Police in rural Colorado plowed into a suspect who had his hands up. The undersheriff who gave the command has since been promoted.

CRAIG Tanner Sholes woke up at his friend s house at a m on Sept and started walking to his mother s home across town a BB gun tucked beneath his shirt that he had used to shoot prairie dogs An hour later two people called to overview a man carrying a rifle through this small city about miles west of Steamboat Springs I really didn t think anything of it Sholes reported in a latest interview I didn t have no warrants didn t do anything wrong to think I should be worried But the cops were worried They recognized Sholes from a litany of previous encounters including a time earlier that year when police say he brandished a knife and barricaded himself in an abandoned home Tanner is extremely violent unpredictable and a multi-time convicted felon a responding officer later wrote in a police document Other officers called him erratic and volatile The only offense police suspected Sholes of that morning was violating a protection order But personnel determined he needed to be stopped so they devised a plan according to police reports and body-camera footage They would run him over with their SUV Moffat County Undersheriff Chip McIntyre gave several commands to Sholes to stop and drop to the ground video shows The man continued walking but raised his arms to his side Twenty seconds later a sheriff s lieutenant revved his engine and rammed his wagon into Sholes at mph to mph according to footage of the affair Sholes suffered tears of the ACL meniscus rotator cuff and bicep among other injuries He still lives with pain I m guilty no matter what it is he explained There s no gray area it s constantly black and white with these guys RELATED Moffat County detective involved in violent encounters was previously accused of criminal behavior Violent police encounters and excessive-force assertions have become more common in current years in this city of tucked in Colorado s northwest corner Craig has seen just three police shootings in its recorded history and they ve all occurred since a per-capita event rate times higher than Denver s Meanwhile the city paid out at least to settle three separate insists of excessive force by the Craig Police Department within a -month period in and Several times police have used force on individuals only to later discover they had stopped the wrong person One resident Christopher Rothermund received two settlements from the city over years both stemming from violent police encounters Officers shot and killed him in after he pointed a gun at them following a pursuit in downtown Craig Media attention largely focuses on larger more urban police departments The Denver Post focused on excessive-force complaints in a smaller Colorado population to underscore that these incidents also routinely occur outside the broader spotlight No documentation provided to The Post by the Craig Police Department or the Moffat County Sheriff s Office established officers received any discipline for these violent responses including the episode with the SUV In fact several have since been promoted One sheriff s detective was part of the group that ran over Sholes and also fatally shot Rothermund Police reports and interviews show the detective at his previous job in Routt County was accused of tapping his ex-wife s phone and making threats He remains employed by the Moffat County Sheriff s Office You ve got recycled bad cops in a lot of these districts announced David Lane a longtime Colorado attorney who specializes in police misconduct cases They re bad in major metro police stations and are now the law in these smaller jurisdictions Residents who ve interacted with law enforcement in Craig say they re scared to call for fear of what might happen They re really evil people declared Croix Orona who received a settlement after being shocked with a Taser repeatedly by police seven years ago They think they re a gang They think they can do whatever they want to people Craig police representatives along with McIntyre who is now the Moffat County sheriff did not respond to repeated interview requests from The Post Craig City Manager Peter Brixius called the latest police shootings and settlements distinctive and unfortunate but revealed the department was justified in using force in all of those cases Our police officers are highly trained he revealed in an interview We pride ourselves on the courteous nature of our officers When they re forced into an matter they will take appropriate actions to protect the citizens of Craig Matt Karzen the district attorney for the th Judicial District which includes Craig noted law enforcement agents there operate with and demand integrity in the performance of their duties I am not aware of any effort or way of life in the towns or counties of northwest Colorado in my time as DA to cover up misconduct by officers The Post compiled this account from lawsuits police reports body-worn camera footage internal affairs investigations settlement agreements and interviews with those injured by police and their families Morning sunlight shines over downtown Craig on July Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post This is not legal On July police received an anonymous