The city of Denver will pay $350,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a delivery driver who was seriously injured when a police officer crashed into him while pursuing another car on the wrong side of the road three years ago.
The Denver City Council approved the settlement with Christopher Cordova and a related $40,000 insurance settlement in a block vote Monday afternoon.
Cordova had just started his rounds delivering for Bimbo Bakeries when the accident occurred on North Quebec Street just after 3 a.m. on April 13, 2021, according to a lawsuit his attorneys filed last year. Cordova was driving in the southbound lanes near Sandcreek Drive and Interstate 270 when officer Jacob Marsh approached in an unmarked Denver Police Department vehicle, traveling north on the wrong side of the road, according to the suit.
Marsh didn’t activate his emergency lights or siren. He crashed into Cordova’s vehicle head-on, the suit says.
Cordova suffered “serious and life-altering injuries,” according to his initial court filing. The suit does not provide specifics about how Cordova was hurt, but KDVR reported that he sustained a broken leg. He racked up significant medical bills and was expected to have ongoing expenses related to the crash.
Marsh was arrested on suspicion of vehicular assault following the collision. According to a probable cause statement filed at the time of his arrest, he was driving at a speed of 75 mph — 30 mph above the speed limit — in an attempt to catch up with another driver to make a traffic stop.
That car did not stop and was not involved in the crash, according to details released at the time.
Monday’s other settlement includes a nearly $40,000 payment to resolve a legal claim brought by Fleet Response, an insurance agency representing Bimbo Bakeries.
Marsh, who was also seriously hurt in the crash, was suspended without pay on April 27, 2021, pending the resolution of his felony case. He eventually was acquitted of vehicular assault and was reinstated to full duty on the force in August 2022, according to Denver police spokesman Doug Schepman.
But Marsh resigned from the department in February. Days after his resignation, Denver public safety officials completed a summary of the disciplinary process against him.
It showed that when the 2021 crash occurred, Marsh was working an off-duty job providing traffic enforcement support for a construction project. He had not disclosed that job to his superiors and did not have approval to do that work, the summary says.
Before he resigned, the document says, the city was preparing to fine Marsh for two days’ pay for that violation and to suspend him for 10 days for careless driving.
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