Internal Affairs Investigation Clears Deputies

The El Paso County Sheriff?s Office did an internal investigation into the deadly shooting at the Chief Motel in Colorado Springs.

The shooting happened in September when deputies with a specialized unit, known as CRU or Crime Reduction Unit, were trying to apprehend a wanted suspect.

The suspect wasn?t at the hotel, but deputies were alerted to another potential suspects. When deputies approached the vehicle, a passenger got into the car and the driver tried to get away.

The internal affairs report shows the deputies didn?t know who was inside the car, but didn?t do anything to violate policies of the department.

When the driver, Christine Vargas, drove off, she ran over the foot of a deputy and he fired a shot, hitting her in the upper body.

She was able to get away, along with her passengers. Hours later she was found dead inside her car at Memorial Hospital.

The report shows while deputies didn?t identify themselves when trying to questions the two women and two men in the car, they were wearing equipment that clearly identified them as law enforcement officers.

The sheriff?s office said it takes these investigations seriously and did a thorough job of making sure nothing was missed.

TARGET 13 was told by the sheriff?s office that none of the deputies violated policy.

The District Attorney?s Office also did an investigation and it also cleared the deputy who shot and killed Vargas.