call about an individual current into a trailer at the Cedar Mountain Mobile Home Group in Craig The caller announced that a tall bearded man wearing a hoodie was standing in the dark outside one of the homes The officers didn t know where the home was located so they wandered around the neighborhood looking for the right location or a suspect according to a federal lawsuit Croix Orona was sitting on the actions of a camper in pitch-black darkness when officers stopped to talk to him A family friend owned the trailer and he was staying there Despite Orona not matching the physical description relayed by the caller police promptly started questioning him as if he were the suspect the lawsuit states When Orona declined to answer questions from the officers they rapidly approached him What am I expletive doing Orona revealed according to body-worn camera footage reviewed by The Post Police wrote in an affair review that Orona took a fighting stance and that they maintained he was holding something in his right hand But video shows Orona raising his arms and opening his hands He wasn t holding anything I wasn t going to fight them Orona disclosed in an interview He moved to open the trailer That s when officers deployed their Tasers This is where I m staying Orona disclosed in the body-camera footage This is not legal This is not expletive legal He cried out for help as officers used the Taser like a stun gun delivering electric shocks directly to Oronoa s skin He lost consciousness then began having a seizure Orona stated he remembers waking up in the hospital to therapeutic staff giving him a catheter He was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction charges the district attorney later dropped according to the lawsuit Shortly after the happening Orona s grandfather filed a complaint with the Craig Police Department A subsequent internal affairs assessment uncovered the officers actions were articulated and justified The officers were exonerated It s not clear whether they ever detected the person latest into the trailer In the city of Craig paid Orona to settle his contends One man violent police encounters Law enforcement was also quite familiar with another member of Orona s family his uncle Christopher Rothermund Rothermund was a smart ass his father Orlando Rothermund stated in an interview He was very thoughtful and loving but he was a pain in the ass This abrasive attitude toward police led him to constant trouble He racked up arrests beginning in for a bevy of different offenses traffic violations resisting arrest obstructing police assault menacing trespassing and violating restraining orders The cops knew Rothermund and used force against him at least three times over the years On Feb two officers responded to Rothermund s house on reports of an argument between him and his wife Officers never required permission to enter the house had no probable cause and lacked a search warrant or arrest warrant according to a federal lawsuit Rothermund filed against the officers in When requested what the argument was about he narrated police that it was none of their business and petitioned them to leave The officers moved Rothermund into the hallway where they physically assaulted him by striking handcuffing pushing and shoving him and pulling his hair out the lawsuit states They also hit him with pepper spray Craig police initiated a criminal inquiry into Rothermund A judge in that affair blasted the officers actions that day according to court documents saying There is no constitutional right that protects police officers from obnoxious people One of the occupational hazards of being an officer is taking the verbal abuse and putting up with the attitude that particular people have toward police the judge wrote The event was dismissed Rothermund later reached an undisclosed settlement with the city Twenty years later it happened again Britney Rothermund daughter of Christopher Rothermund looks out the window at her mother and stepfather s home in Craig on July Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post Craig police responded to a trespassing call at the Kum Go gas station near downtown on May They were looking for a man named Frank Hickson who had multiple warrants out for his arrest according to a police document An officer stopped a man they presumed to be Hickson outside another gas station across the street An argument ensued The man started running and the officer used a Taser to shock him in the back the police analysis states At that point the officer realized he didn t have Hickson he wrote in his description He had just shocked Rothermund hitting him with all four probes of the device Rothermund announced his fingers went numb The following year just seven months after the city settled with his nephew Orona Craig authorities handed Rothermund a check But that wouldn t be the last violent encounter he had with city police On March a witness at the Cool Water Grill in Craig noticed Rothermund get nervous when an officer walked into the restaurant The officer revealed Rothermund had a warrant out for his arrest which his family mentioned was related to a city nuisance ticket for keeping an inoperable van on a gas station s property The officer explained Rothermund he required to speak with him but Rothermund