Denver, CO
‘I’ll never be the person that I was’: Denver police recruit recalls ‘brutal hazing’
Former Denver Police Department recruit Victor Moses spoke with USA TODAY about his lawsuit against the department and what happened the terrible day that a training drill cost him his legs.
Victor Moses knew he wanted to be a police officer in middle school.
He was introduced to the profession while he was growing up in Tallahassee, Florida in 2005, when he would see a neighbor’s friend who worked for the Tallahassee Police Department coming and going from the job.
“I just enjoyed hearing her tell her stories and seeing her,” Moses recently told USA TODAY in an interview. “I was always intrigued as a child just watching her and seeing the police car.”
But tragedy struck not long after Moses decided to pursue his dream of becoming an officer 18 years later. And it’s a dream that may never come true.
During a training exercise while he was a recruit for the Denver Police Department, Moses says that department officials and paramedics forced him to participate in “Fight Day,” a “brutal hazing ritual” that cost Moses both his legs, according to the a lawsuit filed about a month ago.
The lawsuit alleges that Moses’ mistreatment during the training was the culmination of a “culture of violence, hazing, and training that causes unnecessary injuries among recruits,” pointing to a 2014 incident where a trainer allegedly threatened to, “slap the (expletive) out of” the recruit and put the recruit in a chokehold.
“I wish I would have gone further into research,” said Moses, 29. “One shouldn’t have to apply to a police academy and say ‘Am I going to be in danger at an academy?’”
What happened during police training?
On Jan. 6, 2023, Moses was participating in a so-called dynamic action drill during Denver police academy training, according to the lawsuit, which says the drill involves four stations intended to teach future officers how to escalate and de-escalate force. It’s also known as “Fight Day” in the department, the lawsuit says.
At the second station, Moses was knocked to the ground, hit his head and passed out in a simulated attack by multiple department personnel, the lawsuit says. The personnel then forced Moses to his feet to continue the drill until he passed out again when an officer called paramedics over, the lawsuit says.
Moses told the paramedics that he was “extremely fatigued” and experiencing “extreme leg cramping,” a sign of distress in people with sickle cell trait, something Moses informed the department he had in a police application form, the lawsuit says.
Although paramedics found that Moses’ blood pressure was extremely low, they cleared him to continue training, the lawsuit says. But, it continues, Moses was so exhausted that officers had to bring him to the third station, a ground-fighting drill during which an officer put his body weight on Moses, causing the recruit to say, “I can’t breathe,” before he became unresponsive.
“I felt something I’ve never felt before,” Moses said. “It’s really hard to explain, like, how it feels like to die, and I’ve never had that, but I felt what death feels like.”
What happened to Victor Moses after the training drill?
Moses was taken to a hospital. He required multiple surgeries to save his life, had to have his legs amputated and was hospitalized for four months, according to the suit.
Moses says he didn’t really understand the extent of his injuries at first because of how heavily medicated he was.
“When they started weaning down on the drugs, I felt, ‘Why am I still here? Why am I not home, what’s going on?’” Moses said, with the traces of pain evident in his voice. “You’re just in pain, your parents are there for some reason and it was just living hell. It really became real to me when my classmates were visiting me and started explaining what happened and then you see your rotting body.”
Denver Police did not respond to a request for comment.
Lawsuit accuses paramedics of lying to doctors
Moses’ lawsuit includes multiple text exchanges from recruits who were there during the training that day Moses was hurt.
“What got me was the lack of attention from the paramedics, they should have stepped in way sooner and stopped it,” then-recruit Zachary Vasquez said in a group chat, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that paramedics with Denver Health lied to doctors at the hospital, denying that there was a “significant traumatic mechanism of injury,” causing Moses’ care to be compromised.
“I mean the bulk of us witnessed him fall headfirst on the tile, they don’t have much of an argument against it,” Vasquez said in the group chat, the lawsuit says.
Moses developed severe compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, malignant hyperthermia, and severe hyperkalemia in the hospital, according to the lawsuit.
The paramedics helped “enable continued violence and brutality, holding the gate open for additional infliction of trauma even if the recruit has been rendered unconscious,” according to Darold Killmer, Moses’ attorney.
The lawsuit alleges the department continued to cover up their actions, telling news media at the time that Moses’ injuries were caused by undisclosed conditions.
Denver Health declined to comment but pointed to a previous statement to USA TODAY saying that “safety and well-being is a top priority for Denver Health and its paramedics.”
