Updated at 5:14 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026
Denver Police Officer Diego Nunez Estrella pressed the barrel of his handgun against an unarmed man’s temple as he attempted to make a drug-related arrest at the Central Park Walmart on Tuesday morning.
The incident started when the officer was reviewing surveillance footage around 7 a.m. and saw Kevin Alvarez Arroyo on the video allegedly “manipulating foil with a white powdery substance,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Police tracked down Alvarez Arroyo and told him he was under arrest, and the suspect ran, according to the affidavit.
Community activist Auon’tai Anderson, who was at Walmart to get an oil change, watched the incident unfold.
When Nunez Estrella caught the fleeing suspect and instructed him to put his hands behind his back, Alvarez Arroyo allegedly refused.
The officer fell on top of him — perhaps a tackle, perhaps a trip, Anderson said. So the activist began recording video of the incident that Denverite reviewed. The video showed the officer holding the suspect’s hands behind his back.
“I’m putting my hands behind my back,” Alvarez Arroyo said as he and the officer stood. “Did you see that?” the suspect asked Anderson, apparently about the fall.
Anderson quietly filmed the two men’s awkward dance as the officer attempted to restrain the suspect.
“Stop,” the officer said, as both men appeared to try to regain their balance.
Then the officer pointed his handgun against the side of the unarmed suspect’s head.
“OK, OK. Don’t shoot,” Alvarez Arroyo said.
“Put your hands behind your back,” Nunez Estrella said as he reholstered his gun with one hand and continued to hold the suspect’s hands behind his back.
“What the f*** was that?” Alvarez Arroyo said to Anderson, who was still filming.
“Just a slip of a finger could have ended somebody's life right there in the Walmart aisle over a non-violent crime,” Anderson said later in an interview.
The suspect, Kevin Alvarez Arroyo, was unarmed and turned away from the officer at the time the gun was drawn.
Eventually, Nunez Estrella threatened to detain Anderson while the community activist was recording him. Anderson maintained his recording was protected by law. (Anderson hopes state lawmakers look at this case and clarify that residents can video record police actions when on private property.)
Later, the officer struggled to find the evidence he alleged the suspect dropped. Anderson’s video shows Nunez Estrella leading the cuffed suspect around the store searching for the drugs and even ask Anderson, whom he had just threatened, for help. Anderson had seen nothing.
Police ultimately found the suspected fentanyl, according to the affidavit. Nunez Estrella charged Alvarez Arroyo for possessing a controlled substance of less than 4 grams and obstructing a peace officer.
Alvarez Arroyo, a registered sex offender, has faced 27 criminal charges dating back to 2019 and has been found guilty of 12, a mix of misdemeanors and felonies, according to a state background search. Crimes include a slew of traffic offenses, vehicle registration tag theft, car theft, driving under the influence, identity theft, assault and a sex offense for contact without consent.
Demand for investigation
The act was a clear violation of Denver Police Department’s use-of-force policy, which states that firearms should only be drawn when an officer reasonably believes a situation may require deadly force, Anderson said.
Furthermore, the action undermined Chief Ron Thomas’ priority — reiterated in the city’s use-of-force policy — that officers deescalate situations and avoid introducing firearms into situations where they could increase risk, Anderson said.
Anderson, who has long protested police violence and demanded department reform, shared his video and report of the interaction with Thomas, public safety head Al Gardner and Councilmember Shontel Lewis.
Anderson is a former Denver Public Schools board member and works as a dean at a school.
“By drawing his service weapon and placing it against the temple of an individual who was already physically subdued on the ground and under the officer's full control, Officer Nunez engaged in an objectively unreasonable and excessive show of force,” Anderson wrote in a statement about the incident.
The affidavit Nunez Estrella wrote did not mention that he drew his gun or held it to the suspect’s head. Use-of-force incidents automatically trigger investigations.
Thomas personally reviewed Anderson’s report.
“Following his review, Chief Thomas promptly forwarded the information to the Internal Affairs Bureau and directed that an investigation be conducted with regard to the force used by the officer during the arrest,” a spokesperson for the police department wrote in an email.
Since the investigation is ongoing, the department could not share other information about the incident.
“This is not the culture of policing that Chief Thomas allows or Director Gardner allows,” Anderson said. “And so I'm really appreciative of them taking this seriously.”
Editor's note: This article was updated to confirm that the object the officer held was a gun. DPD confirmed that after this story was published.
