Colorado State Patrol Investigator Ed Smith’s pickup truck (left) and Aurora police Officer David Musgrave’s SUV (right) are shown at the scene of an officer-involved shooting late last year in Denver. (Courtesy of Denver D.A.’s Office)
Colorado State Patrol Investigator Ed Smith’s pickup truck (left) and Aurora police Officer David Musgrave’s SUV (right) are shown at the scene of an officer-involved shooting late last year in Denver. (Courtesy of Denver D.A.’s Office)
Colorado State Patrol Investigator Ed Smith’s pickup truck (left) and Aurora police Officer David Musgrave’s SUV (right) are shown at the scene of an officer-involved shooting late last year in Denver. (Courtesy of Denver D.A.’s Office)

AURORA | An Aurora police officer who said he slipped on the ice and accidentally shot a car theft suspect last year won’t face criminal charges, Denver prosecutors said Wednesday.

In a letter to Aurora police Chief Nick Metz, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said there isn’t evidence Officer David Musgrave acted criminally or recklessly when he shot Christopher Padilla in northeast Denver on Dec. 17.

Prosecutors said that based on the investigation — which included interviews with Musgrave and review of video footage from a nearby business — the shooting appeared to be “truly accidental.”

“It is a sad reality in our community that a law enforcement officer contacting an individual in a stolen vehicle, as Investigator Musgrave did here, must exit his vehicle with his firearm out,” Morrissey wrote in the letter. “When that occurs, the risk of an accidental discharge increases.”

An Acura is seen “high-centered” on a snow bank at the scene of an officer-involved shooting late last year in Denver. (Courtesy of Denver D.A.’s Office)
An Acura is seen “high-centered” on a snow bank at the scene of an officer-involved shooting late last year in Denver. (Courtesy of Denver D.A.’s Office)

Police chased Padilla, who was suspected of being part of a car theft ring, and after a crash on Ivy Street Musgrave jumped out of his car to try to arrest Padilla.

After he got out of the car, Musgrave slipped on the snowy ground and his gun fired, striking Padilla in the torso. Padilla was rushed to a Denver hospital and later discharged to Jefferson County jail, prosecutors said.

Musgrave told investigators he wouldn’t normally have his finger on the trigger in a situation like that, but said his finger must have touched the trigger at some pint when he fell.

Prosecutors also faulted a gun-mounted flashlight with an on switch near the trigger guard because they said it forced the officer to have his officer near the trigger.