ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — The actions of the Englewood Police Department that left one suspect dead have been deemed legal following the completion of a Critical Incident Response Team investigation.
The 18th Judicial District’s C.I.R.T., led by investigator Kristin McCauley of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, responded to an officer-involved shooting on May 18 in Englewood and have since deemed it a legal use of deadly force.
A suspicious vehicle had been reported to authorities, which Officer Stephen Creaghe, Officer Weeks, Officer Sammon and Sergeant David LeClair responded to the call.
The officers noticed the parked vehicle’s engine was on and that the two passengers inside were asleep when they arrived at the scene.
After running the license plate and discovering that the vehicle had been reported stolen, Creaghe opened the driver’s side door and commanded the driver to step out before trying to pull him out.
According to police documents, Caleb Grisenti, who had two active warrants for his arrest, put the car in drive and attempted to accelerate, pinning Weeks and Sammon against the adjacent concrete wall.
Creaghe was also pinned by the driver’s open door before he was subsequently dragged forward. While the three pinned officers were struggling to avoid critical harm, the left-handed Creaghe was able to put his weapon to the driver’s chest before discharging his weapon.
LeClair, who was not pinned by the vehicle at any point, was able to get his sites on the suspect through the rear window before discharging his service weapon four times.
It was at this point that the driver died, and the vehicle crossed the alleyway, crashing into the garage on the opposite side. The vehicle narrowly missed a nearby witness who was using a walker.
The second suspect that was sitting in the passenger seat the entire time was unharmed during this interaction.
Creaghe, Sammon and Weeks were all transported to a nearby hospital with injuries sustained when struck by the vehicle.
According to the district attorney’s investigation, the actions that Grisenti took coupled with the de-escalation efforts of the officers involved, justified the use of deadly force to further preserve the lives of the nearby witnesses as well as the officers themselves. Therefore, no charges will be filed against the officers involved.