ignored the request and took off according to a decision letter from the th Judicial District Attorney s Office Rothermund pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officer the letter states I wanna die he narrated police Shoot me Rothermund put the gun in his mouth Moffat County sheriff s deputies responded telling Rothermund to get on the ground He did not comply I m gonna die before I go to jail he noted according to body-worn camera footage of the development Video shows Rothermund raising the gun again in the direction of the officers Two of them fired at Rothermund killing him For a warrant his father mentioned I lost my son Family members mentioned Rothermund suffered from mental strength issues including post-traumatic stress disorder bipolar disorder and schizophrenia He lived for spells in his car by one of the gas stations in town Rothermund was struggling before his death Orlando Rothermund commented He didn t want to go back to jail because he kept getting beaten up Britney Rothermund Christopher s daughter last saw her father two months before he died They went drinking at the Popular Bar in Craig their favorite haunt to shoot pool Her father was really good she mentioned playing in leagues over the years He filtered in and out of her life she stated Her parents split when she was young and her father worked out of state for a while He spent various time in prison but frequently sent Britney letters and one time a jewelry box he made out of old newspapers In high school police used to pull Britney over repeatedly on her way to school she declared The cops she noted would invariably ask about her dad Britney Rothermund s father Christopher Rothermund was shot and killed by Craig police in Britney looks out the window at her mother and stepfather s home in Craig on July Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post I don t understand why the cops were dependably bothering us she disclosed Orlando Rothermund a former Los Angeles police officer who moved to Craig in stated he had invariably assumed in law enforcement They re too trigger-happy now he noted They don t use common sense They know they can get away with it Suicide attempt turns into police shooting Craig s preponderance latest police shooting the third since occurred the morning of April at Ashley Road Troy Curtis Jr and his wife of years Elena were going through a divorce Curtis was in between medications for bipolar disorder and depression he announced The night before the couple argued via text message regarding their relationship and separation With each day my mind cares less what happens next Curtis wrote to Elena according to messages included in a decision letter from the th Judicial District Attorney s Office So I m letting go You get what you sought It s not what I sought Alarmed Elena ran downstairs to check on Curtis She supposed he would try to leave the house to kill himself according to the DA s letter Elena slept on the couch that night to keep an eye on him At a m the next day she woke Curtis up telling him he needed to return to the hospital to address his mental medical concerns Curtis felt trapped he mentioned in an interview He grabbed his wallet phone and a handgun from the closet and went to his truck Elena texted Curtis s father Troy Curtis Sr to come to their house without delay She then called to review that her husband was suicidal and had a gun Curtis Jr tried to start the car but Elena had the patron door open preventing him from leaving He loaded the gun and attempted to raise it to his head At that moment his father lunged toward Curtis Jr and the two began to struggle according to interviews and the prosecutor s letter Curtis Jr head-butted his father multiple times and pistol-whipped him with the gun Curtis Sr stated The Post that he eventually pinned his son over the center console of the truck The father also grabbed his son s wrist with the gun stuck to the floorboard of the van pointing away from them Sgt Dalton Caudell of the Craig Police Department arrived to see Curtis Sr on top of his son in the truck At first Curtis Sr commented he was relieved to see police at the scene Then he saw Caudell s face I went into panic mode when I saw the officer s demeanor Curtis Sr commented I knew there was no chance of communicating with him The whole encounter took mere seconds Caudell yelled multiple times for Curtis Jr to drop the gun according to body-worn camera footage circulated by police Curtis Sr reported Caudell to grab the weapon which was still pinned in his son s hand on the car s floorboard facing away from the officer The gun did not appear in the body-camera video The video appears to capture audio of Curtis Jr s gun firing twice with bullets traveling through the rear guest door away from the officer Caudell then opened fire shooting Curtis Jr six times in the upper shoulder and upper torso Somehow Curtis Sr was not shot Are you kidding me the father announced in the video At no point was the gun pointed at the officer both Curtises disclosed and Curtis Jr announced he had stopped resisting his father He announced he never threatened his father his wife or the officer that day He only intended to hurt himself He never made any attempt to de-escalate Curtis Jr mentioned of Caudell If he tried to