The shooting happened in the 1900 block of North Broadway, DPD said on social media.

The extent of the victim’s injuries are unknown at this time. Details about the victim or shooter were not yet known.

The circumstances around the shooting are under investigation, police said.

This is a developing story that will be updated if more details are provided.

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The four zones permitted by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure for food truck operations are 18th Street between Larimer and Market streets; Lawrence Street between 20th and 21st streets; Market Street between 17th and 18th streets and 21st Street between Blake and Market streets.

The Market Street between 17th and 18th streets location is only being used this weekend because of an upcoming construction project, police said. Officials will evaluate additional potential locations to replace that one.

On Sept. 6, 7 and 27, food truck permits will not be granted on 21st Street between Blake and Market streets because of large Coors Field events, police said. Instead, food trucks will be allowed to park in the loading zone on the east side of Market Street between 20th and 21st streets on these dates only.

Police said the zones benefit safety because they create a positive environment between the bars and rideshare pickup zones, increase pedestrian safety and reduce crowds in the busiest parts of LoDo.

In creating the new food truck zones, DPD said it partnered with DOTI to consider areas that could accommodate lines, not block parking lot exits, not impede pedestrian traffic or bike lanes and offer enough space for multiple food trucks.

To reserve these meters, food truck operators must apply for a meter bag permit from DOTI to park and operate in these locations, DPD said.

“Through these adjustments to food truck permitting, the food trucks will be helping to improve safety in LoDo,” DPD said in a statement.

Last weekend, DPD distributed fliers to late-night food trucks in LoDo alerting them to upcoming restrictions on where they could operate.

Starting this week, food trucks are prohibited from parking along Blake, Market and Larimer streets, between 18th and 21st streets, and on 21st, between Market and Larimer, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

“The Denver Police Department has a large number of officers in the LoDo area on weekend nights, and finds violent incidents often stem from areas in which crowds congregate after leaving nightclubs and entertainment establishments,” DPD said in a statement. “By encouraging patrons to head home after leaving bars in the busiest parts of LoDo, DPD’s goal is to reduce the number of ‘bump into’ fights and incidents that sometimes escalate to gun violence among the crowds late at night Fridays through Sundays.”

Violent crime, however, is down this year in that area, according to data posted by the Denver Police Department.

The part of LoDo where food trucks are prohibited on late weekend nights straddles the Union Station and Five Points neighborhoods. Denver police data shows reported violent crime is down 17% so far in 2024 over the three-year average in the Union Station neighborhood and down 1% over the three-year average in Five Points — though the latter neighborhood is much larger and features other distinct nightlife areas.

In the summer of 2022, food trucks first were barred from operating in LoDo for about a month following a mass shooting in which Denver police wounded an armed man and six bystanders, though city officials denied a connection between that shooting and the ban.

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Security cameras monitor an extensive list of products stocked on those protected shelves, including batteries, lightbulbs, laundry detergent, pregnancy tests, deodorant, candles, medicine and baby food. Patrons pay at one of two dedicated check-out counters before being handed receipts and continuing their shopping trips.

The anti-theft measures at the store, 757 E. 20th Ave., don’t surprise some shoppers: “They call it ‘Un-Safeway’ for a reason,” Alex Haskins told The Denver Post in the parking lot, repeating a common nickname for that location.

Major supermarket chains are ramping up their efforts to prevent stealing by restricting access to certain aisles, installing merchandise lock boxes, hiring security guards and more. Corporate spokespeople point to retail crime as a major problem for the grocery and convenience store industries, though several declined to discuss measures at specific stores in Denver.

“Different products experience different theft rates, depending on store location and other factors,” said Amy Thibault, a spokesperson for CVS Pharmacy. “Locking a product is a measure of last resort.”

Often, such actions come as an inconvenience to customers, with the new security protocols recognized as nationwide annoyances. The union representing Colorado grocery store workers says they’re Band-Aid solutions to larger problems: shortages of employees and security.

“Locking up merchandise can be an effective theft deterrent, but it underscores the need for more staff and more security in our stores,” said Kim Cordova, the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. “With limited staff, customers face delays in accessing products, leading to frustration that often falls on our essential grocery store workers.”

The grocery industry, which is making less money now compared to recent years, predicts it will shell out more cash to hire and keep employees through benefits, training and other measures, according to the industry publication Grocery Dive.

