By David Heitz / NewsBreak Denver
(Denver, Colo.) The estate of a man a Denver Police officer let bleed to death likely will receive a $450,000 settlement from the city.
The settlement appears on the consent calendar for Monday's City Council agenda. Items on the consent agenda are considered routine and usually pass in a block vote.
JaLonte Jones died of a gunshot wound in 2020. An officer who arrived on the scene, Dewanye Rodgers, lost his job after he failed to apply a tourniquet to Jones’ leg.
According to KDVR, which obtained police records of the incident, Rodgers reported that he normally carries a tourniquet but did not have one with him on the night of the incident. He also reported that he “did not have latex gloves and does not typically carry latex gloves but would have had no problem placing his hands on the victim without latex gloves.”
According to the records, Rodgers could not tell where Jones had been shot because there was so much blood. He said he did not want to worsen Jones’ injuries.
But according to the records, Rodgers’ response was uncaring. “The callous lack of humanity that Officer (Dewayne Rodgers) displayed is best exemplified by his response to the victim saying, ‘Oh my god. Help me,’ when Officer Rodgers replied, ‘Do you live in this complex?'” a Denver Police Department Departmental Order of Disciplinary Action, signed by Mary Dulacki, the chief deputy executive director of Denver’s Department of Public Safety, said.
‘Did you just not care enough?’
Dedranette Jones, the victim’s mother, told KDVR she has questions for first responders. “He’s essentially bleeding out in this parking lot, and you seem to be more concerned with what happened and who shot him as opposed to finding the injury and trying to do whatever you can to help preserve his life,” Jones said. “I do feel like if more effort would have been put forth, then maybe they could have saved his life. Did you just not care enough? Did you look at it like this is just another gang member?”
More than $28 million in settlements paid since 2010
The Denver City Council has been paying out settlements stemming from lawsuits against the police department almost weekly for several months. The council recently voted to take $4.7 million from the general fund to pay for settlements.
Last month, the city paid out $135,000 in police settlements. In April, the city paid a man $350,000 after he claimed Denver police violated his rectum with a police baton. In March, the city settled half a dozen lawsuits totaling $1.6 million.
Since 2010, Denver has paid more than $28 million in settlements, according to a city staff report.
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