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Destinee Thompson

Gender : Female

Age : 27

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/17/2021

Location : American Motel, 10101 W. I-70 Frontage Rd. N.

City : Wheat Ridge

County : Jefferson

State : Colorado

Agency : Arvada Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Anthony Benallo; other unidentified officers

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police in possible mistaken identity

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

Destinee Thompson, a 27-year-old pregnant mother of three who was seven months pregnant, was on her way to lunch with her stepmother on August 17, 2021. Officers from the Arvada Police Department, including Officer Anthony Benallo, responded to a report of a woman who had stolen from a Target store and held a knife at an employee. A witness followed the individual to the American Motel at 10101 W. I-70 Frontage Rd. N., where officers were searching for a woman in a white tank top with a chest tattoo. Thompson was wearing a white tank top but did not have the specified chest tattoo. She repeatedly told officers she was not the person they were looking for and that she had no identification. Unable to convince the officers of her innocence, she locked herself in her minivan, locked the doors, and refused to exit, repeatedly stating, "It wasn't me."
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An officer smashed the passenger window with a baton. Thompson panicked, reversed the vehicle, hitting a police car, and then drove forward over a curb onto the road. Officer Benallo opened fire, discharging eight shots and striking Thompson. She was pronounced deceased at the scene. Both Thompson and her seven-month-old unborn child died as a result of the shooting. The shooting was handled in an internal investigation by the Arvada Police Department and the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
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In August 2023, Thompson's family filed a wrongful death and excessive force lawsuit against five officers from the Arvada Police Department, alleging that her race—being part Latina and part Native American—played a role in her being targeted. The Arvada Police Department stated that the family's lawyer has mischaracterized the events surrounding Thompson's death and plans to mount a vigorous legal defense. Reports suggest that Thompson may have been mistakenly identified as the shoplifter.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES: 1 fatality (Destinee Thompson) and her unborn child
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Last Update: 01/15/2025

SOURCE LINKS :

• https://www.cbsnews.com/news/destinee-thompson-family-lawsuit-pregnant-mother-3-fatally-shot-by-police-denver-suburb-arvada/
• https://www.denver7.com/news/crime/police-who-fatally-shot-a-pregnant-woman-are-sued-by-her-family-in-colorado
• https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/arvada-police-lawsuit-pregnant-woman-killed/73-641d06bc-ff51-4d66-bfd7-813c43525513
• https://rmlawyers.com/in-the-news/family-of-pregnant-woman-killed-by-arvada-officer-files-lawsuit/