A Colorado family files a civil rights lawsuit against an Adams County deputy

Court records show a Thornton woman filed a civil rights lawsuit this month against an Adams County sheriff’s deputy after he attacked her and her family in an off-duty Walmart parking lot last year.

The lawsuit states that Linda Hurley is suing Adams County Sheriff’s Deputy Ezekiel Spots for violating her and her family’s Fourth Amendment rights against excessive force and unlawful seizure. He is also suing the county itself for improperly hiring, investigating, training, supervising and disciplining its deputies.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 24 in U.S. District Court in Colorado, seeks damages for Hurley’s legal fees, economic damages resulting from disability, pain and suffering, emotional distress, impaired quality of life and all “reasonable and necessary “medical expenses.”

The lawsuit says Hurley suffered a skull fracture, brain bleeding, a concussion and a broken nose as a result of Spotts’ attack, as well as soft tissue damage throughout her body, including her face, abdomen and left foot.

The lawsuit says Hurley has also suffered “significant mental and emotional harm” since the attack, including nightmares, severe anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Court records show that in July 2023, Hurley, her daughter Erika Smith, who suffers from autism and bipolar disorder, and her 3-month-old granddaughter were leaving a Walmart store in Thornton when they nearly hit Spotts with a stroller.

According to a report from the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Spots, who was off-duty at the time of the confrontation, told Thornton officers that Smith acted as if he was moving too slowly and began “leaking water in her mouth” while yelling at him. He told police he pushed her aside and she punched him three or four times before he pushed her away again.

Smith said she told Spotts not to suddenly stop in front of people and block the exit, prompting an off-duty deputy to follow her out the door, police said in the report.

She testified that Spotts pushed her first, causing Smith to lose her balance, according to the lawsuit. When he tried to hit her again, Smith said she hit him. At this point, Hurley stepped between the two.

Spots threatened to arrest Hurley for “interfering” and identified himself as a police officer, but he refused to provide his badge number, the lawsuit said. When Thornton officers arrived on scene, police said he had no hesitation in identifying himself as an Adams County deputy.

The lawsuit says Hurley said Spotts followed them to the car and tried to take photos of the license plate.

When the women refused to close the trunk and let him take photos, he grabbed Smith by the throat with both hands and choked her for about 30 seconds, the lawsuit alleges. Hurley said she tried to pull the deputy away from her daughter, but only succeeded in getting his attention.

The lawsuit said Spots “repeatedly punched her in the face” and threw her “through a nearby shopping cart and into a nearby car.”

The lawsuit says Hurley’s granddaughter was still in the shopping cart when Spotts threw Hurley into it. When Hurley’s body hit the stroller, it overturned, knocking the infant several feet to the pavement.

The lawsuit claimed multiple witnesses saw the attack and corroborated Hurley’s story, but did not name any of them.