Pepper Jacked

According to witnesses, McKibben twisted Shannon's arm behind his back, kicked his legs out from under him and took him down hard, face first. Then he bent Shannon's right leg up and handcuffed both Shannon's hands over his leg, hog-tying him in the middle of the sidewalk, bleeding. Shannon suffered a gash on the left side of his face that has left a permanent scar. He was arrested and charged with Interfering With Police Authority and Disobeying a Lawful Order.

The incident report McKibben filed that night tells a much different story than the 911 tape. His report reads, in entirety: "Defendant in parking lot in area of 10-15 shots fired. Large disturbances. Defendant ordered to leave and responded numerous times saying, 'Fuck the police!' and refused to leave. Defendant told crowd to 'Fuck the police!' Area was dispersed with pepper spray. Defendant walked into spray, choked, and continued to refuse orders to leave. Defendant was arrested."

Shannon denies shouting "Fuck the police." He is devoutly religious, and upon hearing the 911 tape for the first time, apologized on the spot to his father for using the word "shit" twice.

Police have made as many as forty arrests per weekend in LoDo since the crackdown began this summer. Most of those arrested have been black or Hispanic youths who do not contest the minor charges against them -- usually public fighting, disturbing the peace or disobeying a lawful order -- opting instead to accept a deferred judgment, meaning that if they plead guilty and stay out of trouble for a year, their criminal record will be wiped clean.

Shannon wasn't having that. He and his family hired Denver criminal defense attorney David Suro, and a trial date in municipal court was set for November 23. He came to the courtroom accompanied by his family and James Peters, pastor at New Hope Baptist Church, where Shannon is licensed as a minister. Shannon would have made a sympathetic defendant. He is literally a choirboy, acting as chaplain for the gospel choir at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, where he is studying broadcast communication and philosophy.

But just before jury selection was to begin, Suro pulled aside Denver Assistant City Attorney Kristina Andrews and played her the 911 tape.

"I said to her, 'If I play you some evidence you have no right to receive prior to your witness taking the stand, will you do the right thing?' She said, 'I will.' So I played her the tape, twice, and she said right there, 'Okay, I'm going to dismiss all the charges.'"

Neither Andrews nor McKibben returned phone messages seeking comment for this story.

Shannon and Suro have filed a notice of intent to sue the City of Denver for federal civil rights violations as well as assault, battery, false arrest, malicious prosecution and abuse of process.

"I think basically my client pissed this officer off by asking for his badge number," Suro says. "It was a challenge to his authority. But you know, we give police officers those badges. They're supposed to serve us, not the other way around."