Trial begins for former LaSalle police officer who shot man at Family Dollar last year – Greeley Tribune

A cop who defended himself and his partner, or a cop who panicked and took the law into his own hands?

That’s the question a jury will have to decide in the case of 35-year-old Erik Hernandez, a former LaSalle police officer charged with shooting a man outside a Family Dollar last year.

Hernandez is charged with manslaughter for the May 3, 2023, killing of Juston Reffel in LaSalle.

While following a complaint about a suspicious vehicle, Hernandez – who was on his third day on the job – and another officer came across a vehicle backed into a parking lot next to the store. The two officers parked their patrol vehicle to prevent the vehicle from leaving the parking lot and went inside to search for the owner.

While inside, the two spotted Reffel, who fled to the suspect vehicle when he saw police. The two officers chased him outside as he ran to the car in the parking lot.

Reffel started the vehicle as the officers called for him to get out. Reffel put the car in reverse to clear space between his vehicle and the patrol car before putting it in line and driving away.

As Reffel put the car in drive, Hernandez fired four shots into the driver’s side door, striking Reffel in the upper body and killing him almost instantly.

The Critical Incident Response Team, which consists of members of Weld County law enforcement agencies, investigated the shooting, which was subsequently referred to the Weld County Grand Jury. The grand jury indicted Hernandez on second-degree murder charges in June 2023. He pleaded not guilty in early February.

During opening statements at his trial Tuesday morning, Hernandez’s defense argued that Hernandez made a split-second decision, believing his and his partner’s lives were in danger when Reffel started the vehicle.

“This process actually takes about three seconds,” said attorney Andy LeClere. “That’s the amount of time it takes Reffel to rev his engine, turn the wheel all the way around and decide to shoot it backwards.”

The defense also argued that LaSalle police — because they did not give Hernandez a Taser, pepper spray or any other form of non-lethal force — left him no choice but to draw his gun when he was afraid.

The prosecution — led Tuesday morning by Weld Deputy District Attorney Daniel Skelton — focused its opening statements on what Hernandez told an investigator less than a week after the shooting. Skelton referred to four statements Hernandez made to investigators.

At first, Hernandez said Reffel tried to hit him with the car when Reffel backed up.

“One little problem with this: It’s not happening,” Skelton said. “At no point does the defendant stop behind a Dodge Magnum. At no time is he behind the vehicle while it is reversing.”

Skelton also argued that there was no damage to the building or paint on Reffel’s vehicle. The defense later argued that there was a dent in the building, but neither side presented evidence during opening statements.

Second, Hernandez said Reffel tried to hit him with the vehicle as Reffel pulled forward out of the parking spot. The two sides disagreed on how sustainable it would have been if Reffel had made an angle that would have put Hernandez in danger.

Third, Hernandez said he saw a woman who was with Reffel hand him something while they were in the store. Hernandez said he believed it was a gun he feared Reffel might use as he fled the scene.

Investigators later found a gun in the vehicle, but prosecutors said it was hidden in a zipper under a blanket next to the passenger seat. Skelton argued that it would have been highly unlikely that Reffel would have placed the gun in such a safe place in his final moments after being shot.

Finally, Hernandez told investigators he believed his partner was dragged by Reffel’s vehicle as he drove away. Skelton argued that Hernandez should have been able to see his partner above the vehicle and showed a still image from the other officer’s body camera, which showed Hernandez firing the final shot into the vehicle with the other officer about twenty feet behind him stood.

Hernandez’s trial continues Wednesday and is expected to last through Oct. 30. Weld District Judge Marcelo Kopcow is overseeing the trial.

Originally published: October 22, 2024 at 1:54 PM