DENVER Officials announced Tuesday that the family of a pregnant woman who was shot and killed by Arvada, Colorado, police after they thought she was a shoplifter had struck a $2 million settlement with the city.
On August 17, 2021, Destinee Thompson, a Denver mother of three, was slain while attempting to flee from police who had surrounded her car as she was leaving a motel in Arvada.
Thompson’s family filed a lawsuit, which was resolved in July and made public this week, according to Arvada Police Department spokesperson Dave Snelling.
According to the lawsuit filed in Denver County District Court, the shooting happened when police were looking for a Latina who had brandished a knife while robbing a Target store of a cart full of goods.
According to the lawsuit, the real suspect, who had also stolen goods from the store two days before, was thought to have visited the motel. She was wearing a white tank top and had a tattoo on her chest.
It stated that as officers arrived, Thompson, who was wearing a white tank top but lacked a chest tattoo, was heading out of the motel to have lunch.
According to the lawsuit, Thompson was surrounded by policemen who yelled at her and broke a passenger window when she got into her minivan and was boxed in by another police car.
It stated that Thompson was frightened and attempted to pull out of the parking spot before she crossed the curb and headed for the road without endangering the cops.
According to the lawsuit, Thompson and her unborn child were killed by one of the eight rounds fired by Arvada Police Officer Anthony Benallo after she had driven about 25 yards.
Siddhartha Rathod, the family’s lawyer, and Benallo were not available for comment.
In April 2022, District Attorney Alexis D. King decided not to file charges against cops.
King noted in a statement, “I believe that the officer’s use of lethal physical force to protect himself and others from the threat was legally justified.”
Francis Thompson, Thompson’s father, said in 2023 that the police department attempted to minimize the murder by delaying the incident report for over a year.
“I’ve never had to deal with anything as difficult as this,” he added. Justice is what I desire. The fact that the police continue to operate without being disciplined bothers me.
I wish I could tell her again how much I adore her and how I will always stand up for her. I will not let it go.