AURORA | An 18th Judicial District investigation has concluded that two Aurora police officers were justified in their use of force during a 10-hour standoff that culminated in a shootout and the discovery of a phony bomb in July.
Garrik Storgaard, chief deputy district attorney, wrote in a letter to APD Chief Vanessa Wilson Wednesday that SWAT officers Nicholas Wilson and Travis Brady were “in imminent danger of being killed or of receiving serious bodily injury and had no way to get to safety” while they were in a bearcat attempting to get Jeffrey Mitchell Moralez to surrender.
On July 12, officers were called to a condominium complex at 4283 South Salida Way after “Aurora Police dispatch received multiple calls for service from residents of the Chaparral Condominiums regarding Jeffrey Moralez harassing residents,” the DA report said.
Aurora Mental Health had contacted Moralez two dozen times since June 24 following multiple calls from neighbors and the local homeowner’s association concerning erratic behavior. Vanessa Wilson said Moralez had been found walking naked in the area in previous weeks and had sent threatening emails and voicemails to neighbors.
Police responded to the home three separate times beginning at about 7 p.m. July 12 before he ultimately menaced police with a rifle and the standoff began.
Police negotiators attempted to convince Moralez to willfully surrender for hours late Monday night and into Tuesday morning, though he eventually began shooting at responding officers with a rifle and possibly other weapons, according to information then-released by police.
During the standoff Moralez had also said he had made several small improvised explosive devices he planned to use against police.
An armored vehicle carrying seven local SWAT officers was struck multiple times by gunfire from Moralez, according to police tweets. The vehicle, known as a bearcat, became stuck in muddy soil as the apartment complex’s sprinkler system rained water onto the area, Vanessa Wilson said.
She said the bearcat’s windshield began to cave in upon being struck by bullets, but ultimately withstood the rifle rounds.
“Thank God (bullets) didn’t enter, otherwise we would have had, I believe, tragedy on our hands,” she said after the standoff.
As the vehicle’s windshield was being pelted with bullets, officers Nicholas Wilson and Brady directed gunfire at Moralez in an effort to stop him. According to the DA investigation, Brady fired his rifle seven times and Nicholas Wilson fired his rifle three times.
Moralez, who then yelled “I give up”, suffered minor injuries, police said. No officers were hurt in the shootout.
“Mr. Moralez would later claim to have fired over sixty rounds at officers. Investigators recovered sixty-four spent shell casing of varying calibers,” the report said. “Investigators also recovered eight firearms, various magazines, ammunition, and a tactical vest from Mr. Moralez’s condominium.”
Moralez, who was later identified as an Army veteran who had served in Afghanistan, was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder of a police officer, first degree assault of a peace officer and felony menacing.
This story includes previous reporting from Sentinel Colorado.