The family of a 67-year-old armed Florida man killed in an confrontation with Colorado police after he shot a K-9 filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against four Manitou Springs and El Paso County law enforcement officers.
Wilford Deweese was traveling back from California to Florida after attending a funeral when he stopped in Manitou Springs on April 11, 2022 to spend the night at a vacation rental, according to the complaint filed by his family in federal district court last week.
At 11 p.m., Deweese was confronted by officers on a sidewalk, who responded to reports of an intoxicated man brandishing a gun at a bartender at the nearby Royal Tavern, 924 Manitou Ave.
Deweese refused to follow commands to show his hands and come toward officers and later threatened to shoot a police dog at the scene, according to police reports.
El Paso County Sheriff’s Deputy Ronnie Hancock released his K-9, Jinx, on Deweese, who pulled out his Sig Sauer pistol and shot Jinx in the head, killing him. Deweese fired additional rounds, and Hancock, Deputy Daniel LeBaron and officers Levi Hoover and Jeffrey Schuelke returned fire.
Deweese was shot 22 times and died at the scene. The El Paso County District Attorney’s Office later determined the officers were legally justified in using deadly force on Deweese.
But attorneys with the Denver law firm Civil Rights Litigation Group claim police provoked violence against Deweese by sending a dog to attack him “when he posed no threat to anyone,” according to the complaint.
Deweese was treated poorly at two local bars that night and when he tried to return to the Royal Tavern to get some things he left behind, he was pushed around by the bartender and another patron.
Deweese tried to pull out his gun “to show that he could defend himself against what appeared to be an overwhelming crowd of hostiles” but left the bar after the bartender saw he had a gun and asked someone to call 911, according to the complaint.
Attorneys for Deweese’s family argue that the officers “created their own feeling of danger” by provoking Deweese to defend himself against the dog and that none of the officers were in actual danger from Deweese.
Deweese was standing still, with his hands visible and talking on his phone when police set Jinx on him, the complaint states.
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“The officers created an unreasonable danger for Mr. Deweese that could have only ended one way,” attorneys for Deweese’s family wrote in the lawsuit.
The complaint claims the four officers and deputies violated federal and state law by using or conspiring to use excessive force, failing to intervene in canine force and excessive use of deadly force.
The Manitou Springs Police Department declined to comment on the complaint, citing an active investigation. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office does not comment on active or pending litigation, said spokesperson Cassandra Sebastian.
Deweese’s family is seeking an unspecified sum for damages, including loss of life, emotional distress and lost wages.
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