DENVER — The Denver police officer accused of felony assault in connection with a 2022 police shooting in LoDo that left six bystanders injured has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Brandon Francisco Ramos, 29, made the plea in a Denver courtroom on Friday morning in front of Second Judicial District Court Judge Nikea T. Bland.
His jury trial is set for Feb. 20-29, 2024.
The shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. of July 17, 2022, as bars were letting out in Denver's Lower Downtown (LoDo). Denver police were attempting to take a suspect, Jordan Waddy, 21, into custody after he was allegedly involved in an altercation outside of Larimer Beer Hall. According to body camera video, Waddy pulled a handgun from the side of his hoodie's front pocket, threw it onto the ground and raised both hands in the air as police began firing at him from the front and the side. He was among a crowd of people.
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In total, six people, including Waddy, were injured. He was charged with three counts of possession of a weapon by a previous offender and one count of third-degree assault, according to the Denver District Attorney's Office.
About a month after the shooting, in mid-August 2022, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced she was opening a grand jury investigation. In January, that grand jury indicted one of the three involved police officers, Ramos, on two felony charges and five misdemeanor charges.
Ramos was charged with two counts of felony second-degree assault - reckless, three counts of misdemeanor third-degree assault – knowing/reckless, three counts of misdemeanor third-degree assault – negligence with a deadly weapon, one misdemeanor count of prohibited use of a weapon, and five misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment. He was granted a personal recognizance bond, according to Denver District Attorney Beth McCann.
In the aftermath, Ramos, who joined the department in 2019, was suspended without pay due to the felony charges, which is standard protocol, according to DPD.
Four of the people injured in the shooting — Bailey Alexander, Yekalo Weldehiwet, Willis Small IV and Mark Bess— filed a lawsuit against Ramos in April 2023.
The lawsuit says the plaintiffs suffered economic damages, including medical expenses and lost wages, as well as noneconomic damages, including emotional distress, due to Ramos' actions. The four now live "in a state of anxiety and fear in public settings, and particularly in crowds," the document reads.
The plaintiffs are asking for compensatory and consequential damage, but a specific amount was not listed.
The Denver Police Protective Association, the union representing Denver officers, previously shared the following statement in regards to the filing of criminal charges against Ramos: "To charge this officer with a felony crime, jeopardizing his career and liberty for acting as he was trained and in the public interest, with no malice, ill intent or lack of concern, is unfortunate and sad. We stand behind our officer, remain confident when all evidence comes out it will be clear Officer Ramos is not a criminal and should not be treated as one."
