DENVER — Police body camera video captured the moment a police officer was texting on her phone right as she collided with Eric Szakmary, who was in a crosswalk on Colfax Avenue in 2019.
On Monday, the Denver City Council voted unanimously to move forward with a $557,000 settlement payout to Szakmary and his attorney after a lawsuit was filed a few years after the incident.
“I’m so sorry, Sir,” Officer Jamie Taft can be heard saying on her body camera footage right after she hit Szakmary with her police unit at West Colfax and Mariposa Street.
A second camera angle from the Regional Transportation District shows Sazkmary and his friend were in the crosswalk and had the right of way during the collision. On camera, Sazkmary can be heard wincing in pain.
“That is the last person I would expect to get hit by,” Sazkmary says on video as Taft apologizes several times.
While video captured Taft using her phone during the collision, she claimed on video she was distracted by a bike in her unit.
“I’m so sorry," Taft says on camera. "I have a bike in the back of my car, and it moved, and I thought it was breaking the door. So I apologize. I’m so sorry.”
“After the Collision, as a result of injuries sustained in the Collision, Mr. Szakmary has either limited biking, hiking and backpacking or stopped the activities altogether,” the lawsuit reads, while also referring to permanent back injuries.
“It is anticipated that Mr. Szakmary will need future medical care and will continue to suffer from the effects of his injuries from the Collision for the rest of his life,” his attorney Scott Smith wrote.
Denver’s Department of Safety gave Taft a 38-day suspension for the incident. A spokesperson for the agency said Taft no longer works for the police department and resigned in May of last year.
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