The City of Denver will pay $350,000 to a delivery driver injured after a Denver Police officer speeding on the wrong side of the road, without sirens or emergency lights, crashed into his truck.
City Council voted to approve the settlement at its Monday meeting. It's the latest in a string of settlements over police misconduct that have cost the city millions.
The Denver Police Department and the City Attorney's Office declined to comment on the case.
So what happened?
Christopher Cordova, a delivery driver for Bimbo Bakeries, had just begun his shift at 3 a.m. on April 13, 2021. He was in his 2014 Ford Explorer in the southbound lanes on North Quebec Street, according to the complaint filed by attorney Sean T. Olson of Olson Personal Injuries Lawyers.
Officer Jacob Marsh saw a suspect speeding in the wrong direction, Olson told Denverite. So Marsh turned around his vehicle and followed the suspect against traffic, driving northbound in the southbound lanes.
The officer didn’t turn on his siren, according to the complaint. He didn’t turn on his lights.
Cordova narrowly swerved from the suspect’s vehicle, Olson said. Officer Marsh crashed into him. To the attorney’s knowledge, the police never caught the suspect.
Both Marsh and Cordova left the crash with injuries.
According to the complaint, Marsh “failed to keep an adequate lookout,” “failed to abide by applicable traffic laws” and “failed to operate his police car in a safe manner.”
The crash changed Cordova’s life, said Olson.
The delivery driver went on medical leave. He underwent surgery. His arthritis worsened. The costs of medical bills piled up.
The $350,000 settlement will begin to pay those bills.
“That money will be used to pay for extensive medical bills that Mr. Cordova occurred along the way,” said Olson. “He was on worker’s comp. There are insurance companies that need to be paid back.”
Olson would have liked to collect more, but the state has a Government Immunity Policy that would prevent that.
District 8 Councilmember Shontel Lewis pointed out that in 2024 alone, the city has already spent more than $3.7 million on settlements over Denver Police Department actions. She said policymakers were tracking those numbers and considering policy changes based on those cases.
What happened to Marsh?
Marsh received a felony charge for vehicular assault. As a result, the Denver Police Department suspended him without pay.
In court, Marsh was acquitted of the felony, and the department reinstated his pay. He returned to work in August of 2022, while the Department of Public Safety conducted an internal investigation.
He resigned from the department in February 2023 before the investigation was complete.
The Department of Public Safety found he violated multiple rules. Had he stayed, he would have received a 10-day suspension and lost two days of time off.
“I hope the department learns that training for these officers needs to be full and complete and more importantly ongoing so that these officers know what’s safe to do and what’s not safe to do,” Olson said.