Last year, the industry’s profit margin — 1.6% — was about as low as percentages before the COVID-19 pandemic years, which sent margins up to as high as 3% in 2020, when Americans spent months under lockdowns.

“It’s a marginal business. We work at the margins,” said Pete Marczyk, the co-founder of Marczyk Fine Foods. He runs a locally owned grocer with two locations in the Uptown and Hale neighborhoods.

His small business isn’t spared from theft — and he feels the financial hits personally.

“To us, it’s rent money,” Marczyk said. “That’s the money I need for tuition for my kid.”

Denver neighborhoods with highest theft rates

In Denver, several stores that have implemented some of the most extensive anti-theft measures aren’t located in neighborhoods with the highest reports of shoplifting offenses at supermarkets.

From Aug. 1, 2023, to Aug. 1, 2024, the Central Park neighborhood had the most larceny reports at local stores, with 98, according to the Denver Police Department. Union Station followed with 45, then Montclair with 37, Baker with 31 and Hampden with 14.

Five Points — home to the Safeway store with cordoned-off aisles — didn’t make the top 15 neighborhoods, ranking 17th.

But perhaps owing to the store’s past experience with crime, a security patrol car was parked by the entrance on a late August afternoon while an officer talked to a customer by a car in the parking lot. And on a recent weekend, just inside the entrance, a security guard and an employee confronted a man they suspected of theft.

Creating a store within a store for certain products is a less-common approach, but Safeway has implemented the setup at some other locations — and customers who commented on a recent Denver-specific thread about the practice on Reddit had no shortage of opinions.

Albertsons, the parent company of Safeway, didn’t respond to requests for comment about its strategies to prevent stealing.

Several miles away, the protocols at a King Soopers location in the Central Park neighborhood — No. 1 on the police’s list for grocery thefts — felt relatively normal this week.

A sign at the front of the store, 10406 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., informed patrons that receipts were required when exiting the building. It banned the indoor use of suitcases, duffel bags and roller bags. In small print at the bottom, the sign said: “These enhanced safety measures will help combat crime.”

The store itself offered an upscale shopping experience, with sushi and cheese counters. Security cameras watched overhead, but infant care items, medicine, vitamins, toys and wine sat openly on display. Only cosmetics and detergent were stored under lock and key.

A security guard stood at the exit, but he didn’t make a move to check receipts.

Jessica Trowbridge, a spokesperson for King Soopers and City Market, declined to provide details on their anti-theft practices “to preserve the integrity of our security measures.” But she said stores work with law enforcement to fight crime.

“We are disappointed by the increased level of crime across retail establishments,” Trowbridge wrote in a statement. “We have recently deployed additional solutions to help prevent and deter illegal activity, and although early in implementation, we have received positive feedback from associates and customers.”

Other well-known brands keep their theft-prevention tactics concealed from the public.

“Some products are subject to additional security,” said Kelsey Bohl, a spokesperson for Walmart. “Those determinations are made on a store-by-store basis.”

Companies offering business security to the grocery industry are more direct about potential strategies. InVue, a North Carolina-based technology company, highlights several methods to prevent shoplifting, including employee training, inventory checks, security tags, smart locks and more.

At a Walgreens location at 120 N. Broadway on the edge of the Baker neighborhood, the security measures were pronounced.

Lock boxes were common along many of the aisles, making facial products, perfume, deodorant, games and dietary supplements inaccessible unless a patron pressed a customer service button to flag down an employee.

The impact of crime was also apparent: Shoppers entering and leaving the pharmacy on Tuesday were greeted by a busted window covered with plywood.

“Retail crime is one of the top challenges facing our industry today,” said Megan Boyd, a spokesperson for Walgreens. “These additional security measures allow us to improve on-shelf availability of products to customers.”

“It really is almost fruitless”

At some big-name stores, it’s largely business as usual.

The Berkeley neighborhood’s Safeway location, 3800 W. 44th Ave., sits in a quiet shopping center near a State Farm Insurance office and an Anytime Fitness health club. Vitamins and detergent are within arm’s reach. The only items locked away are premium wines, including bottles of Veuve Clicquot and Dom Pérignon.

The neighborhood recorded just four larceny offenses at grocery stores over the last year, DPD’s data shows.

