Police Chief Gerry Whitman recommended that Ranjan Ford Jr. receive a 30-day suspension for shooting and killing an unarmed invalid last summer. That Monday recommendation is 10 days more than the suspension Whitman recommended for officer James Turney, who fatally shot Paul Childs, a developmentally disabled teen, in July 2003. "I think a 30-day suspension is an arbitrary and capricious number," said Mike Mosco, president of the Denver Police Protective Association "We stand behind Ranjan and we are going to ensure that his due process rights are protected and enforced." The mother of Lobato's three children, Christina Gomez, said Wednesday she couldn't believe Whitman's suggested discipline. "This is absurd, unbelievable," said Gomez, reached at her home in Sacramento, Calif. "(Ford) should be fired - off the force completely." If it were someone other than a law enforcement officer who fired the fatal shot, he would be in jail and not given a slap on the wrist, she said. "Because (Ford) is a police officer doesn't give them the right to excuse him," she said. "There should be criminal charges against him." News of the recommendation quickly spread throughout the police department. A fax sent out from District Six asked officers to donate to a fund established to help with Ford's expenses if the recommended suspension goes through. Lobato, 63, was shot July 11 in a west Denver home as he lay in bed watching television, after Ford apparently mistook a soda can in the man's hand for a weapon. [more]
- Civil Suit Pending In December, a grand jury decided not to indict Ford in the shooting, and then-District Attorney Bill Ritter declined to file charges. Ford, a Denver police officer since 2001, is back on the job, but not on patrol duty. The shooting could lead to federal action. Family attorney Kenneth Padilla said Lobato's relatives may file a federal civil rights lawsuit. The Department of Justice also is weighing whether to intervene. [more]