AURORA, Colo. — Newly-released body camera footage shows a now-former Aurora police officer driving more than 100 mph, listening to music, and reaching for his touch-screen computer in the moments before his patrol vehicle smashed into another car, killing a man.
Eduardo Landeros, who resigned from the force during an internal investigation, faces two felonies – vehicular homicide-reckless driving and criminally negligent homicide – in the March 4 crash.
Landeros is free on $5,000 bail.
Elias Anderson, 44, was in the Toyota that Landeros smashed into. He died a short time later.
At the time of the crash, Landeros, 26, was headed north on South Chambers Road in a marked Chevy Tahoe as he responded to a burglary call, which was classified as non-emergent, according to an arrest affidavit.
The body camera footage captures about 3 minutes and 40 seconds leading up to the wreck.
Investigators concluded Landeros was driving between 104 and 105 mph at the time of the crash, according to the affidavit, and was not using emergency lights or a siren – and was not wearing a seat belt.
Initially, investigators thought Anderson ran a stop sign on East Bates Avenue and pulled out in front of Landeros, in part because the speedometer on his vehicle was stuck at 50 mph. However, data downloaded from Anderson's vehicle indicated he was making a left turn from southbound Chambers Road onto East Bates Avenue.
Security video from someone who lives nearby shows Landeros' vehicle, without lights or sirens, pass by at what appears to be a high rate of speed. It also captured the sound of the collision, which occurred off-camera.
Colorado State Patrol troopers reconstructed the collision. Based on that, they estimated that Anderson was traveling between 16 and 18 mph at the time of the crash, while Landeros was moving at between 88 and 98 mph.
Landeros' actions were in sharp contrast to the actions of two other officers who were dispatched first to respond to that same call on the night of March 4.
According to the affidavit, two other officers were already responding to the initial burglary call, which was related to a door being kicked in at an apartment unit where residents had recently been evicted. Landeros was headed there as backup.
The other officers traveled together in the same vehicle, the affidavit says. Their body-worn camera footage shows them "driving in a non-emergent fashion," according to the document. It's noted that they were not traveling above the speed limit and did not have their lights or sirens activated.
Landeros broke his elbow in the crash and was placed on injury leave, according to APD. Aurora Police initiated an internal affairs investigation and scheduled Landeros for an interview on April 26.
He resigned effective April 25, according to the department. The internal affairs investigation is still ongoing.
Contact 9Wants to Know investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
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