DENVER — Chopper footage shows thousands of people surrounding the fire truck carrying Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray about 30 minutes before the vehicle hit an officer, causing a serious leg injury.
On Friday, Denver Police said Officer Justin Dodge remained in serious but stable condition after Thursday’s incident during the Nuggets' celebration parade downtown.
A review of ground and helicopter footage shows crews began removing barricades as the fire truck moved along, which allowed crowds to swarm the truck about 45 minutes into the parade at 17th Street and Broadway.
About 11:05 a.m., crowds began to swell around the fire truck as it continued to head south on Broadway. Footage shows crews trailing the truck at least a few hundred feet away, removing barricades.
Thirty minutes later at West 13th Avenue and Cherokee Street, the fire truck hit Officer Dodge who was pinned under a tire, causing a severe leg injury.
Paul Wortheimer, the owner of Crowd Management Strategies and who has testified in legal cases over the past 30 years said removing the barricades while massive crowds were still present was a big problem.
“Whether that was a direct cause, it's not a good thing to do. When the crowd is around, definitely should not have been done till the crowd was gone,” Wortheimer said of the barricades being removed.
Wortheimer said the truck should have stopped moving so officers could have cleared a safe path to resume the parade.
“So things were orderly and things appeared to be done properly. The problem, of course, developed when the spectators and the fans swarmed the truck and the truck kept moving,” Wortheimer said.
A photo provided by a 9NEWS viewer showed Officer Dodge standing next to the fire truck seconds before he was hit.
9NEWS reached out to the Office of Special Events for comment about the timing of the barricade removal. The office referred 9NEWS back to the Denver Police Department.
A spokesperson for the police department said the agency was still reviewing the incident.
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