Aurora Police chief apologizes after children detained during stolen vehicle mistake
08/04/2020 12:21 pm PDT
By Lori Jane Gliha, KDVR
AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) -- The interim Aurora police chief said she has apologized to the family of a group of girls who were approached by police at gunpoint over the weekend. The officers mistook the vehicle in which the children were riding as stolen.
“This was a horrible mistake and one that I hope we can at least correct for the kids,” Aurora Police Interim Chief Vanessa Wilson said.
One adult and four children -- including two teens, a 12-year-old, and a 6-year-old girl -- were evacuated from the vehicle at an Aurora thrift store parking lot on the morning of August 2. Wilson said the older girls were placed in handcuffs while officers thought they had encountered a stolen vehicle.
Wilson said the vehicle in which the girls were sitting had license plate information that matched a stolen vehicle from a different state, which caused confusion.
Wilson said she asked the family if she could meet personally with the children.
The Denver Post reports police determined the vehicle had Colorado license plates, but a motorcycle with the same license plate number from Montana was the vehicle that had been reported as stolen on Sunday.
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