(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A Colorado Springs Police officer’s use of deadly force during an incident at the East Platte Avenue Walmart in September 2024 has been ruled justified by the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s (DA) Office.
The DA’s Office released its review of the shooting on Wednesday, June 18, and detailed what led up to the shooting as well as the steps the officer took during the altercation before firing his weapon.
According to the DA’s Office, around 9 a.m. on Sept. 3, 2024, the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) received a report of a work truck having been stolen from a business in the 2300 block of North Powers Boulevard, south of Constitution Avenue. Two additional vehicles were also broken into at that location and were damaged.
The description of the stolen truck–a white 1997 Chevrolet Silverado 2500–was entered into a law enforcement database, and just after 10:15 that night, the truck was spotted near Chelton Road in Colorado Springs.
CSPD Officers Nicholas Cassalia and Katlyn Delgado were on patrol in the area, and decided to check the nearby parking lot of the Walmart located in the 3200 block of East Platte Avenue. The officers found the stolen truck in the parking lot, and when they discovered no one was inside, they notified dispatch via radio. Two officers working extra duty shifts inside the Walmart heard the radio call and used the store security footage to locate a man and woman who were allegedly associated with the stolen truck.
The man was identified as Tyler Jacob Ben, though the woman with him was not publicly identified by the DA’s Office in its report.
The report states that officers inside the store coordinated with Officers Cassalia and Delgado to contact Ben and the woman as they were leaving the store. When Officer Cassalia approached and yelled “police department, get your hands up right now, both of you,” the woman complied but Ben began backing away into the store.
Officer Cassalia approached Ben and continued giving him orders to stop and put his hands up, but Ben allegedly yelled back “make me.” This exchange occurred inside the breezeway, which is a small, enclosed area that separates the inside of Walmart from the parking lot. After refusing to comply with Officer Cassalia’s commands, Ben allegedly reached into his waistband and pulled a handgun.
Officer Cassalia pushed Ben back away from himself and fired several shots. Ben fell to the ground, though the report states he was still moving with the handgun, so Officer Cassalia continued to fire his weapon.
Another officer approached and disarmed Ben, and medical attention was provided. Despite this, Ben was pronounced dead at the scene. A Beretta handgun with a defaced serial number was recovered from Ben. The gun had one round in the chamber and an additional 12 rounds in the magazine.
According to the DA’s Office, all involved officers had working body-worn cameras that recorded the events, and interviews with the officers and witnesses corroborated that Officer Cassalia had a reasonable belief that Ben posed a substantial threat to both the officers and bystanders inside the store. The Walmart was still open at the time and there were customers present, the DA’s Office said.
“A peace officer is justified in using deadly force if the peace officer has an objectively reasonable belief that a lesser degree of force is inadequate and the peace officer has objectively reasonable grounds to believe, and does believe, that he or another person is in imminent danger of being killed or of receiving serious bodily injury,” reads the Colorado Revised Statute that the DA’s Office cited in its report.
Due to the incident occurring in an area where officers had no options for cover–inside the Walmart breezeway–and the fact that there were bystanders also in danger, the DA’s Office found that Officer Cassalia was justified in his use of deadly force.
Officer Cassalia has been employed with CSPD for approximately three years.
