Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has cleared a Denver police officer in a Sept. 8 shooting in which an armed car theft suspect was shot in the face.
McCann ruled that officer Sergey Gurevich was justified in shooting Sergio Casimiro-Mejia in the face. She concluded that Casimiro-Mejia had placed Gurevich in “imminent, life-threatening peril.”
“In a split second decision, by not firing additional shots, officer Gurevich undoubtedly prevented a far worse injury and probable death of Mr. Casmiro-Mejia,” McCann concluded in the Thursday decision letter. “The footage from his (body camera) demonstrates how well he handled a very scary and tense situation.”
Casimiro-Mejia was later charged with first degree assault on a peace officer, menacing, motor vehicle theft, possession of a weapon by a previous offender and possession of burglary tools.
Around 9 p.m. on Sept. 8, Casimiro-Mejia was allegedly in the process of stealing a car from a parking lot at Intertech Medical, 4525 Kingston, when a man knocked on the window of the vehicle trying to scare him away. Instead, Casimiro-Mejia pulled out a gun and aimed at the man, who then called 911.
When Gurevich arrived with overhead lights and siren activated, he saw Casimiro-Mejia rocking back and forth in the car, apparently having difficulty operating the car.
Gurevich drew his gun as he got out of his car and ordered Casimiro-Mejia repeatedly to stop the car and show his hands.
As Gurevich approached the car he heard the suspect utter something about a gun, the report says. Casimiro-Mejia put the car in reverse and drove into two parking blocks and a fence.
When Gurevich got closer to the car, he saw that Casimiro-Mejia had a gun in his right hand and was moving the gun towards Gurevich.
The officer later told investigators that he feared if he didn’t fire his gun the suspect would shoot him. He fired his Glock 17 at Casimiro-Mejia, striking him in the left cheek. The bullet exited Casimiro-Mejia’s neck.
After he was shot, Casimiro-Mejia put his hands out the window and surrendered.
Gurevich reached into the car, grabbed Casimiro-Mejia’s gun and tossed it away from the car, the report says. It was a .357 magnum revolver.
