You have the right to self-defense and defense of property and your home under Colorado law. However, the Loveland, Estes
Park, and Fort Collins police have the right to search your residence if they obtain a search warrant from a judge. But, what happens if you don’t hear them announce themselves? This happened in Utah – the ensuing events ended in disaster.
A Drug Raid Gone Wrong – Could this Happen in Weld County?
Late one evening in Utah, a narcotics task force knocked on the door of a residence. When no one answered, the police entered the house and came under fire. In the end, five police officers were wounded and one was killed. The man in the house was also wounded. What was the reason for this carnage? The drug team was serving a warrant to search for an illegal substance: Marijuana.
The man living in the home was an Iraq war veteran who was suffering from depression. He grew marijuana in his basement – there was enough evidence for the police to obtain a search warrant. That night, the police executed a “knock-and-announce” warrant. This rule mandates that the Fort Collins, Loveland and Estes Park police must knock on a door, announce their authority to search the premises and then wait a reasonable amount of time before entering. Having received no response from the man, the drug task force entered the home. The police officers were dressed in black, and were not instantly recognizable as cops. The man opened fire, and chaos ensued.
The Right to Self-Defense and Defense of Property in Larimer County
As citizens, we all have a right to self-defense – C.R.S. 18-1-704, and the defense of property. Under Colorado Statute 18-1-705 (the use of physical force in defense of premise’s law) a person who owns a building is “justified in using reasonable and appropriate physical force when…it is reasonably necessary to prevent…what he reasonably believes to be the commission or attempted commission of an unlawful trespass.” If you awoke to a group of men dressed in black entering your home in Fort Collins, Loveland or Estes Park, what would you do? In the case in Ogden, it is understandable that the man (who had received training in the Iraq war) would defend himself when his home was being trespassed.
What would you do if you awoke in the middle of the night with intruders trespassing in your home? The Utah man was labeled a cop-killer, and eventually committed suicide while in police custody. These events never should have unfolded: the police were overzealous, and served the warrant for a minor drug offense at night, and not in uniform. The man defended himself, and as a result – a cop died.