Moses willing to return to policing
Moses told USA TODAY that despite the traumatic incident, he would be willing to work in or around the policing profession in the future.
“I will always support the police. There’s so many good police officers out there,” Moses said. “Yes, my life was ruined, I was turned permanently disabled. But it doesn’t negate the fact that there are a lot of good cops out there. It’s just unfortunate when the actions of a bad police officer, in this case, a group of bad officers, overshadow their work.”
If returning to a police force is not possible, Moses would consider being an advocate for police recruits.
“I know what it’s like, it’s a six-month commitment. It’s not easy. And God forbid if there was ever any other hazing in the future” Moses said. “All police start as a recruit and it’s really important to have good police recruits that aren’t abused and demoralized.”
Moses underwent his most recent surgery in July and continues to recover from his injuries.
“I never feel like it will never be a 100% recovery,” Moses said. “Yes, I’m doing therapy but I’ll never be who I was when I woke up the morning of January 6. I’ll never be that person that I was.”
This Sisyphean season of injuries for the Nuggets has at least one more setback in store.
Peyton Watson is considered week-to-week with a right hamstring strain after he left Wednesday’s game at Utah feeling tight, coach David Adelman said.
And so after their long, slow climb back to full health, the Nuggets will climb again. They had about a week to catch their breath with their opening-day rotation available.
Adelman didn’t rule out the possibility that Watson could return before the end of the regular season, but Denver has only five games remaining, followed by a few days of rest and preparation for a first-round playoff series that was clinched this week.
“I mean, the hope would be playing next week,” Adelman said after practice Friday. “… I think it’s being careful with him. At the same time, competitively, wanting him back as soon as he feels comfortable, and also that week leading into the playoffs, you hope he’s able to go through the preparation of what it is to play in a Game 1. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Watson initially injured his right hamstring Feb. 4 in New York, causing him to miss six weeks. After slow-playing the final stages of his recovery process to be extra cautious, he returned on March 22 and played in five games before the setback. He said on Tuesday that he felt ready to increase his minutes from 20. But he also suggested that he hadn’t felt like himself in Denver’s last two games.
“This is the longest I’ve ever been out, so I thought once I got over the hump of being back that I was gonna stop having problems with my body,” Watson said before the team flew to Utah. “The first game I came back, I felt amazing. The second game I came back, I felt amazing. But the third and fourth game, I’m like, ah, I kind of feel like how I did some of those days during the rehab process. So I think just, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.”
The 23-year-old wing is averaging 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game this season on 49.1% shooting from the field and a 41.1% clip from 3-point range. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer.
“So unfortunate,” Adelman said. “He’s had such a good year. I feel for him as a person. Just not having the opportunity to come back and play right now is completely unfair to somebody who’s put the work in.”
Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. also left the game in Utah — a knee injury in his case — but he was able to participate in practice. The Nuggets are hopeful he’ll be available Saturday afternoon when they host the Spurs, but he’ll be evaluated again before the game to be officially cleared. Spencer Jones (hamstring tightness) didn’t practice Friday and remains day-to-day, Adelman said.
Spurs star center Victor Wembanyama missed Thursday’s win over the Clippers for maintenance reasons, but if he plays in Denver, it’ll be the first time this season the Nuggets will face him. In a new ESPN poll of prospective MVP voters released Friday, Wembanyama had surpassed Denver’s Nikola Jokic for second place in the running. The Nuggets will face San Antonio twice in their last five games.
Their first two head-to-head matchups were split, with both decided by five or fewer points even without Wembanyama playing. Watson would have been one of Denver’s go-to matchup options for the 7-foot-4 French phenom, as he was at times last year.
“I think every time you watch (Wembanyama), you see something that you haven’t seen before,” Nuggets guard Christian Braun said. “Obviously, he’s a really talented player, something the game has kind of never seen before. So just the way he plays, the way the team plays around him, it seems like they’re all really coming together and playing well. So they’re a good team. Obviously, Wemby is a different challenge from what we’ve faced before.”
“This team is very underrated for some reason, how deeply and talented they are,” Adelman added. “Their guard play is as good as anybody in the league. I would say their guard depth would be No. 1, in my opinion.”
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Getty
The Denver Nuggets could lose Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in NBA free agency.
After a run with the Denver Nuggets, the two-time NBA champion Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit the free agency market to sign a lucrative multi-year contract in 2024.
