District Attorney says deadly high-speed tactical vehicle intervention by CSPD justified
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - On Tuesday, the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office found Colorado Springs Police (CSPD) Officer Matt Anderson was justified in performing a high-speed tactical vehicle intervention that led to the death of a 20-year-old.
In the early morning hours of April 13, 2023, CSPD responded to an armed carjacking. The victim said she was held at gunpoint by two young masked men who stole her purse and car keys. About an hour later, officers found the stolen vehicle at a gas station with the suspects in the car still wearing black masks.
Officers followed the car and tried to perform a traffic stop, however, the suspects fled. Multiple CSPD vehicles chased the car for five minutes with speeds between 60 and 80 mph in 35 and 45 mph zones.
Officer Anderson received authorization from a sergeant to perform a tactical vehicle intervention (TVI). On the radio, Anderson said there was no traffic and he was going to conduct the TVI at S. Circle Drive and E. Pikes Peak Avenue if conditions allowed.
Joel Shults, a former police chief, said there are so many factors officers have to take into consideration when deciding whether to perform a TVI.
"They have to be a prophet and a physics expert and a psychologist because they have to consider literally thousands of sensory inputs and many, many circumstances," Shults said. "What the potential trajectory of their vehicle is going to be? Where their other officers are? Where the other traffic is? What might conceivably happen to the vehicle after the TVI?"
In an interview after the accident, Anderson said the suspects committed an armed carjacking and he believed they intended to commit additional violent crimes as they were still masked.
“Officer Anderson indicated he considered attendant circumstances such as road conditions, no bystanders in the area, no traffic, and he believed they were in a business district,” the DA’s review stated. “He also considered the risk of allowing the suspects to drive dangerously and recklessly through the North Circle Drive and East Platte Avenue intersection, which he knew to be a potentially busy area.”
According to the report, while Anderson was performing the TVI, the supervising sergeant said, “TVI under 30 miles per hour, if possible.” The review by the DA’s office said Anderson performed the TVI at about 88 mph. The passenger of the vehicle, Henry Jackson, was pronounced dead at the scene.
"It's not against CSPD policy," Shults said. "It's not against the way that this is taught. The best speeds are 30 miles an hour, a little bit slow, and particularly as the suspect vehicle is maybe making a turn so that they're presenting the impact side to the patrol car. But if the suspect is basically determining what the outcome is going to be because of their behavior, then a high speed TVI is acceptable."
El Paso County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident and turned over its findings to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, which determined Anderson’s use of force and TVI was justified.
The review said Anderson followed TVI instructions and considered the factors regarding vehicle pursuits as stated in CSPD’s policy. However, other law enforcement personnel said a TVI at those speeds is “not advisable,” according to the report.
The report also said training officers discuss TVIs, including multiple references to ideal speeds for those encounters. However, there is no explicit statement or CSPD policy that a TVI may not be conducted above a certain speed.
"If there had been a policy that the TVI could not be done at the speeds in which it was done in this particular case, there's no telling what risk the public would have been in from these two wrongdoers, who had already shown a proclivity for violent crime," Shults said.
The other suspect in the vehicle, 18-year-old D’Angelo Flynn, was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery, vehicular eluding, and a crime of violence. His next court appearance is Wednesday.
