arrested on felony warrants.
After the scene calmed, officers investigated and found a Baretta shoved between the passenger seat and the center console of the SUV, the DA's report said. The SUV also turned out to be stolen. In an interview with law enforcement later, Landeros told officers he stole the vehicle. He also said he and Nguyen sped off from the home was because they noticed the undercover officers, were in a stolen vehicle, had meth and didn't want to be arrested.
Investigators also found Nguyen's cell phone in the vehicle and got the OK to examine it. Inside, they found texts sent that day to someone believed to be his girlfriend, the DA said. The texts threatened her, officers and indicated he was willing to die.
According to an autopsy report cited by the DA, both Bohm and Barela connected potentially fatal hits to Nguyen. It is unclear if any of Mercado's shots connected. Landeros escaped the shooting with only an abrasion to his stomach.
A Denver Police Department internal investigation will continue into the shooting. Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen has asked for patience during their ongoing investigation.
No officers at the shooting were injured.
According to the report released by Denver District Attorney Beth McCann, the officers who opened fire at the scene could reasonably believe their lives, the lives of their fellow officers and the lives of people in the community were in danger. As such, no criminal charges were filed against them. The Denver Police Department released body camera footage shortly after the decision was announced.
According to the DA, the shooting was also justified because Colorado law gives officers the ability to use deadly force if they're trying to arrest someone they reasonably believe has committed a felony with a weapon.
Venzor-Gonzalez, the man police believed Landeros to be, was able to escape Denver sheriff's deputies at Denver Health while on a prison transfer on March 19. He was there "for a scheduled appointment of some kind," the Sheriff's Department said. He was found just 13 miles from the medical center in months later in late August. When he escaped, he was being held on an attempted murder of a police officer charge.
Law enforcement has continually declined to release the footage of his escape from the medical center.
Police said Venzor-Gonzalez shot at an officer after a traffic stop in November. He got away back then as well, but was found two days later in Aurora suffering from three gunshot wounds. Venzor-Gonzalez was also wanted in a case related to the suspected kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend and their 1-year-old child.
Denver Sheriff Patrick Firman told 9NEWS Venzor-Gonzalez was also sought by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation. Firman said that ICE reached out to his department on Dec. 27 of last year hoping for a notification of release on Venzor-Gonzalez.
In June 2018, Venzor-Gonzalez's girlfriend was arrested and charged with helping Venzor-Gonzalez escape. Samantha Adams reportedly told police that Venzor-Gonzalez sent her a letter from jail three weeks before his escape to tell her his plan, according to her arrest affidavit.
The letter reportedly said that he told her to park a car just a half mile from Denver Health for him. She had to buy a car for the escape and had a friend register it in their name, the affidavit says. The night before his escape, she parked the car like she was told to. The following morning, the affidavit says she drove her other car to where the parked car was and watched Venzor-Gonzalez run toward her in a green-colored jail uniform.
According to the affidavit, Adams then said she dropped him off near West Hampden and Federal Boulevard. No word on what happened to the car they planned to use.
Venzor-Gonzalez is being held on $500,000 bond and will have to wear an ankle monitor if he is released.
