***EXCLUSIVE*** MUST CREDIT COMPLETECOLORADO.COMShare March 28, 2011 COURT DOCS ESTABLISH POLICE HAD EARLY LINK IN SERIES OF BEATINGS DPD refuses interview with CompleteColorado.com CompleteColorado.com has obtained court documents shedding new light on the series of racially related attacks in LoDo during the late summer and fall of 2009. Specifically, the documents reveal: As early as August 7, the Denver Police Department held a briefing... "in regard to a series of Street Robberies. According to the information received during the approximately eight incidents being reported, white males had been assaulted and robbed by black males."While the briefing was held on August 7, Denver Police did not issue a press release until 27 days later on September 3. This new court document obtained by CompleteColorado.com is the first internally produced document from either DPD or the Denver District Attorney's office that positively confirms an earlier report by KMGH Ch 7 alleging the police department kept quiet in their knowledge early on that the attacks were linked, and certain racial groups were being singled out as targets by other racial groups. The court document estimates eight linked assaults by August 7. By the time of the press release weeks later, the number of assaults had climbed to 14. In late November, 2009, Denver police announced 32 arrests alleging a total of 26 separate assaults and/or muggings, most of which were said to be racially motivated. According to the article by KMGH Ch. 7, Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said, "We have to have a pattern of behavior," when asked by the station why police waited so long to release the information. The court document, then, would strongly contradict Jackson's statement. Some injuries to victims were much more severe than ever previously reported as by police. One victim, assaulted on approximately August 11, 2009, was hospitalized in a coma for several days. His parents filed a missing person report with police one day after the attack, not knowing the whereabouts or condition of their son who was comatose in Swedish Medical Center. Days after the attack, the victim was described as "still in critical condition, with bleeding and swelling on the brain." A victim of a beating on September 6, 2009, suffered a skull fracture and an epidural hematoma, requiring brain surgery. According to documents, the victim, "was standing on the street speaking with a group of friends and then awoke in the hospital." According to some sources, between 15-20 percent of all epidural hematomas are fatal. Another victim, attacked on July 19, 2009, was knocked unconscious. The victim awoke in the hospital. According to the interview documents, the victim related, "It was one of the worst feelings in the world to wake up and not know were (sic) you are." The batch of court documents also show more accusations of misconduct were leveled against Detective Paul Baca. An investigator for one of the perpetrators, Xavier Francis, filed an affidavit swearing that Detective Baca had intimidated Francis' brother Zachary during an interview. The affidavit alleges Baca told Zachary Francis to implicate Xavier, urging him to "lie, if that is what you have to do." The affidavit also alleges that Baca told Zachary if he did not cooperate he would go to prison. Detective Baca has been investigated by a grand jury regarding allegations he urged one victim of the LoDo beatings to exaggerate his injuries. The Denver Police Department has denied a request from CompleteColorado.com for a recorded interview with Police Chief Whitman. Additionally, the department has refused to answer by email any of the following questions posed to Lt. Matthew Murray on March 21, 2011: 1) Completely disregarding the racial component of the LoDo attacks, what would be the earliest time that DPD could "associate" or "link" any of the attacks?Reporter Rick Sallinger with CBS4 Denver indicated that he made an inquiry into a series of beatings (what would eventually be known as the LoDo attacks) just prior to the press release being sent from Denver Police on September 3. Also, an article by Ch 7 KMGH asserts that police only issued the press release after fielding inquiries from the TV station. While then-Mayor John Hickenlooper has on occasion answered questions about what he knew regarding the LoDo beatings, no one inside Denver government has ever answered the most critical question, namely, who was the highest official that approved a code of silence that may have put additional people at risk of violent predatory attacks? Typically, as an investigation continues (*after* an arrest), or as prosecution continues, law enforcement authorities will decline to comment because of fears the comments could contaminate or interfere with an "ongoing investigation." However, all LoDo cases have been adjudicated, meaning there is now no reason that the Denver Police Department and the Denver Safety Manager's office cannot explain their reasoning and decision making, thereby allowing the public they serve to evaluate their actions. Lt. Matthew Murray would not grant a recorded interview to CompleteColorado.com with Chief Whitman, saying that the recording would be an attempt to "trap" Chief Whitman, and that it was not an attempt to deal "honestly" with the police department. CompleteColorado.com told the department we wished to ask the Chief about the timeline of events and major decisions. ***END OF REPORT*** |
 
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