A Thornton woman filed a civil rights lawsuit against an Adams County Sheriff’s deputy this month after he attacked her and her family in a Walmart parking lot while off duty last year, according to court records.
Linda Hurley is suing Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Ezekiel Spotts for violating her and her family’s Fourth Amendment protections against excessive force and unlawful seizures, according to the lawsuit. She’s also suing the county itself for failing to properly hire, investigate, train, supervise and discipline its deputies.
The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 24 in U.S. District Court of Colorado, is asking for compensation for Hurley’s legal fees, economic damages from being unable to work, pain and suffering, emotional distress, impairment of quality of life and all “reasonable and necessary” medical expenses.
Hurley suffered a fractured skull, brain bleed, concussion and broken nose from Spotts’ attack, as well as soft-tissue damage across her body including her face, abdomen and left foot, according to the lawsuit.
Since the attack, the lawsuit claims Hurley has also suffered “significant mental and emotional damages,” including nightmares, severe anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder.
In July 2023, Hurley, her daughter — Erika Smith, who has autism and bipolar disorder — and her 3-month-old granddaughter were leaving Walmart in Thornton when they almost hit Spotts with their cart, according to court records.
Spotts, who was off duty during the confrontation, told Thornton officers that Smith acted as if he was moving too slow and started “running her mouth,” yelling at him, according to a report from the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. He told police that he pushed her out of the way and that she slapped him three or four times before he pushed her again.
Smith said she told Spotts not to stop suddenly in front of people and block the exit, which prompted the off-duty deputy to follow her out the door, police said in the report.
She said Spotts shoved her first, causing Smith to lose her balance, according to the lawsuit. When he tried to hit her again, Smith said she slapped him. That’s when Hurley stepped between the two.
Spotts threatened to arrest Hurley for “interfering” and identified himself as a police officer, but he refused to give a badge number, the lawsuit stated. When Thornton officers arrived, police said he readily identified himself as an Adams County deputy.
Hurley said Spotts followed them to their car and tried to take photos of the license plate, according to the lawsuit.
When the women refused to shut their trunk and allow him to take the photo, he grabbed Smith by the throat with both hands and strangled her for about 30 seconds, the lawsuit alleges. Hurley said she tried to pull the deputy off of her daughter, but she only succeeded in grabbing his attention.
Spotts “repeatedly punched her in the face” and threw her “through her nearby shopping cart and into a by-standing car,” the lawsuit stated.
Hurley’s granddaughter was still in the shopping cart when Spotts threw Hurley into it, according to the lawsuit. When Hurley’s body struck the cart, it turned over, knocking the infant down several feet to the pavement.
The lawsuit claimed multiple witnesses saw the attack and supported Hurley’s story, but did not name any of them.
Police interviewed one witness who identified Hurley and Smith as the aggressors and multiple others who saw the man and the women “grappling,” but who could not tell who started the fight. Police said several bystanders missed parts of the altercation and weren’t able to attest to either party’s entire story.
“There is no clear evidence to support a conclusion as to who was the initial aggressor in the fracas that occurred in the parking lot,” 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason said in a letter announcing he would not press criminal charges against the deputy. “Therefore, the prosecution cannot prove that Mr. Spotts was not reasonable in his belief that the use of physical force was necessary, or that the degree of force he used was necessary.”
Even though the office declined to file charges against Spotts, Mason said the deputy’s actions were “regrettable” and inappropriate.
Now, the family hopes to rectify the lack of criminal charges in court and to get justice through the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims Spotts’ actions were, in part, caused by the sheriff’s office’s failure to properly train, investigate and discipline deputies over the years. The complaint names nine examples between 2009 and 2024 where deputies used “extraordinary violence” and seriously injured civilians.
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