take my gun I wouldn t have resisted Curtis Sr commented he didn t understand why the officer felt lethal force was the only answer The bullets miraculously missed Curtis Jr s organs He still has a bullet lodged against his right lung and one in his chest He sustained two fractured ribs and a broken arm It s been tough to eat and sleep in the aftermath of the shooting Curtis Jr mentioned He s shed pounds since April After taking a sparse weeks off to recover Curtis Jr returned to work at an auto body shop in Steamboat Springs An avid gun enthusiast with several family members in law enforcement Curtis Jr stated he doesn t think he could call if he needed help Even the sight of a uniformed officer with the badge and gun holster gives him anxiety now deep physical anxiety burrowed into his chest I m more afraid of them now than anyone else he revealed Troy Curtis Jr sits for a portrait at Doran Auto Repair and Towing where he works in Steamboat Springs on July Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post Curtis Jr was charged with felony menacing and unlawful private transfer of a firearm Karzen the district attorney ruled the shooting was justified this month Caudell will not be charged Caudell in an email disclosed he could not comment on the occurrence due to the pending criminal proceedings against Curtis Jr Cops are supposed to protect people Civil rights attorneys say rural law enforcement agencies often lack training and materials which can lead to constitutional violations You see a pattern in smaller police departments in less urban environments noted Raymond Bryant Orona s attorney Officers think the only tool they have is force And when they do use force they re unlikely to be disciplined for their actions these lawyers mentioned Research suggests rural areas tend to be more politically conservative and less focused on police reforms On top of that rural residents are far more likely to be gun owners which may increase police anticipation of threat according to a review by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine Another review in the New York University Law Review noted that small jurisdictions are far less likely than larger cities to have legal and political accountability structures such as police commissions and inspectors general a robust media presence or an evolving plaintiffs bar In the absence of external prodding small jurisdictions may be even less likely than their big-city counterparts to fix these problems on their own the overview s author noted In small rural areas like Craig police are more likely to know the defendants and make assumptions about them declared Elizabeth Wang Tanner Sholes attorney They were primed to be in a headspace where they demanded to escalate anything that happened with Mr Sholes she declared Wang specializes in cases involving people injured by police She noted she had never seen an happening like the one Sholes encountered in which law enforcement used a bicycle as a weapon to run over a pedestrian with premeditation There s no training on this she declared There s no plan to ever use a car to hit a pedestrian Sholes last year filed a federal lawsuit that accused Craig police officers and Moffat County sheriff s personnel of excessive force and violating his constitutional rights Michelle Workman Sholes partner and mother of his children mentioned she s watched his relationship with police deteriorate over the years Every time they interact with him she announced it s multiple officers with their guns drawn In my mind they want to murder Tanner she commented In a small town like Craig police concentrate on the same scarce people Workman explained Once you get a name with the police department you earn a target on your back Tanner Sholes sits for a portrait outside his mother s home in Craig on July Sholes is staying in a camp trailer on his mother s property Photo by RJ Sangosti The Denver Post Related Articles One injured after DIA passengers evacuated from American Airlines flight Man cited in Aurora crash that killed -year-old on scooter Pedestrian killed in crash in Denver s Hampden neighborhood Two arrested on suspicion of murder in Lakewood triple shooting Colorado jail commander viewed strip-search videos of inmates investigators say If you have a run-in before that shouldn t smear you as a bad person she stated Everyone makes bad choices Tanner s biggest predicament He got in trouble and he s never been left alone Sholes mentioned his knee still causes him a good deal of pain A former wildland firefighter he loves camping and hiking and running around with his kids But the injury limits his activity he announced He can t chase his children like he used to Everything has to be done a little slower It s put a damper on my whole life he disclosed Sholes avoids populace spaces for the majority of part out of fear of the police He opts against taking his kids to the masses pool or city functions His children he disclosed are deathly afraid of law enforcement They think every time police are called Tanner s gonna die Workman mentioned What kind of message does this send to children Sholes declared Cops are supposed to protect people not hurt people he mentioned My kids have seen the opposite of that Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day