Adams County Sheriff's Deputy Ezekiel Spotts was arrested last month on suspicion of assault after a mother and daughter alleged he punched and choked them during a confrontation at a Walmart.
A Colorado prosecutor says criminal charges will not be filed against a sheriff's deputy who was involved in a violent encounter with two women at a local Walmart.
Adams County Sheriff's Deputy Ezekiel Spotts was arrested last month on suspicion of assault after a mother and daughter alleged he punched and choked them during a confrontation that began at the store's exit doors and spilled into the parking lot, authorities said.
Spotts was off duty at the time, officials said.
But Adams County District Attorney Brian Mason said Tuesday he would not file charges against Spotts because “despite the clear evidence that Mr. Spotts struck two females causing them injury, there remains a significant question of who the initial aggressor was in these incidents,” the prosecutor wrote in a letter to the sheriff and to the Thornton Police Department, which investigated the July 18 incident.
Mason also released surveillance video from the Walmart exit area, which appears to show Spotts facing off with Erika Smith, who had been shopping with her 3-month-old daughter and her mom, Linda Hurley.
Spotts appears to push Smith on the shoulder. She is then seen slapping him twice, the video appears to show. Spotts then throws a punch and appears to hit Smith in the face.
Mason characterized the initial touch by Spotts as placing “his hands on E.S.’s shoulder" and says in the letter that Spotts “was acting on a reasonable belief that he must defend himself from the continued use of physical force by E.S.”
The prosecutor wrote that the confrontation continued in the parking lot, with witnesses saying the two women and Spotts were yelling at each other and physically fighting.
Spotts told investigating officers he was defending himself from the women, authorities said. The women said their injuries included a broken nose, a damaged foot and multiple bruises and contusions, police said.
The prosecutor said he found the behaviors of all three troublesome.
“I find the conduct of the parties regrettable,' he wrote. "In particular, an off-duty law enforcement officer, while certainly retaining the right to defend himself, should nevertheless also have the judgment and reflection to step back from a volatile situation," Mason said.
Though he declined to file charges, Mason wrote that an internal affairs investigation of Spotts' actions was warranted.
The sheriff's department has said it will now conduct its own investigation and that Spotts, who works in the county jail, has been on restricted duty since the incident.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out for comment to the sheriff and to Spotts, but has not heard back.
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