How Racist Policing, Calling Driver a "Dick" Cost Denver $100,000

This week, Denver City Council approved a $100,000 payout to settle a lawsuit filed by Keilon Hill, who claimed that his treatment by Denver cops after a 2020 traffic accident constituted excessive force and racial bias.

The agreement stands in stark contrast to the conclusions drawn by the Denver Police Department over what went down. The three DPD members named in the February 3 complaint — officers Thomas Ludwig and Gary Yampolsky, as well as Corporal Bart Stark — weren't punished for inappropriate force after an internal-affairs inquiry uncovered no evidence of such an offense. After the suit was filed, however, Andrea Webber, records administrator for the Denver Department of Public Safety, confirmed that supervisors found some of Ludwig's language inappropriate. Among other things, body-worn video caught the officer referring to Hill as "a dick" and "an asshole."

Ludwig's punishment? He was given a good talking-to.

On April 27, 2020, Hill was 25 and taking classes remotely through Louisiana State University (he has since earned a master's degree in business administration). During a Westword interview earlier this year, attorney Benjamin DeGolia of Denver-based Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, which represented Hill, related how his client "was heading home on I-25 when he was in a minor car accident. He was in the middle lane, and a driver in the first lane tried to merge over and hit his car. Keilon ended up flagging the first driver down, moved to the shoulder, called 911 and told the dispatcher that he'd been in an accident."

Paramedics quickly arrived at the scene, and they were speaking to Hill, still seated in his car, when Ludwig rolled up. According to DeGolia, Ludwig "walked by Keilon's vehicle and got a glimpse of Mr. Hill, then kept walking — and he interviewed the two people in the other vehicle, who presented as white men. They told him Keilon had hit them trying to drive in between their vehicle and another vehicle. They portrayed him as a very hostile, aggressive person."

In the video, Ludwig can be heard telling Yampolsky that Hill "tried to thread the fucking needle between two lanes, dude, and he fucking side-swipes them, and he's being a dick." He also volunteered that Hill "looks like a turd." At that point, he had yet to interview Hill.

"I think there's a pretty clear racial undertone in his general perception," DeGolia said. "He just accepts the version of events from the white driver without even speaking to Keilon."

After Hill left his car to be checked out by the ambulance crew, he noticed "Officer Ludwig opening up his door and starting to look for contraband," DeGolia continued. "No warrant had been issued, and there was no reason to believe at that time that Keilon had engaged in criminal activity. Seeing that, Keilon said, 'Hey, you can't search my car. You don't have a warrant.' But Officer Ludwig, even though he could see Keilon was visibly upset, didn't try to de-escalate the situation. He got right in Keilon's face, then twists his arm behind his back using a hyper-flexing wrist lock, which is a pain compliance technique, even though Keilon wasn't resisting in any way, and placed him under arrest."

Hill "was in disbelief," DeGolia emphasized, "asking, 'What's going on? Why am I under arrest?' And Officer Yampolsky says, 'You're being an asshole to everybody.'"

When Hill was placed in the back of a squad car, Ludwig and Yampolsky "turned off their body-worn cameras, which is against Denver policy; it explicitly says the cameras aren't supposed to be turned off while an interaction is ongoing," DeGolia explained. "So they didn't capture what I would call continued harassment of Keilon. He tells them he's a graduate student and he has an exam to take and he wants to speak to a lawyer, and they say they don't care what 'cheap-ass college' he goes to and complain about him 'spewing liberal bullshit.'"

Corporal Stark demanded that Keilon answer the question of whether Ludwig had injured him during the arrest. "Keilon tells him, 'Sir, I was just in a car accident. I can't tell if I'm injured. I need to be evaluated by a doctor,'" DeGolia recounted. "But Corporal Stark just repeated the same thing at least six times. He said, 'If you tell me you're not injured, nothing has happened and you can drive away.' If you tell me you're injured, something else is going to happen.'"

Stark was as good as his word. "They fabricated some charge of interference to justify their unlawful actions," DeGolia suggested. "Keilon ended up being taken to jail, where he repeatedly asked to be evaluated by a doctor, but that never happened. He ended up spending the night in custody, after which he was able to post bond. And the interference penalty was later dropped."

Here's body-worn camera footage from Officer Ludwig:
Here's body-worn camera footage from Corporal Stark:
Finally, body-worn camera footage from Officer Yampolsky:
As Hill was taken into custody, the two men in the other car were allowed to drive away — and no one was held responsible for the accident.

Two days after his release from jail, Hill went to St. Joseph's Hospital for a medical examination and was "diagnosed with a closed head injury, cervical strain, strain of the thoracic region, a right shoulder injury, and paresthesia of his right upper limb," the lawsuit states.

On May 13, 2020, Hill filed a complaint against the officers with the DPD. On July 20 of that year, he was told that no action would be taken against them.

"A complaint was received and reviewed by the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Denver Police Department," Public Safety's Webber said. "A review of the evidence in the case, including the body-worn camera video, did not support the allegations of inappropriate force. However, the Department recognized the language used by Officer Ludwig was inappropriate and he was counseled and reminded to maintain his professionalism during the course of his duties. ... This case was reviewed by the Denver District Attorney and was declined for further charges."

After that, Hill decided to sue.

DeGolia's statement about the settlement reads: "Keilon Hill was subjected to blatantly unconstitutional and racially biased policing at the hands of Denver Police officers. Nobody deserves to have their vehicle unlawfully searched, to be arrested and criminally charged without cause, or to be called racially charged names during a police encounter. This settlement agreement serves as a tacit recognition by the City of Denver of its officers’ misconduct. Although Mr. Hill looks forward to moving on from this experience, he will never forget his treatment at the hands of Denver police, and he encourages others who are victims of police abuse to stand up for their rights."

Click to read Keilon Hill v. City and County of Denver, et al., the Keilon Hill probable-cause statement, and the Keilon Hill internal-affairs letter.