The October shooting that injured Broncos wide receiver Josh Reynolds was a “coordinated, organized” attack, and police are working to make additional arrests, a prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney’s Office said Monday.
“This was a violent, vicious attack on the citizens of Denver County,” prosecutor Holly MacDonald said in court as she argued that bail should not be lowered for one of the suspects charged in the case, Luis Mendoza, 35.
“This was a coordinated, organized assault on three victims, largely with Mr. Mendoza being the one coordinating this attack,” she said.
At least 30 rounds were fired into the vehicle carrying Reynolds and his companions, MacDonald said.
Denver police are working to make additional arrests, she said, and Mendoza’s release from custody now would allow him to “tamper with witnesses.”
Mendoza’s attorney, Beth Drombroski, argued that Mendoza should be released on bond so he could care for his 8-year-old daughter and wife, who is about to undergo a life-altering emergency surgery.
Denver County Court Judge Andre Rudolph declined to reduce Mendoza’s $300,000 bond Monday. He noted that he last week signed “a warrant out for someone else” in connection with the shooting.
Mendoza and Burr Charlesworth, 42, are the only two people arrested and charged in the shooting so far. They are both charged with six counts of attempted murder, assault and other felonies.
Reynolds was shot on Oct. 18 after he left Shotgun Willies, a strip club in Glendale. Mendoza is accused of following Reynolds and his group into the strip club and watching them until they left the club around 2:45 a.m.
Mendoza then joined with other people in at least three vehicles, and the three vehicles followed Reynolds, who was in a Ford Bronco, police allege.
The drivers chased Reynolds on Colorado Boulevard, Interstate 25, East Hampden Avenue and back onto I-25, where dozens of rounds were fired into the Ford Bronco, MacDonald said.
Related Articles
2 men charged with attempted murder, assault in Broncos player Josh Reynolds’ shooting
Broncos player Josh Reynolds injured in shooting in Denver last week after leaving strip club
2 arrested for attempted murder in shooting that caused hours-long I-25 closure
Around 3:10 a.m. near I-25 and East Belleview Avenue, Reynolds and his companions abandoned the Ford Bronco — which was disabled by gunfire — on the side of the interstate and ran.
All three called 911 minutes later near South Quebec Street and Union Avenue, according to an arrest affidavit, which noted at least one caller sounded like they were still running.
Reynolds was shot twice, in the left arm and the back of the head, and another man was shot in the back, according to the affidavit. A third victim was wounded by shattered glass, and all three of them were scraped from climbing over a fence.
Mendoza and Charlesworth are both due back in court on Dec. 16.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.