The Denver district attorney has declined to pursue felony false-imprisonment charges against Sharod Kindell, one of the men whose name has become a rallying cry against police brutality.
However, Denver’s city attorney has charged the 23-year-old Kindell with disturbing the peace and threats after a prostitute told police that he had held her hostage after she refused to perform oral sex on him.
Kindell will be served a summons, said Melissa Drazen-Smith, a spokeswoman for the city attorney.
Kindell was just days after posting bond on charges of first-degree threatening to assault a police officer with a weapon, second-degree assault of a peace officer, first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
Those charges stem from a January incident in which Kindell was shot by Denver police Officer Jeffrey DiManna after he said Kindell put his car in gear while the officer was standing inside the open door. The door knocked the officer onto his back and into a patrol car, according to the district attorney.
District Attorney Mitch Morrissey on March 6 decided that for shooting Kindell after concluding that the officer had legal standing to use force.
DiManna fired multiple shots, hitting Kindell in the upper left leg/scrotum and right arm, according to the district attorney’s decision letter on the case.
Kindell had been pulled over by DiManna and two other officers after running a stop sign in the Montbello neighborhood. Officers said Kindell, who was wearing an ankle monitor, refused to identify himself or get out of the car.
After striking the officer with the car door, Kindell fled on foot but collapsed behind some nearby houses. He was treated at a hospital before being booked into the Downtown Detention Center.
Kindell’s family and supporters accused the police department of setting him up when he was arrested on the false-imprisonment charge.
They also maintain that he is a victim of police brutality and that he has been singled out by police.
However, Kindell has an extensive criminal history.
When DiManna and the two other officers pulled him over in January, police later found a stolen .40-caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol loaded with 10 rounds, according to the district attorney letter.
Investigators also found a magazine loaded with 12 rounds, $3,498, more than 5 ounces of marijuana, a weighing scale, an artificial penis, a synthetic urine kit and urinalysis paperwork with Kindell’s name, showing a negative result.
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or twitter.com/Noelle_Phillips
