DENVER – The Denver Police Department on Monday announced it had cleared the two officers in the 2015 shooting death of a teenage girl who was inside a stolen car at the time.

DPD announced that Officer Gabriel Jordan and Officer Daniel Greene had used “appropriate force” and followed department policy as it was written at the time.

The Denver District Attorney’s Office had already determined that the two would not face criminal charges in the shooting, which left 17-year-old Jessica Hernandez dead.

The case had been reviewed by the DA’s Office, as well as DPD Internal Affairs, the Office of the Independent Monitor and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

Hernandez was killed in an alleyway near the intersection of 25th and Niagara on the early morning of Jan. 26, 2015. Investigators said she was driving a stolen car toward two officers, who opened fire.

The department has since re-written its policy so as to not allow its officers to shoot at moving vehicles.

“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the Jessica Hernandez case it has been determined that the officers’ actions do not warrant disciplinary action,” Denver Police Chief Robert C. White said, in part, in a statement to Denver7. “Nonetheless, this incident is a tragedy for all involved. Ms. Hernandez had her whole life in front of her and we mourn her loss with the family.”

Hernandez’s family also issued a statement Monday:

Today, the family of Jessica Hernandez received a call from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who expressed compassion as he conveyed the results of the Police Department’s internal affairs investigation.  This call followed a productive face-to-face meeting on November 16, 2016, where the family and Denver officials, including the Mayor and Chief White, discussed their strong desire to bring positive change from such an inexplicable tragedy.  The family has expressed to Mayor Hancock their appreciation for his willingness to grieve and pray with them.

Nevertheless, the Hernandez family will achieve justice for Jessie and continue to advocate for meaningful police reform.  DPD’s changed policies on vehicle stops and shooting into moving vehicles will hopefully prevent future tragedies like the killing of Jessie and other members of the Denver community.  The Hernandez family will continue to work with the community and Denver to try to bring about positive change and ensure that Jessie’s death was not in vain.

The Hernandez family holds out hope that no other family or community will have to experience their pain.  They appreciate the compassion and support that the Denver community has shown as they still try to come to grips with this immense loss.  Not a day goes by that they don’t think about and miss their beloved Jessie.

SKI GRANBY RANCH, Colo. – Ski Granby Ranch announced Friday the Quick Draw Express chairlift, which killed a Texas woman last month when it malfunctioned, would be closed Friday and Saturday while it is tested.

Kelly Huber, 40, of San Antonio died Dec. 29 when she was thrown from the lift along with her two children, who both survived.

The lift was closed for more than a week as state regulators investigated what caused the accident. On Jan. 9, the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board released a report saying that a “rare dynamic event” occurred within the lift’s primary electrical drive and control system.

The board said weather, environmental factors, and human error on Huber’s behalf were not factors in the accident.

Ski Granby Ranch reopened the lift after the report, but could only operate it using its backup diesel engine and not the electrical system.

Resort operators were also asked to disconnect the electrical drive entirely, to run the lift at a slower pace and to increase the number of visual and mechanical inspections on the lift.

The safety board said in its report it reserves the right to slow or shut down the lift, and it also left room for the continuing investigation to grow.

Friday morning, Ski Granby Ranch posted a message on Instagram saying the lift would be closed while it is tested.

The Quick Draw Express will not be operating today and tomorrow while the lift is tested. We apologize to our guests for any inconvenience. Granby Ranch will update our guests when the lift is running again. The ski area remains open with Conquest, Milestone and Kicking Horse lifts operating and we are offering discounted tickets, adults are $45, juniors are $25. Granby Ranch is working to complete testing and re-open the lift as soon as possible.

A photo posted by Granby Ranch (@granbyranch) on

Jan 20, 2017 at 10:23am PST

In a news release the ski resort sent out later Friday, the resort said it was hoping to reopen the lift under diesel power “as soon as possible” and that it had scheduled the installation of a new electric drive in the future.

It added that the “current tests are being done out of an abundance of caution.”

The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies said in a statement sent late Friday that the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board reached the decision to not reopen the lift until it is “deemed safe for public operation as set forth in a Non-Disciplinary Operation Agreement.”

The ski area also said that an independent contractor was hired to make modifications to the lift before this current ski season, and that “the issue that likely caused the incident was the independent contractor’s modification to the lift’s electrical drive/control system.”

The contractor was not affiliated with the original lift manufacturer, and the resort said it has since “retained the original manufacturer of the lift to return the Quick Draw Express Lift to safe operating condition [sic] under electrical power.”

It said the rest of the ski area remained open, that it was offering discounted tickets and that it would re-open the lift as soon as possible following the completion of testing.

DENVER – A victim of child sex trafficking who was named by a Denver Police Department sergeant and whose face was shown in a 2013 film that was hosted on Netflix is suing the company that produced the film for publicly identifying her.

Attorneys for the girl, identified in the suit as “Jane Roe,” originally filed the lawsuit in Denver District Court on Dec. 11. At the time, the production company, Three Generations, Inc., and Netflix, Inc. were both named as defendants.

But Netflix had the case moved to federal court in Denver earlier this month, and attorneys for the girl have since dismissed the claims against Netflix, citing the 1996 Communications Decency Act that has been interpreted to mean that internet service operators are not publishers and are thus not liable for the content of third parties.