For now, smaller retailers operating in the Denver area are keeping their items unlocked, too.

At the 7305 N. Pecos St. location of the Hispanic grocery chain Lowe’s Mercado, toiletries, laundry detergent, wine and beer are readily available to patrons, with only jewelry and medicines like NyQuil shielded in display cases.

Marczyk Fine Foods’ stores use security cameras, barcode tracking and employee training to mitigate stealing, which Pete Marczyk estimates happens about once a day.

Since the pandemic, he said, he’s noticed a lack of police presence in the city, and his business can’t afford its own high-level security guard. Customers shouldn’t expect lock boxes throughout his stores, he said, in part because expensive products, such as ribeye steaks, are already behind glass.

“We don’t have the financial wherewithal at our size,” Marczyk said, “to really take steps beyond making sure, as much as we can, that our employees are safe and that customers feel safe when they come in our stores.”

The silver lining is that with only two locations, they’re often not targets of organized theft. And Marczyk Fine Foods more often handles nuisance issues.

But Marczyk knows that he’s not alone in his challenges. He recalled watching a woman run out of King Soopers with a cart of groceries while a security guard looked on.

“It really is almost fruitless,” Marczyk said. “If somebody’s going to walk in and steal from you, they’re going to walk in and steal from you.”

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Chyon Kendrick was identified as a suspect in the shooting through witness statements and video evidence, the Denver Police Department said in a news release Thursday.

The Denver Sheriff Department deputy stopped to check on a car that looked like it crashed near the intersection of West Byers Place and South Kalamath Street at 1:47 p.m. Thursday and found the driver with a gunshot wound.

The man, later identified as 35-year-old Fernando Alvarez-Chacon, was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead, according to Denver police. The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner on Wednesday ruled his death a homicide from a gunshot wound.

Investigators determined Alvarez-Chacon was shot while driving on South Santa Fe Drive and his car came to a stop near the intersection where the deputy found him.

Kendrick is in custody on a $750,000 bail and is set to appear in court Tuesday, according to court records.

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Police officials attribute the policy change to a need to control crowds and prevent violent incidents after bars and nightclubs let out. But food truck operators and advocates question any attempt to correlate people hawking hot dogs and crime.

“This ban doesn’t even make any sense,” said Justin Pearson, an attorney at the Virginia-based nonprofit Institute for Justice, which rallied against a similar Denver police policy in 2022. “Research shows food trucks make neighborhoods safer… (and) they’re taking away options for people to sober up before they head home. That is a horrible idea.”

Starting this week, food trucks are prohibited from parking along Blake, Market and Larimer streets, between 18th and 21st streets, and on 21st, between Market and Larimer, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Establishments inside the prohibited zone include Viewhouse Ballpark, Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, Tap Fourteen and the 1up Arcade Bar.

Police alerted food truck operators to the change last weekend by passing out fliers, though officials acknowledged to The Denver Post on Wednesday that those leaflets contained an error: They mistakenly said the restrictions were also in place Thursday nights.

“The restricted area of operation is intended to help reduce the number of ‘bump into’ fights and incidents that escalate to gun violence occurring among crowds during these nights and hours, and to encourage people to leave the LoDo area soon after the bars and nightclubs shut down,” the Denver Police Department said in a statement.

Violent crime, however, is down this year in that area, according to data posted by the Denver Police Department.

The part of LoDo where food trucks now are prohibited on late weekend nights straddles the Union Station and Five Points neighborhoods. Denver police data shows reported violent crime is down 17% so far in 2024 over the three-year average in the Union Station neighborhood and down 1% over the three-year average in Five Points — though the latter neighborhood is much larger and features other distinct nightlife areas.

The city does intend to create two or three designated zones for food trucks to operate in the area, but details are still being fleshed out, police said. “This is a pilot program and DPD will evaluate the initiative and results moving forward to determine whether adjustments are needed,” the department’s statement said.

In addition to the food truck restrictions, Denver police said they also implemented rideshare pick-up zones in July, increased officer staffing, improved lighting and increased outreach to bars and clubs in the area to address late-night safety.

Police officials declined to answer any further questions from The Post about what new events prompted the food truck restrictions.

In the summer of 2022, food trucks first were barred from operating in LoDo for about a month following a mass shooting in which Denver police wounded an armed man and six bystanders, though city officials denied a connection between that shooting and the ban.

