Criminal charges won’t be filed against Denver police Officer Damon Bowser for shooting a man who pointed a gun at him during a foot chase, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey announced Tuesday.
Bowser fired two shots at 21-year-old Gustavo Cruz, who police say admitted that he was under the influence of cocaine when he crashed a car at East 47th Avenue and Lincoln Street on March 29.
Cruz jumped out of the car after the crash, and Bowser and his partner, Officer Chuck Porter, gave chase. At some point during the chase, Bowser said Cruz pointed a gun at him, police said.
Bowser fired his weapon at Cruz and wounded him in the buttocks, but Cruz managed to elude the officers.
Hours later, Cruz went to Fitzsimons Medical Center in Aurora for treatment of his bullet wound and was arrested.
Cruz denied that he pointed a gun at Bowser and said there was a BB gun left behind in the trunk of his car. Police said they searched the car twice and never found a BB gun.
During and after the foot chase, the officers did not call dispatch, which is standard procedure when there is an officer-involved shooting with a gunman on the loose.
In his decision letter, Morrissey said there was not any criminal wrongdoing in the officers’ failure to tell dispatch about the shooting, but said it was bad practice.
