Black trainee police officer lost both his legs after 'barbaric hazing ritual' at Denver police academy, lawsuit alleges

A former police recruit claims a 'barbaric hazing ritual' during 'fight day' combat training led to both his legs being amputated.

Victor Moses, 29, is suing the City of Denver and 13 police officers and paramedics who allegedly forced him to continue and ignored warning signs.

The eager recruit claimed he was knocked to the ground during the needlessly violent training, hitting his head on a tile floor and blacking out.

Despite this, he was forced to continue or be struck from the academy, and collapsed several more times and lost consciousness.

Moses was pressured to continue, with officers picking him up and setting him back on his feet, before paramedics standing by were asked to check him out, the lawsuit claimed. 

Moses checked on a medical form that he had the sickle cell trait, adding 'both my parents & I have the trait but never had any problems'.

The condition puts him at an increased risk of medical complications from high-intensity exercise, including rhabdomyolysis, which causes muscles to break down.

Moses endured four agonizing months in hospital where the surgeons had to repeatedly cut away chunks of his flesh in futile attempts to save his legs.

He dictated in heartbreaking detail the incredible pain he suffered, the nightmares and flashbacks he still has, and his frequent thoughts of suicide.

'It is extremely hard to find the will to keep living. Saying my life has been ruined is a complete understatement,' he said.

'I had everything going for me in life and it was all taken away. I have had many thoughts of not wanting to live.'

Moses said during the training he had very low blood pressure and complained that his legs were cramping, according to the lawsuit. The symptoms are danger signs for people with his condition.

Nevertheless, paramedics cleared Moses to return to training, which the suit claimed was a decision made to support the police.

The lawsuit claimed paramedics cleared Moses to continue the training, even though he was not able to stand or walk to the next round. 

Instead, a trainer brought the ground fighting drill to Moses and got on top of him, after which he was supposed to fight his way out of the hold for two minutes.

Instead, Moses soon said he could not breathe, became 'limp' and unresponsive, and was taken to the hospital, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit explained Moses applied to the Denver Police Department in early 2022 after moving from Florida where he earned a science degree.

He 'excelled' through his first three months of academy training, including strenuous gym workouts, and informed the department of his condition.

The ambulance report even noted 'Pt reported that he had sickle cell trait but not sickle cell'.

Moses' lawsuit noted that instructors are required 'to immediately stop a drill if they have reason to believe a participant's health or safety is in jeopardy', but did not.

The lawsuit claimed instructors and the DPD tried to cover up what happened by claiming 'never provided information to indicate he had any medical concerns or restrictions'.

Police told the media at the time it was caused by a pre-existing and undisclosed medical condition.

Instructors, police officials, and paramedics named in the lawsuit also repeatedly told ER doctors Moses did not suffer 'direct trauma'

'ER Dr Musi charted that he met with the paramedics and with a 'Police Academy instructor,' stating that, 'repetitive times the instructor denied direct trauma to the chest abdomen pelvis or suffocation', and said that there was 'no significant traumatic mechanism of injury',' according to the lawsuit.

Many of the reports also left out Moses hitting his head on the tile floor after being pushed off the mat, despite many witnesses, the lawsuit claimed.

But Moses was backed up by his fellow recruits, who banded together in a group chat and resolved to tell the truth.

'What got me was the lack of attention from the paramedics, they should have stepped in way sooner and stopped it,' one wrote.

'The part that blows my mind is after [M]oses woke back up they tried to make him finish it again,' another added.

'Once I saw him wrestling after going down and passing out it was totally f**ked. Moses legit was out cold. Woke back up. And then they let him go straight back into the wrestling portion and then passed back out cold.'

Kirk Duhon wrote on the recruit chat board: 'To me this seemed like a r[ite] of passage instead of training' to which Jacob Mills replied: 'It was like a gang jump in.'

'If they try to say something different, I won't let Moses go out like that. They need to be accountable for their actions.'

Recruit Shoonmaker wrote: 'Everything about that training was bad. We need to be willing to tell the truth even if DPD tries to cover it up.'

Zachary Vasquez agreed: 'Best thing we can do is give an honest account of what we saw. An utter lack of care for the well being of recruits.'

