Aurora police officer who killed Kilyn Lewis used a Taser in an excessive force incident in 2021

By Max Levy/The Sentinel

Three years before the fatal shooting of Kilyn Lewis, Aurora Police Officer Michael Dieck used a Taser on a suspect in a 2021 incident. The incident resulted in charges being brought against another officer who struck the same suspect with a weapon, as well as a third officer who did not intervene.

The Guardian received a confidential tip on Wednesday about Diecks’ involvement in the July 23, 2021, arrest of Kyle Vinson by Officers John Haubert and Francine Martinez. Vinson and two other men were sitting in a parking lot when they were confronted by Haubert and Martinez, who were responding to a trespassing call.

When Martinez learned that there were warrants for the arrest of the three men, he attempted to handcuff one of the men. The man broke free from Martinez and he and the other man fled on foot with Vinson. Haubert then pushed Vinson, who had remained seated, backwards onto the ground.

Although Vinson did not run away or attack the officers, Haubert repeatedly struck him in the head and face with his pistol. He held Vinson by the throat while the 29-year-old cried and begged Haubert to stop, repeatedly telling him, “Don’t shoot me” and “You’re killing me.”

Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

Affidavits and body camera footage from Haubert and Martinez show Dieck arriving at the scene for backup while Haubert and Martinez continue to restrain Vinson. At this point, Vinson’s face is bruised and covered in blood, and he screams for help as Dieck approaches.

Haubert and Martinez roll Vinson onto his side and Dieck shoots Vinson in the leg with a taser. Vinson screams and Dieck warns Vinson that if Vinson doesn’t put his hands out, he’s “going to get it again.”

Vinson was eventually arrested on a domestic violence warrant. At the hospital, he was treated for head injuries inflicted by Haubert and received several stitches.

Then-Police Chief Vanessa Wilson condemned Vinson’s treatment during a press conference shortly after the incident. She was “disgusted” and said the actions of the officers involved were “not police work.”

Martinez was subsequently charged with failure to intervene and found guilty, the first conviction of its kind in Colorado. Haubert was charged with assault, menacing and other offenses, but was acquitted in April.

Although Haubert and Martinez’s affidavits mention Dieck’s involvement in Vinson’s arrest, no criminal charges have been filed against Dieck.

On May 23, 2024, Dieck shot and killed Kilyn Lewis, who was unarmed and had his hands raised, one of which was holding a cell phone, after reaching into his pocket. Lewis was wanted for attempted premeditated murder, and a team of several police officers had confronted him in the parking lot of an Aurora apartment complex in an attempt to arrest him.

The guard

Lewis’ death was called by his family the latest example of Aurora police killing and injuring people of color without reason – Lewis, like Vinson, was black.

Protesters, including those who disrupted the Aurora City Council meeting on June 24, also called for Dieck to be fired from the Aurora Police Department and criminally charged.

Dieck remains on leave while he is investigated by the department’s Internal Investigations Bureau and the 18th Judicial District’s external Critical Incident Response Team. That team may recommend criminal charges against Dieck if it deems appropriate.

Department officials did not respond to an email Wednesday asking how Dieck’s use of force during the 2021 incident was reviewed after the fact and whether he faces disciplinary action for using a Taser against Vinson.

According to Acting Police Chief Heather Morris, who commented on portions of a compilation of bodycam footage of the Lewis shooting that APD released last month, Dieck has been on the force for 12 years, including eight years on the department’s SWAT team. Morris did not mention Dieck’s involvement in Vinson’s arrest.

When contacted by the Guardian, Lewis family attorney Edward Hopkins said Dieck has been promoted since Vinson’s arrest.

While Hopkins said he did not want to draw conclusions from two incidents, he added that if a police officer is biased against blacks, it is reasonable to expect him to demonstrate a pattern of escalating violence against blacks over the course of his career.

“I know it’s easy to become numb,” Hopkins said. “Every time something like this happens, we should be angrier, not less… The same cop who tasered the defenseless Kyle Vinson is now part of your SWAT team and shoots Kilyn Lewis. If that doesn’t worry the typical Aurora resident who believes every human being is precious, what will?”

Hopkins said his company, Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, requested the unedited bodycam footage of Lewis’ shooting and Dieck’s training records from Aurora police more than three weeks ago, but has not yet received them.

He warned that the family would take legal action to obtain the documents if they refused to hand them over.

“We believe there is something on Kilyn Lewis’ body camera, audio or video footage, that they just don’t want to show us, and we will figure it out when we have it,” Hopkins said.