AURORA, Colo. — An Aurora police officer has been fired over an excessive force incident from last year, department officials announced Thursday.
Officer Robert Rosen was involved in an incident Aug. 10 at a King Soopers store in the 6400 block of South Parker Road in Aurora. Rosen went to help another officer who was dealing with an uncooperative man and trying to arrest the man for trespassing.
The man was "passively resisting," according to police, by laying on his stomach with his arms beneath him. Rosen arrived and "escalated the situation" by punching the man in his ribs and then using his Taser five times over the next two minutes, a police news release said.
During the arrest Officer Rosen never attempted any lesser means of force nor did he make any attempts to deescalate the situation in accordance with Aurora Police training," the release said.
Watch the full incident from the vantage point of another officer's body-worn camera.
The man suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.
An Internal Affairs investigation revealed that Rosen did not activate his body-worn camera when he arrived at the grocery store and did not list reasons for why he used such force.
A police Force Review Board found Rosen in violation of the department's standards for use of physical force, unsatisfactory performance, body worn camera operation, Taser and lawful orders.
The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office did not file charges against Rosen.
However, Chief Vanessa Wilson said Rosen's "poor decisions" did not meet "the high standards that the community and I expect from my officers."
Rosen was hired to the force in 2017 and assigned to a District 3 patrol. He received a 10-hour suspension last year for violation of the department's lawful orders policy.
