American Motel PR (FINAL)

PRESS RELEASE
August 16, 2023
Arvada Police Department Official Statement Related to Delara-Thompson Lawsuit

Filing
On August 17, 2021, Arvada police were called to the Target store at 5071 Kipling Street.
Witnesses reported a woman had used a switchblade knife to threaten an employee
during the course of a shoplifting incident. The suspect’s threats to the employee
escalated the crime from shoplifting to robbery. One of the witnesses followed the
suspect to the American Motel located near I-70 and Kipling and reported to police that
the suspect went into the motel.
Within minutes, Arvada police officers arrived at the motel. The witness, who had
reported that the suspect was a white or hispanic woman wearing a white tank top and
black pants, then reported that the suspect was possibly about to leave the motel.
Shortly thereafter, Ms. Destinee Delara-Thompson was observed leaving the motel. She
was wearing a white tank top and black pants. Because she fit the description of the
robbery suspect, Arvada police had reason to believe she was involved, so they
contacted her and asked her for identification. Ms. Delara-Thompson said she did not
have identification with her, announced that she was not the person the police were
looking for, and quickly left the motel for the parking lot. Officers followed her.
At about the same time, officers in the main lobby of the motel saw Ms. Delara-
Thompson moving past the lobby doors. Shortly thereafter, plainclothes officers who
had also responded to the motel realized she was running toward a van in the parking
lot. The van was parked facing a curb and between two other cars. As Ms. Delara-
Thompson got in the van, the plainclothes officers parked an unmarked vehicle behind
the van in order to prevent her from driving away.
-1-
Arvada Police Department Media Contact: PIO Dave Snelling

8101 Ralston Road

[email protected]
Arvada, CO 80002
Arrested persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 720-898-6654

PRESS RELEASE
Trying to de-escalate the situation, a plainclothes officer spoke with Ms. Delara-
Thompson through her driver’s side window. He identified himself as a police officer and
told her they wished to speak with her. She said she was not the person police were
looking for. At the same time, the uniformed officers who had observed Ms. Delara-
Thompson from the main motel lobby just moments before arrived at the passenger side
of the van, so that there were several uniformed and plainclothes officers at the vehicle.
The uniformed officers on the passenger side knew that plainclothes officers were on
the driver’s side of the van trying to contact the suspect.
Ms. Delara-Thompson, who was later discovered to have felony arrest warrants (one for
a probation violation stemming from an earlier conviction for 2nd degree assault on a
peace officer and 3rd degree assault, and the other for dangerous drugs), unexpectedly
put the van in reverse and turned the van’s wheels, causing it to swing toward the left
where the plainclothes officers were standing. She quickly backed out of the parking
space, hitting the police vehicle parked behind her. The uniformed officers were
concerned for the safety of the plainclothes officers on the driver’s side of the van. One
of them thought her dangerous driving behavior posed an imminent threat to the
officers on the driver’s side, so he drew his duty weapon.
Ms. Delara-Thompson then placed the van in drive and rapidly accelerated forward,
jumping the curb. Believing the suspect had hit or run over a plainclothes officer on the
drivers side of the vehicle and that the suspect was continuing to pose a deadly threat,
the officer, who was on the opposite side of the vehicle, fired at the suspect vehicle. Ms.
Delara-Thompson was hit once by the officer’s gunfire; she was pronounced dead at the
scene. An autopsy determined that the gunshot was the cause of her death; it also
showed she tested positive for methamphetamine, fentanyl, morphine, and
amphetamine.
-2-

8101 Ralston Road [email protected]
Arvada, CO 80002 Arrested persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 720-898-6654

PRESS RELEASE
The First Judicial District’s Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) conducted an
independent investigation of the shooting. The District Attorney’s office determined
that due to the threat Ms. Delara-Thompson’s van posed to officers, the shooting was
justified. District Attorney Alexis King’s determination and summary of the CIRT team’s
report may be accessed by contacting the First Judicial District Attorney's Office. For
copies of the reports or any other related documentation from the Arvada Police
Department, please visit www.arvadaco.gov/850/Records-and-Reporting
Police later identified another suspect who was responsible for the robbery at the
Target store. This suspect later pled guilty to committing that robbery.
Ms. Delara-Thompson’s criminal history also included resisting/obstruction, possession

of an illegal weapon, DUI, and other traffic offenses.
The Arvada Police Department was responding to a robbery, not shoplifting. The officers
had reasonable suspicion to believe that Ms. Delara Thompson may be involved in the
robbery, and they were justified in contacting her during the investigation of a felony
offense. Ms. Delara Thompson unfortunately chose to engage in conduct that the officer
reasonably believed posed an imminent threat to the life of another officer. Therefore,
he chose to use deadly force to stop that threat.
The Arvada Police Department takes seriously its obligation to resolve civil disputes in
the courts rather than in the media. While it is unfortunate that this incident has been
mis-characterized by plaintiff’s counsel, the Arvada Police Department will vigorously
defend the case in court.
XXX

8101 Ralston Road [email protected]
Arvada, CO 80002 Arrested persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 720-898-6654

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PRESS RELEASE

August 16, 2023

Arvada Police Department Official Statement Related to Delara-Thompson Lawsuit

Arvada Police Department Media Contact: PIO Dave Snelling

Arvada Police Department Media Contact: PIO Dave Snelling

Ms. Delara-Thompson’s criminal history also included resisting/obstruction, possession

Arvada Police Department Media Contact: PIO Dave Snelling

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