David Sevcik, owner of Food Truck Avenue, which oversees operations for several Colorado food trucks including Mac N’ Noodles and Mile High Cheesteaks, said his trucks haven’t catered to downtown Denver nightlife for years because dealing with city regulations is so difficult.

“If we’re afraid of having a crowd in any environment, why are we serving food at sports arenas then?” Sevcik said. “Denver metro is becoming anti-food truck.”

Denver police’s statement said the department recognizes the impact on food truck businesses and “minimized the footprint of the restricted area to the greatest extent possible to achieve the intended goals.”

“DPD wants the food truck operators to be successful and for the area to be as safe as possible,” the statement said.

John Jaramillo, co-founder of the local Hispanic Restaurant Association, said food trucks have previously called on him to advocate on their behalf against the city’s restrictions. He said he understands officials are dealing with complex, nuanced issues but does not understand how food trucks contribute to violence.

“I don’t see how a person trying to make a living out of a legitimate business is a crime issue,” Jaramillo said. “That’s more of a structural city issue — homelessness, gangs.”

Two years ago, Pearson — the Institute for Justice attorney — questioned whether Denver’s food truck ban was unconstitutional. Now he said the new restrictions are “outrageous.”

“Everyone knows food trucks aren’t a problem here,” he said. “The police department shouldn’t be able to have this power to begin with and in most cities they don’t.”

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The department posted on its X account that officers responded to a shooting in the area at 2:05 p.m. Thursday. The victim was taken to a hospital.

On Friday, the department posted an update announcing that the victim had died. That update described the circumstances of the shooting as an apparent road rage incident.

The intersection of Byers and Kalamath is near a busy tangle of roadways including the West Alameda Avenue interchange with Interstate 25 in Baker.

The department has not shared further details about the victim or any suspects in the case.

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Officers responded to reports of a crash near South Clinton Street and East Alameda Avenue early Thursday morning, according to a 12:36 a.m. statement from the Denver Police Department.

The intersection is just north of the Windsor Gardens Community Center and northeast of Windsor Lake.

One car was involved in the crash, but paramedics took two people to the hospital with serious injuries, police said. Police did not specify if the second person involved in the crash was a passenger or a pedestrian.

The crash remains under investigation.

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“I wish I could say I were surprised, but in a year when a Black woman could become POTUS, those with hate in their heart are going to coordinate these kinds of atrocious, expensive campaigns to stir division,” Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis said in a statement on X.

The first Denver sign was reported around 5 a.m. Thursday by a bus driver on the pole of a bus stop near the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Oneida Street, according to a news release from Regional Transportation District. The two other signs in Denver were found at Colfax’s intersections with Garfield Street, near St. Joseph’s Medical Center, and with Yosemite Street.

Around 8:20 a.m. Thursday, one man in Denver’s Congress Park neighborhood spotted two white women putting up the sign at the bus stop at Colfax and Garfield.

“It was one of those things where you know something is out of place, but you don’t know what’s going on,” Congress Park resident Greg Bell said.

Bell said he passed the two women — who were carrying a white stepladder and trash bags he believes were holding the signs — as he made his way into a nearby grocery store. Minutes later, he saw the pair setting up the stepladder in front of the bus stop and one woman climbing onto it while holding a white, metal sign.

Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas on Friday said all the signs had been posted by 7:30 a.m. so it was more likely the women Bell saw were removing the signs.

Photos posted by Lewis show the signs screwed into the pole of that bus stop.

One white sign reads “Blacks must sit at the back of the bus. Kamala’s migrants sit in the front.” Another yellow caution sign on the same pole warns riders of “Kamala’s illegals,” with imagery of people running that is supposed to signify immigrants crossing the border.

The caution sign mimics real road signage that was posted until 2018 in California, warning drivers near the San Diego border to watch for migrants running across the freeway.

An Instagram account linked to Sabo — a right-wing street artist known for controversial art criticizing progressive policies and candidates — posted photos of the three Denver signs and a fourth at the intersection of Nome Street and East Colfax Avenue in Aurora.

That intersection is near an Aurora apartment complex recently shut down for city health and building code violations, uprooting hundreds of Venezuelan migrants.

The post on the Instagram account that links to Sabo’s UNSAVORYAGENTS website references the apartment closure, standing by claims from building ownership that a Venezuelan gang took over the complex. Aurora police and city officials have repeatedly denied the claims.

