Video Shows Colorado Cops Holding Father and Young Children at Gunpoint Attorneys point to new brutality at Aurora Police Department despite consent decree

AURORA, CO - The Aurora Police Department (APD) is under fire again after video released today shows APD officers conducting an SWAT-style ambush of an unarmed, Black father of two, LaDarius Butler, complete with firearms drawn and aimed at Butler and the car where his two young children were sleeping. According to the video and a lawsuit filed against the officers involved, the incident only ended after APD officer Adrian Arce-Cerda tased Butler who was not only unarmed, but hadn’t threatened the officers in any way and, in fact, had complied with all of their requests.

This is just the latest excessive force incident involving the APD which has been under consent decree since the 2019 death of 23-year-old Black man Elijah McClain. Butler is represented by prominent civil rights attorneys Kevin Mehr and Tyler Jolly for Mehr Jolly PLLC and Jason Kosloski of Kosloski Law, PLLC.

According to the lawsuit, the incident occurred on May 22, 2024 when Butler and his partner, Jayla Houston, took their three-year-old son to the Children’s Hospital Colorado with shortness of breath. However, after receiving conflicting medical advice concerning their son and feeling pressured by the staff, they decided to seek medical care elsewhere.

Despite the fact that they were legally permitted to remove their son, hospital staff called the APD who immediately, instead of calling either Butler or Houston, tracked the young family to a local Wal-Mart parking lot and initiated a high-risk seizure arrest. Though Butler’s car contained his two young children, officers pinned the vehicle and began shouting orders with their weapons drawn putting Butler’s life and the life of his children at risk.

On the video, the 32-year-old can be heard repeatedly asking the officers “What are y’all doing? I've got kids in the car!” car while attempting to shield them with his own body with his arms outstretched. Even though Butler presented no threat to anyone and was compliant with the officer who had both of his arms under their control, Arce-Cerda still needlessly tased Butler.

In what the lawsuit calls “a brazen attempt to cover for their unconstitutional seizure and use of force,” APD officers arrested Butler and charged him with “misdemeanor obstruction.” Those charges were dismissed.

“Let’s be clear. This entire incident could have been resolved with a simple phone call,” said Mehr. “Instead, once again the Aurora Police Department chose violence with a SWAT-style ambush that risked the lives of a young father and his two children.”

“The simple fact is that LaDarius Butler is lucky to be alive.”

“The facts of this incident are damning enough,” said Jolly. “But when you look at how these officers assaulted LaDarius Butler and terrified his children and put it in the context of the APD’s pattern of racial profiling and brutality, it’s unforgivable.”

Click HERE to view the bodycam video and lawsuit.