An Adams County sheriff's deputy will not face criminal charges for striking an armed suspect with an unmarked patrol van during a November 2024 pursuit that began with a stolen car and ended with the suspect fleeing on foot, gun in hand. The 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced that Deputy Robert Bacigalupo struck Dujuan Trizio at roughly 20 mph after Trizio bailed out of a disabled Toyota Corolla and ran through an intersection while holding a handgun.
District Attorney Brian Mason said his office's review found that no criminal charges will be filed against the law enforcement officer involved, according to The Denver Gazette. The decision followed a review of video, officer accounts, physical evidence and the circumstances of the encounter, and Mason concluded that the degree of force used by Deputy Bacigalupo was consistent with the minimization of injury to others.
How the Chase Began Near Brighton Road
The incident traces back to November 22, 2024, when Adams County Sheriff's Office Community Resource Team deputies spotted a 2016 Toyota Corolla without license plates near East 104th Avenue and Brighton Road. Deputies recognized a woman riding as a passenger as someone associated with auto thefts and discovered she had an active arrest warrant, per the same account.
The Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Team confirmed the Corolla matched a vehicle reported stolen Nov. 18, 2024, from the Auraria Higher Education Campus. Deputies followed the car in unmarked vehicles equipped with emergency lights and sirens before using a Grappler device — described in the report as a heavy-duty nylon net designed to wrap around the rear tire of a vehicle to stop it without causing a collision — to bring the Corolla to a halt near East 104th Avenue and Belle Creek Boulevard.
Suspect Fled on Foot With a Loaded Handgun
Once the Corolla was immobilized, Trizio got out holding a handgun and ran. Officers reported seeing him point the weapon near civilian vehicles at the intersection, and Bacigalupo told investigators he saw Trizio extend the firearm and flinch as if preparing to fire. The deputy said he viewed Trizio as a threat and worried the suspect would fire at people in the intersection or try to steal another car.
Bacigalupo, driving an unmarked Dodge Caravan, struck Trizio with the vehicle's front left side to stop him. His dashboard speedometer showed the van was going around 20 mph when it hit Trizio, the same account notes. Trizio was arrested after falling and dropping the handgun, and he was given medical treatment for an ankle injury. The woman passenger was separately detained on her outstanding warrant.
Weapon Testing and the DA's Reasoning
Investigators later tested Trizio's pistol, a Rock Island Armory .45-caliber handgun with a loaded magazine, and found it not capable of firing; he also had a second loaded magazine in his front pocket. Mason said Bacigalupo's use of physical force was unconventional but not unreasonable or excessive, and found that other nonviolent arrest means would not necessarily have been effective given the circumstances.
The 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office issued a decision letter finding no reasonable likelihood of proving a crime against Bacigalupo beyond a reasonable doubt.
Trizio ultimately pleaded guilty to vehicle theft and received a 10-year prison sentence, according to the same report.
Grappler Use Across the State
The case highlights a tool used on Colorado roads. Colorado State Patrol says it has 24 Grappler Police Bumper devices stationed around the state, including in Colorado Springs, and that the tool has completed 75 vehicle stops since August 2021, according to KOAA.
Outcomes in prior Grappler cases around the state have varied. In a March 2022 Colorado Springs stop, a suspect caught in a stolen Jeep was sentenced to three years with the Colorado Department of Corrections, while a August 2021 stop of a stolen Mitsubishi led to a 15-month sentence. In a separate July 2022 case involving a stolen Hyundai, the motor-vehicle-theft charge was ultimately dismissed by the district attorney's office there. Colorado has also seen reported stolen vehicles drop by 21 percent in 2023, a decline of 8,680 fewer thefts than the year before, per KOAA.
