2 Deputies Cleared In Deadly Shooting At Days Inn Parking Lot
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office cleared two Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputies in a deadly officer-involved shooting on May 28. It happened at a Days Inn on Geddes Avenue in Centennial.
A deputy identified a stolen vehicle in the parking lot. He called for backup and was in the process of impounding the vehicle when the two deputies saw the vehicle move.
The deputies then blocked the vehicle in with their patrol cars. They say Steven Ferguson, the driver, tried to reverse and drive over one of the deputy's cars.
The district attorney's office says Ferguson was classified as an escapee from an active warrant from the U.S. Marshalls. They say he ran away from a halfway house in Denver.
Ferguson also had a warrant with Denver Police for a domestic violence incident, robbery and carjacking on May 25.
They say Ferguson then got out of the car and started running away. One deputy chased him and says the suspect reached for his waistband, pulled out a gun and pointed at the deputy.
That deputy fired his weapon three times, hitting Ferguson in the upper torso.
The original responding deputy released his K9, Kilo, which bit Ferguson on the back of the head and neck. The dog bites were reportedly not fatal.
Deputies later saw the weapon Ferguson used and realized it was a CO2 gun.
"The CO2 pistol appears designed to be unmistakable from a functioning firearm, including a cylinder loaded with what appears to be real ammunition," the district attorney's office wrote.
The suspect died after the deputy tried to lifesaving efforts. Ferguson was serving a federal sentence for weapons and drug convictions.