Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › News › Local News

Families seek $10 million in police shooting deaths

By Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 25, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

Text size  

More Local News

More stories »

The families of two men killed by police have filed two separate $5 million claims against the city of Denver.

"The city attorney's office is reviewing the claims and will decide how to proceed from there," Sue Cobb, spokeswoman for Mayor John Hickenlooper, said Friday.

The first claim stems from the April killing of Nathan Aguillard, 26, a mentally impaired Hurricane Katrina evacuee who had sold drugs to police in an undercover operation two days before.

Aguillard was shot once in the head and once in the chest after the SWAT team conducted a no-knock search warrant at his apartment at 4754 Peoria St.

At the time of the shooting, police said they were "confronted by a male party armed with a gun."

The other claim involves the December 2007 death of Jason Gomez, who police said brandished a silver object that looked like a gun but turned out to be a lighter.

The incident started when a patrol officer saw Gomez, 33, driving erratically.

The officer lost track of Gomez but then saw him parked in a yard.

When the officer approached Gomez, who had an outstanding felony warrant, Gomez ran.

Police said in December that "some type of confrontation" ensued between the officer and Gomez.

It ended with Gomez dying from gunshot wounds.

That shooting happened in the 3200 block of West Ada Place, near South Federal Boulevard and West Mississippi Avenue.

Kenneth Padilla, who is representing Gomez's widow, Vicki Lynn Trujillo, did not return a call for comment.

In the claim, Padilla said that Gomez "was denied his civil rights to be free from loss of life without due process of law by Denver police officer Timothy Campbell, who shot and killed Jason Gomez, who was unarmed."

Denver attorney Phil Harding, who is representing Aguillard's mother and sister, said that police could have arrested Aguillard during another undercover drug buy, instead of carrying out a no-knock search warrant.

"I think the Denver police and, actually, any police department, needs to take less obtrusive methods of subduing individuals instead of jumping through doors with guns blazing," Harding said.

Harding defended the $5 million in damages that Aguillard's family is seeking.

"Let's say you're taking care of your little brother who is mentally impaired and he gets killed. I don't think $5 million is enough if it was my brother," he said.

"I guarantee you whatever amount, if anything would be given on this thing, his mom and his sister would rather have Nathan back."

Comments

  • October 25, 2008

    12:41 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    informationmunky writes:

    This is absolutly sickining. when you brandish weapons at a police officer, and or swat team, you should be shot. And I'm sorry, Mentaly handicaped? i you are cognant enough to sell drugs, you should loose that status. stories like this is what makes me lose faith in the justice system. I swear to god., America is the only country in the world that rewards stupidity with handfulls of cash. The sad thing is, this will probably be settled out of cout, at tax payers expense. I for one hope the city fights this. The only thing that could possibly make it worse is for one of these victims to be an illeagal immigrant.

  • October 25, 2008

    4:19 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    lisajo writes:

    informationmunky...okay, but what about the other? Jason Gomez? He was unarmed. Do you think you deserve to be shot and killed for driving erratically and running? I think not.

  • October 25, 2008

    6:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    John_Galt writes:

    The actions of both men were the causes of their deaths.

    I say that the lawyers who brought these suits should be hung.

  • October 25, 2008

    7:45 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ElGordo writes:

    lisajo...Yes, of course he should. What if his erratic driving caused a fatal accident? Would you defend that?

    John_Galt....That is all that needs to be said. I remember being told that I alone am responsible for the consequences of my actions, and the ones I hang out with.

  • October 25, 2008

    7:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Blair writes:

    Based on the little personal history of both parties presented in this article, I would assume that neither would have contributed $5 million to the support of their family or society in their lifetime. If this be the case, the families and/or lawyers are nothing but greedy. These people are no less cupable for the decline of our economy then the greedy CEO,s and politicians responsible for the current meltdown.

  • October 25, 2008

    8:24 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Sundog writes:

    Some individuals think the police are playing a "Catch me if you can" game. They're not. I don't think it will ever change. Pay their families for their stupidity? I think not. When they lose their cases they should have to pay court costs, and the lawyers should pay half.

  • October 25, 2008

    9:21 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    toocool writes:

    They won't be missed

  • October 25, 2008

    9:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    denverone writes:

    Bottom line is you don't have to fear cops if you keep your nose clean. None of us were there, and don't know the situation, as each one of these incidents is situational. The only people I ever met that hate police, were criminals.

