The Weld County district attorney’s office will have a grand jury review a fatal shooting last month by a Platteville police officer, officials announced Tuesday, a rare extra step for a police shooting.
Matthew Lucas Herrera, 30, was killed Jan. 27 in a hail of police gunfire after he reportedly lurched his Camaro toward the officer in the trailer park where Herrera lived.
Herrera, who was known to local police from past arrests, had led law enforcement officers on a 20-minute chase before the fatal shooting. The officer, who has not been named, was placed on paid leave, a standard procedure.
The investigation was turned over to the Weld County DA’s office, and prosecutors have impaneled a grand jury to investigate further, said Jennifer Finch, a spokeswoman for the DA. Weld County impanels a grand jury each year to review numerous cases.
Finch said she did not know of any past officer-involved shootings in Weld County that were presented to a grand jury.
She would not comment on the findings that prompted the decision to investigate further.
The statement announcing the decision noted that high-profile cases are often turned over to a grand jury, which “exists not to decide guilt or innocence, but rather to decide if there is probable cause that someone committed a crime.”
The findings of the panel are confidential unless a criminal indictment is filed, the district attorney’s office stated.
The grand jury does not have a deadline to finish its investigation.
“It all depends on what’s on their plate,” Finch said. “There’s no timeline that we’re privy to.”
Platteville Police Chief Troy Renken was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon. According to the department’s website, Platteville, with a population of about 2,400, has four patrol officers.
Herrera was reportedly sitting in his car in front of his mobile home when a Platteville police officer caught up to him after a chase that morning, a Weld County sheriff’s spokeswoman said the day of the shooting.
The officer reportedly got out of his cruiser and told Herrera to get out of the Camaro, but Herrera refused and then drove toward the officer, who opened fire.
Gilbert Herrera said the day of the shooting that his son was hit six times in the barrage.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
