A retired Nevada police sergeant, Michael Cardella, now of Castle Rock, said he is concerned that a Castle Rock police officer — whom Cardella alleges he saw spinning around and firing his rifle blindly while in pursuit of a burglary suspect in February — is still on the streets.
And that’s why he says he wants access right now to documents on the internal investigation instead of waiting, like law enforcement wants, until after the completion of criminal prosecution of the burglary suspects.
“Criminal cases can extend well past a year…and in that period of time, the officer that fired the rifle is still on the streets,” Cardella told the News-Press after a bench trial in front of District Court Judge Paul King at the Douglas County Justice Center Jan. 16.
Cardella and his wife, Susan Cardella, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit in November against the Town of Castle Rock, its police chief and town clerk.
Cardella, a 35-year police veteran, told the News-Press that what he witnessed is not proper protocol nor is it consistent with the way he was trained.
According to the Cardellas’ lawsuit, Castle Rock Police Officer Terry Watts fired several rounds from a high-powered rifle in a residential area — near the corner of Mango Drive and South Plum Creek Boulevard — at an SUV driven by an unarmed burglary suspect as the suspect approached and drove past the officer.
“The officer’s lines of fire covered a nearby school (which was in session), shopping centers, offices and parking lots,” according to the complaint.
And one bullet did strike the Cardellas’ car when both were inside, according to the complaint.
Castle Rock Police Chief Jack Cauley released a statement after the lawsuit was filed:
“The Castle Rock Police response during the February 21, 2013 criminal episode, including the use of deadly force, has been the subject of external and internal reviews and was found to be in conformance with Department policy, and established law enforcement protocols for use of force,” according to his statement. “Because these reports address specifics of the underlying crime and arrest for which there are pending charges in the Douglas County District, the reports may not be released at this time.”
Watts has been with the department since 2006. Karen McGrath, town spokeswoman, told the News-Press in a past email that there has been no change in his position since the completion of the department’s investigation. On Jan. 17, she reconfirmed that Watts still has his same rank and duties.
During the Jan. 16 bench trial, legal counsel for the town, J. Andrew Nathan, said the Cardellas’ tire was damaged, they were compensated, and the “plaintiffs are ignoring all the records that were provided.” Nathan said he thinks it’s a “fishing expedition” they’re on as they intend to “pursue a civil claim.”
Nathan said Castle Rock’s police chief reviewed and released what documents he could, but had been advised by the district attorney’s office not to release documents that could compromise an active criminal prosecution.
So far, only one of the three burglary suspects’ cases has been completed, according to information from the district attorney’s office.
Andre Greer, 21, of Aurora, categorized as a habitual offender, pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary, a felony, on Oct. 21 and was sentenced to 20 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, according to district attorney spokeswoman Michelle Yi.
But the two other cases are still in process.
Alexander Christian Greer, 23, of Aurora, faces a March 18 trial on three felony charges: two counts of second-degree burglary and theft. Bond originally was set at $250,000, then adjusted to $100,000.
Tshinbanda Yanick Kazadi, 24, of Aurora, faces an April 22 trial on six felony counts: second-degree burglary; two counts of first-degree assault; theft; second-degree burglary; and vehicular eluding. His bond is set at $500,000.
Legal counsel for the Cardellas and the ACLU — attorneys Joseph Phillips and Matt Douglas — argued that the town gave a blanket denial when Cardella requested records and didn’t adequately analyze the documents for possible release.
“Our argument is they didn’t make an attempt to do that analysis,” Douglas told the judge.
King told them as a former prosecutor he had cases when he didn’t know until the middle of a case that some information might be important to the case. He asked them who would be the one to review the piles of documents and know what might or might not be important to a case?
“…The public’s interest is a fair trial,” he said.
At the end of the hearing, King asked for additional documents, giving attorneys seven days to submit them.
Rebecca Wallace, an ACLU staff attorney, said after the hearing that with regard to access to police records the ACLU is “very concerned about a blanket policy being applied across Colorado.”
According to Cardellas’ complaint, they and the ACLU want the court to “order the custodian to permit … inspection” of the records as well as pay the plaintiffs’ court costs and attorneys’ fees and any other award and relief “that the Court deems just and proper.”