The recruits followed through and wrote detailed reports, all stating they saw Moses' head hit the hard floor and him be knocked out, and how he was forced to continue.

'RO Moses did hit his head on the ground and Moses was visibly unfit to continue through the remainder of the baton drill and the ground fighting drill,' one wrote.

Another wrote: 'I saw the Officers and Technicians try and stand him up and he collapsed back down. 

'The officers and techs then started taking his pads off. It looked like Moses passed out so I informed the paramedics that I thought Moses just passed out.'

The type of training described in the lawsuit is common in the United States and helps prepare recruits for scenarios they could face on patrol, said Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. 

Minor injuries are common and occasionally recruits die, often because of an underlying medical condition, he said.

All recruits must complete the training to prepare them physically and mentally for fights they could encounter on the street. 

It includes having recruits punch and kick a dummy or a trainer holding pads, using a padded baton to fight trainers, wrestling and practicing to arrest a suspect who assaults them, according to the lawsuit.

The legal action alleges the practice is an unnecessarily violent rite of passage that recruits have to endure to be accepted into the police 'fraternity.' 

It notes that other recruits suffered injuries before Moses started his drills, including one person whose nose was broken.

The lawsuit also claims that training teaches recruits that excessive force is 'officially tolerated, and indeed culturally expected'.

'Denver has for many years fostered and tolerated a “culture” at the Academy which includes hazing and intense physical and emotional repercussions for failure to adequately complete the Fight Day endurance tests,' the lawsuit claimed.

Moses' lawyers, John Holland and Darold Killmer, said that mindset nurtured a violent police force and led to lawsuits costing Denver millions of dollars.

'Fight Day both encourages Denver police to engage in brutality and to be indifferent to the injuries they inflict,' Holland said.

'If this had been a football game or boxing match, the head injury and losses of consciousness would have ended any continued participation or fighting immediately.'

The lawsuit claimed Moses was essentially in police custody after becoming incapacitated and the victim of excessive force as the training continued without him being able to consent.

Moses used to spend free time going to breweries and hiking with friends, but now he is largely confined to his apartment in Denver after 20 surgeries.

He is learning to walk again with prosthetics, but cannot electronically charge them himself because of damage also done to his hands. 

Despite taking powerful opioids, he lives with constant phantom pain from the limbs he no longer has.

The former rental car manager wanted to be a police officer because he thought it would be a more interesting and meaningful career for someone who enjoys connecting with people.

Moses remained in the hospital for over four months, had both of his legs amputated below the knee and underwent surgery in July to try to restore his grip in one hand.

'Mr Moses developed severe compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, malignant hyperthermia, and severe hyperkalemia. He was intubated, in a coma, and near death,' the lawsuit read.

He 'had innumerable painful surgeries and procedures to try to save his life, organs, and limbs'.

Moses said the worst part of the treatment by far was having the dressings on the surgical wounds changed.

'I’d also have to look at my limbs that had then given me an amazing 28 years of life completely mutilated - from the exposure of my bone in my right arm, to my dead thumb and darkened fingers,' he said.

'I had to look at my body rotting on a hospital bed - for months.

'I had to look at my bare bone on my arm for weeks before they gave me a skin graft from my thigh.'

Moses described a bizarre procedure where doctors cut open his stomach and sewed his thumb inside for three weeks to promote tissue growth.   

Moses now has prostheses which often bleed when he uses them, requiring him to endure the daily risk of infection and further amputation, the lawsuit read.

'His arms and hands are severely compromised. The pain he has consistently experienced is truly incomprehensible, requiring daily high doses of pain and other medications.

'Moses frequently experiences flashbacks and nightmares enduring these numerous procedures, surgeries and recoveries. 

'He remembers every time coming back to his room after each of them only to endure the post-surgical or wound care treatment pain and suffering.'

Moses said: 'I’ll never get to have the feeling of sand going between my toes or the feeling of the ocean waves splashing against my feet. I can’t even tie my shoes to put on my fake plastic feet.'

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in the Denver County District Court and demanded unspecified damages.

The Denver Police Department declined to comment on the allegations, saying it does not speak about pending litigation.