    Just a quick thank you to all you officers out there putting your butts on the line for us, each and every day. The law abiding citizens of this town appreciate what you do.

  • October 25, 2008

    10:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Consonance writes:

    These families could make better use of their time collecting signatures for a ballot question to make the no-knock raid illegal unless police know for a fact that a human is facing a life or death situation because of a crime happening currently inside the home. No-knock raids are far too dangerous for routine arrests especially for drug crimes.

  • October 25, 2008

    1:33 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Lorina664 writes:

    I regard to Jason Gomez, the columnist failed to mention Jason was shot MULTIPLE times in the back. Would you call this fair or would you call this murder?

  • October 25, 2008

    4:24 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    happymike44 writes:

    These two guys were real stupid and their actions were the leading cause of their deaths.
    Mentally impaired or not if you are intelligent enough to deal dope then you are well enough to work.
    I do not think suing because you died while dealing dope to people and destroying lives makes you eligible to sue anyone.
    It seems to me we are now down two people who were real dirtbags.
    By the way if you deal dope and die while doing it.
    Isn't that part of the hazards of dealing dope and selling death in a bag.
    Well with his death how many people will now not die due to his death.
    His family needs to get off their welfare mentality and get a job and stop living off the back of taxpayers.
    Everyone remember who sits on this jury just say no to crack dealers and their lazy families.

  • October 25, 2008

    6:14 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Really writes:

    Consonance, your statement clearly displays your ignorance and would jeopardize the safety of those who willingly protect you. No-knock warrants are crucial to maintaining the safety of the officers executing them and there are numerous situations, especially drug cases, when these warrants need to be employed. Where there are drugs there are usually guns and where there are guns and drugs there are usually bad people willing to use them to protect there "livelihood."

    The city should countersue the families for raising these imbeciles which turned out to be drains on society.

  • October 26, 2008

    10:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Are_you_serious writes:

    You people are a disgrace. You must be pretty miserable to be so damn hateful! Lives were lost here and regardless of the underlying circumstances, the Denver Police Department needs to start holding their trigger happy officers accountable!!!! THEY have become a little out of control in the past years. You can't place a price tag on the worth of someones life! Whatever these families get out of this will never replace the lives lost. You don't know the whole stories behind these victims so quit making assumptions based on what little the Rocky Mountain News provides! I read these blogs and you people just make me sick. What if it were a member of your family? You all are quick to judge, but who the hell are you? These officers are thoroughly trained to handle the various situation they find themselves in. Someone holding a lighter or a can does not warrant taking someones life! If they are that paranoid, they have no business in that line of work! I also do not feel officers should be allowed to shoot someone simply because they run from them, they are trained to be able to chase criminals and they need to do their jobs! But they get lazy and do not want to pursue a chase so they shoot at them! If they are not fit enough to catch a runner and our criminals can out run the police then they also have no business in that line of work. These incidents are not one sided. If these officers fail to follow the appropriate proceedures well then I guess the city has to pay until they decide to start holding these officers accountable. Did any of you ever wonder why these cases never make it to court and why the city always settles out of court? Maybe becasue they are aware there is a problem and don't want the sorted details to get out to the public, which would happen if these cases went to trial!!!

  • October 26, 2008

    11:17 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    bone writes:

    "shot once in the head and once in the chest"....that, is not cops randomly blazing on a raid..that, is efficiency and accuracy by a cop defending themself....my condolences to the officers that were forced to take these two p.o.s. lives, and thanks for protecting us...

    ....these families should be ashamed for trying to lotto out on the fact that these two men were criminals, i guess this is your 3 step plan to getting off welfare ?...i've never met a person whose mental capacity made them sell drugs...couldn't have been too dumb if he could count bags of dope and customer's money...if you don't break the law or live with those who do, you tend to not wake up to a swat team in your bedroom at 3 a.m....and heres another little tidbit geniuses.... if you don't run cops can't chase you, can't play tag if everyone just stands there....amazing, i've never seen a headline that read : "man shot after REFUSING to run from police"

  • October 26, 2008

    11:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LoFat writes:

    Lorina664, I call it one heck of a lot closer to fair than to murder. Erratic driving, outstanding felony warant, brandishing a silver object that appeared to be a gun (interpreted as possibly armed), fleeing the police who were trying to make an arrest on the outstanding felony warant. Yep, innocent as a lamb and as pure as the driven snow. The officers were correct in their actions.

    are_you_serious, My family members were raised with a proper code of ethics so they would not be in such a situation in the first place. I submit that the young man's chosen lifestyle was the single major factor in his death. He has now paid the ultimate price for his poor decisions. This is called personal responsibility.

