Denver police arrested six people overnight Aug. 25 after a police pursuit that led to a forced stop, a fake hostage situation and a police shooting in the Cole neighborhood.
Denver police on Friday released body camera footage from two police officers who responded to the scene of the forced crash that appears to show a man holding a woman hostage and threatening to kill her before an officer shot the suspect.
However, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas at a news conference said the man and the woman were known to each other and that the pair planned the hostage situation to dupe police and try to escape arrest.
The incident happened about 11:20 p.m. Aug. 25 in the 3500 block of York Street, police said.
Body camera footage from two officers released Friday shows shots being fired at police from inside a pickup truck as police were pursuing suspects in the truck.
In footage from the body camera worn by the officer who shot the suspect, the officer is seen pursuing the truck at a high speed as shots are fired from the truck and the officer, in a patrol SUV, bumps the truck, causing it to roll and come to stop on its side.
Several officers surround the truck and yell out commands for the four people, two men and two women, inside the truck to show their hands and come out of the truck, for about 15 minutes. Then, a man, identified Friday by police as Keith Michael Mosley, 35, emerges from the truck while pretending to hold a gun to the woman’s head.
“I’m going to kill this bitch,” Mosley is heard saying in footage from the body camera worn by another officer at the scene. “I’m gonna kill her.”
In the dark of night and because they were standing some yards away, , officers believed Mosley to be armed, police said.
The pair are seen in the body camera footage heading south away from the truck, with officers screaming for them to stop and show their hands to no avail. The suspect and woman go behind a chain link fence and are on private property between two homes when the officer with a rifle fires one shot, hitting the suspect. The man and woman fall to the ground.
The woman, crying, tells police she has the gun. “I’m going to kill myself,” she cries out.
Officers yell for the pair to show their hands and put their hands on their heads. They yell for the woman to crawl toward them, away from the man, so they can help her and get medical help for him. After a couple minutes, the man surrenders.
Police did recover three guns at the scene, but not on or near Mosley, who was shot in the face, or the woman who said that she was armed. One gun was found in the street, near where the truck had rolled. Another gun was found under the truck, and a third gun was found inside the truck after police served a search warrant.
Mosley was taken to a hospital in stable condition. The woman was treated for a leg injury and two other people in the truck, who remained inside the vehicle as the incident unfolded, were also taken to a hospital.
The 28-year-old man who was driving the truck was arrested on a parole violation. Police on Friday said that Mosley pointed a gun at the driver, threatening him and commanding him to keep driving, as Mosley fired shots at pursuing officers.
Two women at the scene, one who remained in the truck and the woman who was held and threatened in the hostage ploy, were arrested on unrelated warrants, police said.
Two other suspects were arrested at a residence in the 4700 block of Josephine Street, near where the pursuit of the pickup truck originated. A 33-year-old man is being investigated for criminal attempted first-degree murder in connection to a road rage incident, with shots fired at a victim’s vehicle on Interstate 25, near Colfax Avenue, earlier on Aug. 25 prior to the police shooting. A woman at the residence was arrested on unrelated warrants.
Police on Friday, in a news release, said that their update on the police shooting is consistent with the department’s “practice of providing a follow-up briefing intended to provide additional details beyond the preliminary information released during the initial briefing at the scene.”
Thomas gave a briefing early Aug. 26, shortly after the incident, at the scene. His initial briefing is consistent with the video and information released by police on Friday.
At the Friday news conference, Thomas said Denver officers demonstrated restraint during the incident, as suspects showed blunt disregard for public safety, leading officers on the chase and firing from inside the truck.
The footage from the camera worn by the officer who fired the rifle at the suspect goes dark for a moment but returns to visual footage. The footage from the other officer was released because it shows a different angle, including “the suspect’s actions after exiting the vehicle and when the involved officer discharged his firearm,” police said.
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