Again No Charges in a Denver Police Shooting
Prosecutors declined Wednesday to file charges against a police officer who fatally shot a bedridden man after mistaking his soda can for a weapon, citing a grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer.
Police were sweeping through Frank Lobato’s home in July, searching for a domestic violence suspect, when an officer spotted the can, thought it was a gun and fired into the 63-year-old’s chest, authorities said.
Lobato’s outraged family issued a statement saying the officer, Ranjan Ford Jr., should be charged with murder, and his supervisors should be disciplined.
Ford’s lawyer, David Bruno, said his client regarded the grand jury decision as a “vindication of what happened that day.” Bruno said Ford testified before the grand jury.
Ford’s case marked the 38th consecutive time that Dist. Atty. Bill Ritter had declined to prosecute a Denver officer after a fatal shooting since taking office a decade ago, a record that has drawn criticism.
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