“The recent appearance of racist signs in Denver is deeply troubling and does not reflect the values of our city,” the Denver City Council said in an emailed statement Thursday. “… We stand with all residents in condemning these acts and reaffirm our commitment to building a community where everyone feels safe, valued and heard.”

RTD officials said similar signs had appeared recently at bus stops in Chicago and that Colorado officials were connecting with other agencies across the county to “assess the magnitude of the coordinated racist activity.” The Instagram account linked to Sabo includes an Aug. 21 picture of a similar sign the caption states was posted at a bus stop outside the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention was happening.

Shortly before the Legislature ended its property tax-focused special session Thursday, two Denver lawmakers decried the signs from the state House floor.

“What I think is important is that we confront our history and note that if any of us care to say that we have moved forward, that all of us demonstrate in standing here … that this is hate, and that it’s unacceptable,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat and the House’s assistant majority leader. “We don’t know who put these up, and so we don’t know who’s part of the problem. We know that we cannot continue to allow people to believe that this is acceptable or allow people to believe that they can grow power from posting signs like this.”

RTD officials worked with Denver law enforcement to remove all the reported signs and are investigating each of the incidents..

“RTD strongly condemns the hateful, discriminatory message portrayed by the signs,” transportation officials wrote in the release. “There is no place for racism or discrimination at RTD or within the communities we serve … nor should such vile messaging be tolerated or supported by anyone.”

Anyone who sees unauthorized signs or suspicious behavior at RTD bus stops should call Transit Police Dispatch at 303-299-2911, text 303-434-9100 or submit an anonymous report using RTD’s Transit Watch app.

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Updated at 1:52 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, 2024: This article was updated to include new information about what two women seen by a witness with a stepladder near one of the posted signs were doing.

Officers were on the scene of the crash near the intersection of Speer Boulevard and Broadway — located in Denver’s Lincoln Park neighborhood — around 12:50 a.m. Tuesday, according to a post on X from the Denver Police Department.

Northbound Broadway was closed temporarily at 8th Avenue for the crash investigation, police said.

This is a developing story. 

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The City Council approved the settlement with Ambrose Cruz and his attorneys on Monday. It is the latest in a string of legal payments stemming from the police response to the protests that so far have cost Denver taxpayers more than $10 million.

Cruz’s lawsuit, filed by attorney Elizabeth Wang from Boulder civil rights firm Loevy & Loevy in December 2021, provides a detailed rebuke of what Wang described as a pattern of unconstitutional behavior by the Denver Police Department and other law enforcement agencies in the department’s mutual-aid network.

“Over the course of several days, the DPD and its mutual-aid officers deployed constitutionally unlawful crowd control tactics,” Wang wrote in the complaint. Those tactics included “indiscriminate and unwarned launching of tear gas and flashbangs into crowds and at individuals, and shooting projectiles at protestors.”

Cruz attended the protests on the evening of June 1, 2020, as a photographer and freelance journalist, intending to document the demonstrations and the police response, according to the suit. At roughly 9 p.m., Cruz was outside the Colorado Capitol when law enforcement officers descended on protesters and fired tear gas and foam and rubber projectiles in an attempt to enforce a curfew.

According to the lawsuit, Cruz sought to escape the chaos by running up the stairwell of a parking garage nearby. In encounters with police officers, he was shot in the face repeatedly with pepper balls at close range and threatened, with continued firing of pepper balls even after he was on the ground. Pepper balls are small projectiles containing a chemical irritant similar to pepper spray.

Cruz was arrested on charges of violating a curfew and failure to obey a lawful order. The complaint includes a photo of him with a large bruise and swelling under his left eye following his arrest. He spent more than 12 hours in jail without medical attention, the complaint says.

He has had ongoing problems with his eyesight, including increased light sensitivity, according to his lawyer. The charges against him were later dropped.

Last year, the council approved a $4.7 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of roughly 300 protesters arrested for curfew violations. That suit was also filed by Loevy & Loevy.

Cruz’s incident prevented him from returning to observe the protests on future nights, something Wang argued further violated his civil rights.

“Cruz feared the weapons and excessive force that the DPD was using and did not return to exercise his First Amendment right as a photojournalist to document the protests as a result,” she wrote.

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