AURORA | Todd Chamberlain is facing a judgment call that could shape not only his tenure as Aurora鈥檚 police chief, but also the direction of the city鈥檚 police department: what to do with an officer who shot and killed an unarmed man in May.
A month after swearing into office, the new chief was informed Oct. 11 that local prosecutors will not press charges against Officer Michael Dieck for fatally shooting unarmed Kylin Lewis during an arrest operation run by the department鈥檚 SWAT unit. District Attorney John Kellner on grounds that Dieck and other officers feared Lewis was reaching for a gun.
Kellner鈥檚 decision does not, however, weigh in on whether Dieck followed department policies, nor does it advise or determine whether he should remain on the police force. Chamberlain must make that call in the shadow of a state legal order for the police department to address what the attorney general鈥檚 office found to be 鈥減atterns and practices鈥� of excessive force, especially against people of color.
Dieck is white. Lewis was a 37-year-old Black father whose parents, siblings, wife and friends, along with a host of civil rights activists, have been demanding Dieck鈥檚 firing since June. Their spirited protests at City Hall have at times prompted the Aurora City Council to , retreating to online proceedings to avoid confrontation.
Dieck shot Lewis May 23 after Aurora and Denver police had been surveilling him for two days as part of their attempted murder investigation into a May 5 drive-by shooting that wounded a man in Denver. Lewis was accused of being the shooter, injuring a homeless man near Park Hill earlier in May.
SWAT officers tracked Lewis to his apartment complex in the 300 block of South Ironton Street, where they confronted him next to a red Chevrolet Monte Carlo 鈥� one of the cars police say was visible on surveillance camera footage taken of the drive-by shooting 18 days earlier. Video from body-worn cameras shows officers approaching him with their guns raised and demanding that he drop to the ground.
Lewis started to back away and reached behind his back near his waistband. He then moved his hands, pulling one from his pocket, holding a cell phone and a fruit snack, and was shot once by Dieck. As he fell to the ground, he said multiple times, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have nothing.鈥�
Lewis underwent abdominal surgery, but he died two days later.
His autopsy report showed the single shot fired by Dieck injured his abdominal organs, ripped open an artery and caused heavy internal bleeding. 鈥淗e suffered significant brain damage because of blood loss which ultimately caused his death,鈥� Kellner鈥檚 report reads, noting that chemicals consistent with recent cocaine and fentanyl use were found in Lewis鈥� blood. Because Lewis was intubated at the hospital, the report noted that 鈥渉e was never in a position to be interviewed by investigators.鈥�
Lewis had run-ins with law enforcement prior to May, pleading guilty to separate incidents of trespassing, child abuse, robbery and illegally discharging a firearm. State records show he served time in Colorado鈥檚 Department of Corrections.
Dieck, according to Kellner鈥檚 report, has been a police officer since 1992, first at the Teller County Sheriff鈥檚 office and then at the Douglas County Sheriff鈥檚 office before joining APD in 2011. He became a part of Aurora鈥檚 SWAT 10 years ago, the DA鈥檚 letter indicates.
Lewis鈥� killing marked Dieck鈥檚 since 2018, APD spokesman Joe Moylan has said.
In his letter to Chamberlain last week, Kellner wrote that he based his decision not to prosecute on a number of factors, including:
- 鈥淥fficer Dieck鈥檚 awareness of the violent offense Mr. Lewis was wanted for鈥� 鈥� meaning the May 5 shooting in Denver
- 鈥淢r. Lewis was known to be a gang member with a history of unlawful weapons possession and use.鈥�
- 鈥淥fficer Dieck described Mr. Lewis 鈥榙igging鈥� in the right waistband/rear pocket area of his pants. Officer Dieck interpreted this as likely Mr. Lewis was reaching for a gun.鈥�
- 鈥淭he other officers involved described the actions of Mr. Lewis as consistent with someone preparing to draw a weapon and otherwise fight the officers.鈥�
- 鈥淥fficer Dieck possessed an objectively reasonable belief that the object in Mr. Lewis鈥� right hand was a gun that he was bringing to bear on the officers.鈥�
Kellner wrote that 鈥淣o weapons were ultimately found on or in the vicinity.鈥�
His letter cites an interview in which Dieck said he had been assigned to use a 40 mm baton launcher while surveilling Lewis, but switched to a pistol when it became clear on the scene that he would be the first officer to contact him rather than acting in a back-up position. 鈥淚t was part of their training that the officer most likely to come into direct contact with the suspect should be armed with a lethal option,鈥� the report reads.
At a rally Monday, Lewis鈥� family and their supporters said police must not have considered Lewis much of a threat if they waited until their second day surveilling him before initiating an arrest. They slammed police and prosecutors for 鈥渄emonizing Kylin as a criminal, a gangster and drug user.鈥�
鈥淭hey tried to paint Kylin as someone who somehow deserved the bullet to his abdomen,鈥� community organizer MiDian Shofner said, calling Lewis鈥� killing 鈥測et another lash on the backs of the Black community.鈥�
Chamberlain, a veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, inherited the Lewis controversy when he was sworn in Sept. 9 as APD鈥檚 seventh leader in five years.
He has pledged to rebuild public trust in a department policing one of Colorado鈥檚 most racially diverse cities where one of five residents was born abroad.
Aurora has been rocked recently with other controversy. A media conundrum caused by Aurora Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky promoting disputed narratives about gang takeovers in part of the city has become the focus of international attention. False claims of Venezuelan gang takeovers in all of part of Aurora have repeated on right-wing TV news shows and, finally, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Trump held a campaign rally in Aurora Oct. 11.
Asked for Chamberlain鈥檚 take on Kellner鈥檚 decision not to press criminal charges, the department said the chief had no comment.
Dieck was on paid administrative leave until Aug. 3, when APD assigned him to 鈥渞estricted duty in a non-public facing role,鈥� Moylan has told the Sentinel. Dieck remains in that unspecified role as the department鈥檚 use-of-force investigation and administrative review of Lewis鈥檚 shooting are ongoing.
Lewis鈥� father, Robert, told the Sentinel that, whether Dieck is allowed to remain on the police force, 鈥淪omething bad is going to happen to him one day.鈥�
鈥淥nce you murder people like that, it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 gonna come back on you. It鈥檚 just karma,鈥� he said, noting the family plans a civil rights lawsuit against both Dieck and the department.