  • October 26, 2008

    3:45 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    CoNativeGirl writes:

    To Lorina 664 - This sounds like a post from someone who has never been weapons trained. If your gun leaves your holster, you better be ready to use it and for good reason. If you shoot someone, you better make sure the job's done & empty your gun, because the reality is, the other person is still holding a gun. If you're NOT effective, you're going to be dead right along with them.

    The simple reality is that officers and military personnel are not trained to injure or maim, they are trained to kill. They cannot shoot unless their life is in immediate jeopardy, and every officer knows what those consequences are, so believe me they don't WANT to shoot anyone. The officer is shooting to protect his life, and it certainly sounds like his was a whole lot more valuable than the guy that ended up on the wrong side of the barrel, who might I mention was dumb enough to point a gun at an officer in the first place.

    To Really - Amen to suing the families. They had a hand in the situation as well. If you properly raise children, they learn not to aspire to be drug dealers when they grow up...imagine that. And if really properly educated they don't point a gun at a cop!

    Reference dude #2 that got shot for running...HELLO 1. He had a felony warrant, 2. He decided to run, 3. Then while being chased by an officer (who most likely had in mind this guy probably doesn't want to go back to jail & has a higher likelihood of carrying a weapon with him), 4. He THEN made the decision to pull something shiny from his pocket. Sounds like a real string of bright ideas to me, not to mention a real contribution to the gene pool. Yeah for Natural Selection.

    To Lofat -

    What??? Personal responsibility? Does that still exist?

  • October 26, 2008

    4:47 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Are_you_serious writes:

    LoFat- I am glad you live in a pefect little world. FYI- The majority of American's do not. People can be raised with the highest code of ethics and still get caught up in criminal activity. So I am glad you live in a fantasy land, you may want to stay there and not wander into "reality".

  • October 26, 2008

    6:16 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HollyGoLightly writes:

    Areyouserious, it's not called a perfect little world. It's called reality, personal responsibility, adult behavior, that sort of thing. Everyone knows you should not run from a cop. Doing so can and will get your butt shot. You make a choice when you decide to participate in criminal behavior. If you get wounded or killed while doing so, you have no one to blame but yourself. We as a society cannot allow criminals to run away because a) they know a cop can't shoot them and b) the cops can't chase them in a vehicle lest they smack into an innocent party and that family sues. These two guys made their choices when they started running and selling drugs. If the family were to receive any money, it should go to a victims fund ONLY and not into their pocket. The lawsuit wouldn't be so enticing then, would it?

  • October 26, 2008

    6:59 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    JINX writes:

    You ask me, Are you serious lives in a fantasy land, one with plenty of history and bias. A person shot in the back is just as dangerous as one standing face forward. Are you serious, are you saying that if I shoot a weapon while turning, that officer has no right to empty everything he has on me. Please, quit commenting on things you have no idea about, or better yet take the time to find out why the police do what they do. But, that doesn't make money in your world, does it. Funny, if you had the stomach to face down anyone, Anyone with a gun, I wonder how you would fair. The police in this city do their job and sometimes it goes bad, sometimes someone should of stayed at home and contributed to this world instead of riddling out streets with drugs. Like they say, you play in the game you better be willing to be called. Take your sorry excuses for criminal activity and do something about the problem, if your so concerned. Otherwise, let the braver souls do what they do best. To the City of Denver, don't roll over with my money and pay this scum, (YEAH SCUM) anything.

  • October 26, 2008

    7:46 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HoldenCaulfield writes:

    No tears for the bad guys. Being shot (by anyone not just legitimately by the cops) is the cost of doing business when your a dope dealer aiming guns at cops or brandinshing shiny objects while on the run with a warrant. I'd much rather read about a cop shooting a criminal than a drug dealer shooting a cop,

    Shot in the head and chest? Now that's gun control. Nice work DPD. Maybe the city can sue the families for how much their sons have cost society over the years.

  • October 26, 2008

    10:38 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Rangerjoe1 writes:

    God-Bless our officers for standing between myself and crazys.