(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The officer-involved shooting of a man in a crawl space that happened on March 13, 2023, has been ruled justified according to the Colorado 4th Judicial District Attorney’s (DA) Office.
On March 11, 2023, Animal Law Enforcement (ALE) Officers with the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region were working on a warrant for a dangerous animal at a home in the 1000 block of Foote Avenue near the intersection of Uintah Street and North Union Boulevard.
ALE officers learned a man in the home, identified as Jose Aponte, had a warrant out for his arrest and asked for assistance from the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD). CSPD and ALE officers announced their presence but were not able to contact anyone inside. Officers entered the home to clear it.
While officers were searching the home, Officer Kentrell Jacobs used a drone to assist in the search. While Officer Jacobs was using the drone, the dog specified by the ALE warrant allegedly bit the officer on the leg, and in order to defend himself, the officer shot and killed the dog. ALE officers removed the dog from the home.
On March 12, 2023, police were called to the home again after multiple calls from the neighbor who told police that they heard screaming and witnessed threats from Aponte to physically harm his girlfriend. The DA’s Office said at around 9:45 p.m. on March 12, officers learned Aponte had four warrants, one for failure to appear in relation to a Felony DUI.
At 11:46 p.m., officers identified as Sergeant Scott Warren, Officer Rachael Botkin, and Officer Binny Granger responded to Aponte’s home on Foote Avenue. Aponte’s girlfriend told officers that he had gone to his mother’s home near Evergreen Cemetery and gave officers permission to search the home. Officers gave commands for Aponte to come out with his hands up as they searched the home but they did not get a response.
Officers called for a drone to look in the house’s attic and Officer Kentrell Jacobs responded. After officers’ first search of the property, Aponte’s girlfriend then told officers that Aponte was still at the home, and officers decided to check the basement again.
Officer Pierre Gutierrez saw a cubby hole leading to a crawl space at the home. Officer Gutierrez entered the crawl space and found Aponte inside the crawl space. Officer Gutierrez commanded Aponte to show his hands but Aponte refused, hiding one hand behind a black trash bag.
According to the report, Aponte told officers that they shot his dog and they would have to shoot him, to which officers responded that they did not want to. Officers again instructed Aponte to show his hands, which he would not do, at one point telling the officer “that he would ‘show them his hand,’ in a sarcastic tone, indicating he might be armed,” said the report.
During the interaction with officers, Aponte grabbed a chrome object on the floor and hid it behind the trash bag. After Officer Gutierrez told Aponte they did not want to shoot him, the report said Aponte dropped the trash bag and revealed a chrome object that looked like a handgun. Sergeant Warren used a taser on Aponte but the trash bag prevented it from being fully effective.
The report states that a stand-off ensued between officers and Aponte, during which time officers told Aponte to show his hands 19 times. Suddenly Aponte’s face contorted and his hand came up revealing the chrome object that “looked like a handgun,” according to the report.
Officer Gutierrez fired three times at Aponte. Aponte had three gunshot wounds in the chest, back, and neck. The report said there is no medical comment about entrance versus exit wounds, circumstantial evidence would suggest the wound in the back is an exit wound since the suspect was facing officers.
“After completing a thorough review of the facts and evidence, Colorado’s 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office has determined the use of deadly physical force by Officer Pierre Gutierrez was justified based on all the facts and circumstances of this case under the law of the State of Colorado,” writes the report.
