Late Friday night outside a Denver‑area cannabis dispensary, a man was shot, and police say automated license‑plate readers quickly became central to the hunt for a suspect. Officers on scene applied tourniquets to the victim’s legs before medics took him to a local hospital, where he remains hospitalized. By the next day, authorities had detained the occupants of a vehicle in Arvada and booked one person into the Jefferson County Jail.
According to CBS Colorado, Edgewater police were called at about 11:42 p.m. and found the male victim in front of Lakeshore Cannabis at 2517 Sheridan Blvd. Officers applied tourniquets at the scene before he was transported to a hospital. Investigators told CBS that another man fired several shots in front of the dispensary and then drove off. Using alerts from Flock automated license‑plate readers, detectives located the suspect vehicle in Arvada on Saturday and detained the people inside.
How Investigators Used Flock Cameras
Police credited Flock alerts with the quick jump from the dispensary scene to a vehicle stop in Arvada, a case study in how license‑plate readers are increasingly woven into metro‑area investigations. Hoodline coverage of local fights over Flock in Denver has highlighted how council members and privacy advocates have raised alarms about data sharing. National reporting has tracked legal challenges and court rulings over Flock deployments, raising questions about oversight even as departments point to arrests tied to the system; see Ars Technica for recent coverage.
Charges And Next Steps
Edgewater police identified the man arrested as Anthony Joseph Saenz and said he was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on multiple felony counts, according to CBS Colorado. Police told CBS those charges include attempted first‑degree murder, first‑degree assault, three counts of felony menacing, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, three counts of reckless endangerment, and tampering with physical evidence. Prosecutors and detectives have not released a court date, and investigators say they are still working to locate additional witnesses.
How To Help Investigators
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Edgewater Police or submit an anonymous tip to Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720‑913‑STOP (7867). Even small details can help detectives piece together what unfolded outside the dispensary.
