Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain is publicly defending his department's investigation into the 2024 death of 40-year-old Joseph Jones, after the victim's grieving family told city council members they don't believe a thorough investigation was ever conducted. Jones was struck and killed by an RTD bus near North Sable Boulevard and East Ellsworth Avenue on November 15, 2024, and dragged approximately 1,000 feet, according to police and RTD reports.
Jones' mother, Brigette Jones, has said the bus that hit her son kept going and did not stop, describing the incident as a hit-and-run, according to Sentinel Colorado. She has said the case was closed after just two months, leaving her without the answers or justice she says her son deserves. Aurora police did arrive at the scene and began a fatal traffic investigation immediately after the crash was reported, and no arrests were ever made in the case.
Family Says a Second Vehicle Was Involved
Jones' family has said a separate hit-and-run driver struck Jones before the RTD bus dragged him — a claim that has taken on new weight in civil court. In January 2026 filings in Denver District Court, attorneys representing RTD and bus driver Nahom T. Woldeyes submitted a Notice of Non-Party Liability citing witness Marcel Harris, who reported hearing an impact and seeing a white truck-like vehicle leave the area; the bus then dragged Jones, according to court records reported by Co-existence. RTD's civil defense centers on assigning fault to that unidentified driver, the outlet reports.
Chamberlain, however, has said the department's investigation determined that only the RTD bus was involved in the crash. Police reviewed traffic cameras, bus cameras and Flock cameras, and analyzed debris at the scene along with damage to the bus as part of that reconstruction, the chief said. Aurora police reconstructed the collision using that evidence, and Chamberlain has said the findings did not support criminal charges related to the collision.
Toxicology and the Decision Not to Charge
An autopsy from the Arapahoe County Coroner ruled Jones' death an accident caused by blunt force trauma after being dragged roughly 1,000 feet, with toxicology showing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.154 and active marijuana compounds in his system, per the same court-records report from Co-existence. The investigation allegedly found Jones' toxicology report was positive for alcohol and THC, and Chamberlain said no criminal charges were brought against the bus driver.
RTD has said its own investigation determined the transit agency was not at fault, in a statement shared with CBS, and the agency said it is committed to safety while expressing thoughts for Jones' family. The Jones family is suing RTD and the bus driver, according to that CBS report. Chamberlain has said the family has the right to ask questions, and he guaranteed the case received the same amount of review as other incidents, while also apologizing that the family was not satisfied with how the investigation concluded.
A Case That Almost Went Unnoticed
The crash received almost no initial news media coverage. Sentinel Colorado has reported that the crash received minimal media attention, despite police stating that a text notification was sent. That communication breakdown is part of why Jones' family has said it felt silenced, prompting them to raise their concerns directly at an Aurora City Council meeting on August 24.
During public discussions of the case, the Jones family continued to raise concerns about what happened, according to Sentinel Colorado's reporting. Chamberlain, Aurora's police chief, has said police treated the case seriously and with dedication, and that the department committed its full resources and full due diligence to the investigation. He has said he empathizes with the family wanting more information.
Remembering Joseph Jones
Jones' family describes him as loving, funny and determined, and says he is missed every day. His sister has said he cared deeply about people and had a big heart, and that he knew how to make people laugh. Another family member said Jones was more than the way he died, and that his life cannot be reduced to the circumstances of his death — a sentiment at the center of the family's continued grief and their stated desire for the truth of what happened, and the value of his life, to be recognized.
A Wider Pattern of Pedestrian Deaths
The case unfolds against a backdrop of persistent pedestrian danger in the area. Aurora recorded 19 fatal auto-pedestrian crashes in 2024 and 20 in 2023, with law enforcement logging 13 such fatal crashes in the city through late September 2025, according to Colorado Politics. Arapahoe County, which encompasses much of Aurora, ranked among the state's five deadliest counties for pedestrians between 2020 and 2025, logging 79 pedestrian fatalities over that span, per the Colorado Department of Transportation. Statewide, pedestrian traffic deaths have nearly doubled over the past decade, surging 98.4% from 2015 levels to reach 127 fatalities in 2025, according to the transportation department's data. CDOT figures also show that October and November are historically the state's deadliest months for pedestrians, with 65% of 2024 pedestrian deaths occurring in dark conditions — a factor relevant to Jones' late-night, mid-November crash.
Aurora police have since built out a centralized Real Time Information Center linking municipal video feeds, Flock license plate readers and traffic sensors, a system that helped detectives crack another hit-and-run case near Sable Boulevard within hours. The later use of that technology does not establish whether it was available at the time of Jones' death in November 2024. For now, the Jones family's civil suit against RTD remains active in Denver District Court, even as Chamberlain maintains that his department's criminal investigation was complete and thorough.
