The Lakewood man who reportedly killed a Jefferson County Sheriff K-9 and pointed a gun at a Golden police officer has had his arraignment one last time, after his new attorney asked for additional time to review discovery and confer with his client.
Eduardo Romero, 29, is now scheduled to enter a plea at 2 p.m. Nov. 27. Romero, who’s in Colorado Department of Corrections custody, will appear virtually for the hearing at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Romero was arrested Feb. 13 for reportedly fleeing police near the Colorado School of Mines campus and shooting K-9 Graffit, who was trying to apprehend him. The District Attorney’s Office filed eight charges against Romero, including felony charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, identity theft, motor vehicle theft and menacing.
Romero appeared virtually at his Oct. 3 hearing, where his new attorney told the judge how he’d been hired only the week before. The attorney said he’d only received discovery in the case on Sept. 29, and hadn’t had a chance to discuss it with Romero yet.
He asked Judge Jason Carrithers for at least a six-week continuance, which the prosecution didn’t object to and which Carrithers granted. However, both Carrithers and the prosecutor stressed that they wanted to conclude this case soon, as it’s been in the judicial system since February and has been continued several times.
The Feb. 13 incident
As described at the May 9 preliminary hearing, around 12:15 a.m. Feb. 13, a Mines campus officer and GPD officer contacted a white Jeep blocking a street near the campus.
Romero, the vehicle’s only occupant, was slumped over the steering wheel with his foot on the brake. He later told officers he’d been drinking and smoking marijuana during a Super Bowl party in Denver.
Romero woke up enough to start driving the Jeep less than 10 mph westbound on 19th Street, across the U.S. Highway 6 overpass. The two officers followed and “pinched” the Jeep in to prevent it from moving again. Romero then reportedly started ramming the Jeep into the patrol cars.
The GPD officer broke the driver’s side window to grab ahold of Romero, but he slipped free and ran eastbound on 19th Street. The officer chased him until Romero reportedly pointed a gun toward the officer, who dove out of the way.
Meanwhile, Romero ran into heavy shrubbery on the northeast side of U.S. 6. Local agencies set up a perimeter, and Deputy Zachary Oliver released K-9 Graffit into the brush to apprehend Romero.
Romero later told detectives that he recognized a “cop dog” was coming toward him. He said the dog didn’t bite him, and he denied pointing his handgun at the dog but “heard the gun fire a round.” He assumed he shot the ground.
After hiding from police, Romero turned himself in around 5 a.m. Feb. 13. Once he was in custody, investigators reportedly found he’d used a stolen passport to buy a hotel room. The Jeep he’d been driving was also listed as stolen.
A necropsy confirmed K-9 Graffit died from bullets matching Romero’s gun, Golden Police detectives stated at the May 9 preliminary hearing.
Graffit, who’d been with JCSO since 2015, died at the scene Feb. 13.
Oliver, his handler, has memorialized Graffit as a K-9 who never backed down from a task. He was also a very social dog who loved attention at home and at work.
“He was my partner, my best friend, and most of all, my family,” Oliver said at Graffit’s memorial service Feb. 27. ” … He gave his life that day. He took a bullet that wasn’t meant for him.”