A professional musician from Mexico has been awarded $200,000 after officers from the Aurora Police Department in Colorado raided the home he was staying in, set a K-9 unit on him, and shouted gibberish Spanish commands. The incident occurred in March 2023.
Salvador Alonso Guerrero Salmeron, who does not speak English, was present at a home in the 1400 block of South Yampa Court when officers arrived to execute an arrest warrant for drug charges on another individual. According to Salmeron's attorney, police began screaming nonsensical orders in Spanish, including phrases described as 'fart police, fart the wood. We have a police fart, entrance wood.'
During the raid, a K-9 attacked Salmeron, biting his arm as he attempted to show officers a document, presumably his tourist visa. Photographs filed in an Arapahoe County court documented the attack. Following the incident, Salmeron's attorneys filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Aurora Police Department in October.
A jury found Aurora Police Officer Grant Peet liable for malicious prosecution and Officer Robert Wong liable for excessive force. In a press release on November 3, Salmeron's attorneys stated, "Salvador has lived with the physical and emotional consequences of an attack that never should have happened, and the indignity of being treated like a criminal. This verdict finally sets the record straight."
The Aurora Police Department has faced scrutiny for past incidents. In 2019, Elijah McClain, an unarmed Black man, died following an encounter with Aurora officers, including Randy Roedema, who was later convicted of homicide and third-degree assault. Additionally, in 2024, it was revealed that police were aware of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, exerting control over apartment buildings in the city, despite initially denying a gang problem.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Aurora Police Department for comment.