No Charges After Children Handcuffed, Held At Gunpoint
No charges will be filed against officers in Aurora, Colorado who detained a family at gunpoint last year after mistakenly identifying the family's car as stolen. KUSA's Jaleesa Irazarry reports.
AURORA, Colo. (KUSA/NBC News) — No charges will be filed against officers in Aurora, Colorado who detained a family at gunpoint last year after mistakenly identifying the family’s car as stolen.
Video of the August 2nd incident went viral.
District Attorney George Brauchler said in his decision letter that there was no evidence the officers broke any laws when they pulled over Brittney Gilliam’s vehicle.
The vehicle’s passengers, four children between the ages of 6 and 17 were ordered onto the ground. Some were placed in handcuffs and at one point guns were drawn.
“It was wrong it was avoidable, preventable. It was something none of the occupants of that van deserved, but having said all those things that is not enough to make it criminally actionable,” District Attorney Brauchler said.
The vehicle that was reported stolen the day of the incident was a motorcycle with Montana plates that happened to have the same license plate number as Gilliam’s vehicle.
Aurora Police said at the time of the incident the confusion may have come from the fact that Gilliam’s car had been stolen in February and was found the next day.
An attorney representing Gilliam said they will likely file a civil rights lawsuit.
Read more here.
