A Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigator was cleared of criminal wrongdoing for fatally shooting a 46-year-old fugitive, who was in a vehicle with two toddlers inside, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann determined.
Investigator Patrick Schreiner was working with a Metro Gang and Gun Task Force when he killed Robert Lee Martinez and wounded Sandra Pacheco, 35, during an attempted arrest on Feb. 1 on the 200 block of South Canosa Court in Denver, according to a district attorney’s letter addressed to Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader.
Martinez was a passenger in a Ford Taurus, driven by Pacheco. She was supposed to be babysitting a three-year-old and a two-year-old for another family at their home and was driving that family’s car, the letter said.
A U.S. Marshals Service deputy assigned to the task force was attempting to locate Martinez who had an active federal warrant for a probation violation. He had sold a sawed-off shotgun and 70 rounds of shotgun ammunition to a confidential informant for 3.7 grams of meth, according to the DA’s letter issued Wednesday.
The deputy was surveilling 216 South Canosa Court because the home was associated with Martinez’s cell phone number, the letter stated. The home belonged to Martinez’s ex-wife.
The deputy requested additional resources and four others joined him, including Schreiner who volunteered to assist as a member of the gang and gun task force.
Schreiner, who was parked about a block north of the house in an unmarked car, saw Martinez come out of the house, and a DEA agent saw the fugitive getting into the passenger seat of the car. Law enforcement surrounded the car and then Schreiner got out of his truck, showed his gun and told the people in the car to show their hands, the letter stated. The Taurus drove into Schreiner’s Toyota Tacoma and hit the front bumper, then reversed into a special agent’s SUV and accelerated toward Schreiner, who fired his weapon.
Schreiner fired two shots at the driver, striking Pacheco in her arms, according to the letter. Other officers removed Pacheco from the car.
However, Martinez said he would not give up without a fight and that officers would have to kill him, according to the letter. Deputies tried to remove him, but Schreiner fired when he saw Martinez reach into his waistband.
The Jefferson County investigator fired three shots, hitting Martinez in the upper left shoulder and right forearm.
The children were not injured.
Schreiner tried to resolve the situation peacefully, but Martinez’s actions continued to become more dangerous, leading to the shooting, McCann said in the letter. When Martinez reached into the backseat, Schreiner “believed that he and his fellow officers and possibly one of the children were in imminent danger of serious injury or death caused by deadly physical force,” she wrote.
