LaDarius Butler repeatedly tried to obtain an explanation from Aurora police as to why they were confronting him and his family in the parking lot of a Walmart last year before an officer shot him with a Taser and forced him to the ground, according to body-worn camera footage released by his attorneys.
Butler, his partner Jayla Houston and their two young children had stopped at the Walmart early on the morning of May 22, 2024, after having visited Children’s Hospital Colorado seeking help for the couple’s 3-year-old son, who was having difficulty breathing.
The couple said they decided to go elsewhere after receiving what they claimed was conflicting medical advice from Children’s Hospital staff and being advised to pursue treatments they didn’t consider in their son’s best interest, according to an excessive-force lawsuit Butler filed against the officers.
Staff at Children’s Hospital called the Aurora Police Department and reported a child endangerment case. Police tracked the family using their cellphone signals to the Walmart parking lot, blocked in their Chevy Impala and drew their weapons, the lawsuit said.
Butler and his family, who had driven down from Sterling, were napping when they woke up to police surrounding their vehicle, according to the lawsuit.
“What are y’all doing? I’ve got kids in the car!” an unarmed and upset Butler is repeatedly heard asking officers who had their weapons drawn.
As two police officers restrained his arms, Butler pleaded with Adrian Arce-Cerda, who is a named defendant in the case, not to use a Taser on him, at which point the officer did. Butler, later in the footage, told the officers that they had hurt him.
Civil rights attorneys Kevin Mehr and Tyler Jolly from Mehr Jolly PLLC and Jason Kosloski of Kosloski Law PLLC said in a news release that the case represents the latest excessive force incident involving the Aurora Police Department, which is under a consent decree with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office related to the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man.
McClain died after paramedics, acting on the request of Aurora police officers, administered what turned out to be a lethal dose of ketamine. A passerby had called police after seeing McClain wearing a ski mask and acting “sketchy,” setting off a chain of events that resulted in McClain’s death.
Butler’s lawsuit alleges that rather than calling him or Houston, Aurora police used their cell numbers to track them down and then initiate a “high-risk seizure arrest” that involved drawn weapons. When officers finally disclosed why they were arresting him, Butler explained to them that his child’s life was not at risk and that they were seeking care elsewhere.
“Let’s be clear. This entire incident could have been resolved with a simple phone call,” Mehr said. “Instead, once again, the Aurora Police Department chose violence with a SWAT-style ambush that risked the lives of a young father and his two children. The simple fact is that LaDarius Butler is lucky to be alive.”
Butler was charged with misdemeanor obstruction, but those charges were later dismissed after a year-long legal battle by Butler to clear his name.
The city of Aurora has stated that its officers were responding to a kidnapping call from the Children’s Hospital and that the city would defend itself in the civil case.
Children’s Hospital didn’t provide a statement on the incident, and a spokeswoman said that the hospital’s “patient rights to communication” policies have not changed.
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