Arvada police issued a detailed press release regarding the 2021 shooting death of  Destinee Delara-Thompson in response to a lawsuit that was filed this month.  Delara-Thompson was a robbery suspect shot by an officer following an altercation but cleared of wrongdoing after her death.

The law firm that filed the case, the Rothad Mohamedbhai law firm, is the same law firm that is representing another family in a case against the department.

The law firm did not respond to an Arvada Press request for comment by deadline. Delara-Thompson’s family also could not be reached.

A two-year statute of limitations for a civil suit was approaching when the case was filed. The shooting happened on Aug. 17,  2021, as officers investigated reports of an armed robbery at a Target in Wheat Ridge. 

The Arvada police press release said officers approached Delara-Thompson at American Motel off Interstate 70. There, police asked her to identify herself, but she refused, police allege.

Delara-Thompson then entered her vehicle where a plainclothes officer spoke with her through the driver's side, police said.  An unmarked police vehicle blocked Delara-Thompson's vehicle from pulling out but she attempted to drive out, hitting a vehicle, and then accelerated and jumped a curb, police claim. An Arvada police officer fired at Delara-Thompson and a bullet struck her and killed her.

After an independent investigation of the shooting by The First Judicial District’s Critical Incident Response Team, a district attorney ruled the officer was justified in the shooting. 

Delera-Thompson was suspected of involvement in the robbery but later cleared by a First Judicial District Attorney’s Office investigation. 

Arvada police spokesperson Dave Snelling said officers engaged with Delara-Thompson because she matched a suspect description from the robbery. 

“We learned later that the woman at the Target was not the woman at the American Motel,” Snelling said. “It was a different suspect (but) because they looked similar and had a similar description, officers had every reason to stop her — because they thought it was the original suspect."