Family Files Lawsuit: Dispatcher Advice Led to Murder

The family of a murdered Colorado man filed a federal civil rights lawsuit this week, claiming that a Denver 911 dispatcher improperly instructed the man to return to the scene of a road rage incident in order to file a police report. Before an officer could be dispatched, the other driver in the road rage incident re-appeared, shot into Jimma Reat’s car and killed him. The lawsuit names the city and county of Denver and 911 dispatcher Juan Jesus Rodriguez as defendants in the case. Rodriguez was fired in May over the incident. The incident occurred last April when Reat, his brother and two other men were driving in west Denver. Occupants of another car threw objects and ignited fireworks at their car as they drove along the street, and one displayed a handgun. Reat left the area and drove to his apartment house in suburban Wheat Ridge, where he called Denver police. Rodriguez incorrectly told Reat that he had to return to the city of Denver in order to make a police report. Reat said he was afraid to return to the city, according to the lawsuit, but relying “on an express promise of police protection,” he drove seven blocks back and parked just over the city line. The incident scene was about 19 blocks away. Reat parked and also turned on his car’s hazard lights, as instructed by Rodriguez, “making them visible sitting ducks to their attackers,” the lawsuit states. Shortly after, the other driver re-appeared and shot into Reat’s car, killing him. The lawsuit claims there is a pattern of misconduct and prejudice by the Denver police and its dispatchers, specifically road rage incidents and 911 calls from minorities. The lawsuit asks for unspecified damages. Update: The plaintiff’s attorney have also filed for a temporary stay of the lawsuit, “to explore potential case settlement without the pressures and deadlines of litigation.” Download (pdf) the lawsuit complaint for more details.