The suit centers around Three Generations’ 2013 film, “Tricked.” It claims that the DPD sergeant, Daniel Steele, was interviewed in the film and “disclosed personal details related to [Roe]’s sexual abuse, including [Roe]’s name and photographs.”

In “Tricked,” Sgt. Steele, who works in DPD’s Special Investigations Division, is noted as being an expert in prostitution and human trafficking crimes, and repeatedly talked about the girl and her history. The film also included her full name in the credits

Roe’s attorneys argue that since Roe is a victim of a sexual crime, she is protected from having her identity disclosed in Colorado under the Criminal Justice Records Act, and that her name and identity “were not available for any other public source” aside from the film.

Her attorneys argue the film has been seen “thousands” of times in Colorado, and that thus, Three Generations have violated state law.

They say Roe suffered “humiliation, anxiety, embarrassment, and social stigma” because of the film, and asks for actual damages, emotional distress damages, injunctive relief against the production company, pre- and post-judgment interest on damages and court and attorney’s fees.

DENVER – The family of a 10-year-old boy who died less than an hour after leaving Swedish Medical Center in December 2014 has filed suit against the hospital, claiming it caused the boy’s wrongful death.

Isaiah Bird, 10, of Littleton, died Dec. 24, 2014 – a day after he went into respiratory arrest and collapsed in a Denver pharmacy.

He had been released from Swedish Medical Center 40 minutes before he collapsed after undergoing tests for the flu, according to the suit.

The lawsuit claims Bird was prematurely discharged from the emergency room and had not responded to breathing treatments after his pediatrician diagnosed him with influenza earlier that day.

The suit says Bird had difficulty breathing and a fever when he was taken to the Swedish emergency room, but that he was discharged 1 ½ hours later. While his father, Troy Bird, was filling his son’s prescription, the boy collapsed.

The suit says Bird suffered “catastrophic, irreversible brain damage” because of the lack of oxygen to his brain. He was taken off life support the next day and died.

The suit says an autopsy found Bird had the flu, as well as pneumonia and an upper-respiratory infection.

The doctor assigned to bird at Swedish, Jenna Greenfield, and the nurse who treated him, Kathleen Carpenter, are both named as defendants in the suit, in addition to the hospital.

“Isaiah’s pediatrician sent him to the ER because he could not breathe and needed to be admitted to the hospital,” the family’s attorney, David S. Woodruff, said in a news release. “Instead, the ER staff discharged him without any attempt at a proper diagnosis. This boy suffocated to death literally on the way home from the hospital, because of the carelessness of Swedish hospital and its staff.”

The hospital issued a statement saying it was surprised by the accusations in the suit:

“Swedish Medical Center is aware of the lawsuit that was filed today, though we are surprised by many of the accusations. Our hearts go out to the family, it is never easy to lose a loved one and no doubt this is a particularly difficult time of year.”

DENVER – The family of the Park County deputy killed in February by a man who had previously threatened to harm officers has filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff’s office claiming the negligence of commanders led to their son’s death.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court of Colorado on behalf of Nate Carrigan’s estate, his parents, John and Melissa Carrigan, as well as Park County Deputy Kolby Martin, who was injured in the incident.

The defendants in the suit are the Park County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Fred Wegener and Cpt. Mark Hancock, who was also shot in the incident, though the bullet only grazed his ear.

The suit claims the “grossly negligent decision making” of the defendants “were not just a lapse in judgment or honest mistake.” It says their actions “exposed Deputies Martin and Carrigan to dangers that should have been entirely preventable.”

Carrigan and Martin were shot by Martin Wirth on Feb. 24 while serving him an eviction notice. He had previously threatened to kill police in the months before and had refused to leave his home in Bailey.

A report on the incident released in August by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, Hancock told investigators he believed Wirth would be “physically combative” and had said the office “didn’t really feel that it warranted a SWAT call.”

The suit cites the CBI report throughout in detailing the timeline of that day, and notes Wirth had said if he were evicted, it would be “a shootout like the OK Corral.”

Wirth retreated back inside the home, and Hancock grew worried that too much time had passed and that deputies were in danger. But rather than retreating, he and Carrigan went to the door.

The report says Hancock told investigators he didn’t know if he got permission (the lawsuit says the sheriff gave permission), but told Carrigan to kick in the door since Wirth had barricaded himself inside.

Martin entered first and was followed by another deputy. As he rounded a corner, Wirth shot him eight times in the pelvis and legs.

Carrigan was shot through the armpit as he breached the door, and Hancock was grazed sometime during the incident.

At one point, Wirth escaped out of the home into the woods, where he was eventually shot dead by Hancock.

Wegener said in August that his deputies “did what they were supposed to” and called them heroes. The suit says, however, that many plans originally made to serve the eviction that day were not followed, nor was standard operating procedure followed by Hancock or Wegener.

It says they “ignored their own training” and that the deputies lacked the training and equipment to confront Wirth that day.

Martin and Carrigan’s family are both seeking compensatory and special damages, and lost past and future earnings, among other things.

Sheriff Wegener told Denver7 neither he nor the sheriff’s office had been served as of 11:15 a.m.

“We’re sorry that the family has taken this direction, but will certainly wait to let the justice system work, and wait and see what happens,” he said.

Carrigan had worked for the sheriff’s office for 13 years and was well-known in the community after growing up there and coaching at Platte Canyon High School. His family first discussed their intent to sue with Denver7 in August.