Caldwell-Pope landed a $66 million offer from the Orlando Magic during the summer of 2024. The third season of the deal costs $21.6 million, and it’s up to Caldwell-Pope if he wants to exercise that or become a free agent again.
As the contract is currently on the Memphis Grizzlies‘ books, the team recently landed an update on the veteran’s plans from the NBA insider, Michael Scotto.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s Future Plans Revealed
GettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 04: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #5 of the Denver Nuggets looks to pass in front of James Harden #1 of the LA Clippers during a 102-100 Clippers win at Crypto.com Arena on April 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
via Michael Scotto, HoopsHype: Memphis Grizzlies guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is expected to exercise his $21.6 million player option for the 2026-27 season, league sources say. It’s the last year of a 3-year, $66 million deal negotiated by Rich Paul of Klutch Sports. More on KCP and Ja Morant on @YESNetwork.
The 33-year-old guard spent just one season with the Magic.
In Orlando, Caldwell-Pope appeared in 77 games. He averaged 8.7 points, while shooting 43.9% from the field and hitting on 34.2% of his threes.
Last summer, the Magic cut ties with Caldwell-Pope in the Desmond Bane blockbuster. The veteran’s first season with the Grizzlies included 51 appearances. He averaged 8.4 points while shooting 31.6% from three.
Back in late February, the Grizzlies announced that Caldwell-Pope would undergo season-ending surgery on his pinky finger.
Although Caldwell-Pope plans to pick up his final option, that doesn’t guarantee he is staying with the Grizzlies for the entire 2026-2027 NBA season. Veteran players with a notable resume on expiring deals tend to get moved to contenders when their current team is in the midst of a rebuild.
An NBA Veteran Worth Looking At
GettyNEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 25: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks dribbles as Nikola Jokic #15 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #5 of the Denver Nuggets defends during the first half at Madison Square Garden on January 25, 2024 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Caldwell-Pope has been in the NBA since 2013.
Coming out of Georgia, he was selected eighth overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2013 NBA Draft.
After a four-season run with the Pistons, Caldwell-Pope joined the Los Angeles Lakers. During his four-year run with the Lakers, Caldwell-Pope won his first NBA Championship.
The Nuggets traded for the veteran guard during the 2022 offseason. He was moved for Monte Morris and Will Barton. When the Nuggets picked up Caldwell-Pope, he was rewarded with a $30 million extension over two years.
Before leaving Denver, Caldwell-Pope posted averages of 10.4 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.6 rebounds, while shooting 41.5% from three.
He was a member of the Nuggets’ 2023 NBA Championship squad.
Justin Grasso Justin Grasso is an NBA reporter, covering trending league news, transactions, injuries, and player developments. He is a credentialed journalist with nearly a decade of insider access. More about Justin Grasso
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The Colorado Rockies are set to play their home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, but the weather forecast calls for partly sunny skies and strong winds gusting up to 40 mph. Temperatures will start around 55 degrees at first pitch but steadily drop throughout the game, reaching 52 degrees by the final inning.
Why it matters
The Rockies’ home opener is a highly anticipated event for baseball fans in Denver, and the blustery conditions could impact the game play, fan experience, and overall atmosphere at Coors Field. Strong winds can affect pitching, batting, and fielding, while the dropping temperatures may require fans to bundle up more than expected.
The details
The Pinpoint Weather Alert team forecasts that Friday’s game will see partly sunny skies and gusty winds, with gusts potentially reaching up to 40 mph. At the 2:10 pm first pitch, the temperature will be around 55 degrees, but it will gradually decrease to 54 degrees by the fifth inning and 52 degrees by the end of the game.
- The Rockies’ home opener is scheduled for Friday, April 4, 2026.
- First pitch is set for 2:10 pm.
- Temperatures are expected to start at 55 degrees and drop to 52 degrees by the end of the game.
The players
Colorado Rockies
The professional baseball team based in Denver, Colorado, that plays in the National League West division of Major League Baseball.
Philadelphia Phillies
The professional baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that plays in the National League East division of Major League Baseball.
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What’s next
Fans attending the game should dress in layers and be prepared for the changing weather conditions throughout the afternoon.
The takeaway
The blustery forecast for the Rockies’ home opener highlights the unpredictable nature of springtime weather in Colorado and the importance of being prepared for potential changes in temperature and wind during outdoor sporting events.
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