A jury ruled against former Denver Police Officer Brandon Ramos in a recent civil trial after Ramos fired into a crowd of people in the LoDo neighborhood in 2022. On Friday, the jury awarded $19.75 million to six bystanders who were injured that night.
Ramos pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in his criminal trial in January 2024, for which he was sentenced to 18 months of probation and stripped of his Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training certification, barring him from serving as a law enforcement officer in Colorado.
Ramos shot at an armed suspect in the busy neighborhood near 20th and Larimer Street on July 17, 2022, but injured Yekalo Weldehiwet, Bailey Alexander, Willis Small IV, Mark Bess, Angelica Rey, and Ayla Bersagel, who were standing behind or around the man, later identified as Jordan Waddy. Waddy was later charged and pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon by a previous offender and was sentenced to 30 months in jail.
Two other officers who fired their weapons that night were cleared of wrongdoing. Footage of the shooting was captured on each officer’s body camera, as well as area security cameras…