About Our Clients
Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC has been retained to represent Bailey Alexander (left), Yekalo Weldehiwet (middle), and Willis Small IV (right) with respect to their legal claims against the Denver Police Department.
Early Sunday morning on July 17, 2022, Mr. Weldehiwet, Ms. Alexander, and Mr. Small were each separately enjoying a night out in downtown Denver near Larimer Beer Hall on the 2000 block of Larimer Street. Prior to this, our three clients were strangers. But the event that unfolded moments later would be a shared experience that forever altered their lives.
Three officers from the Denver Police Department (“DPD”) were pursuing a suspect, Jordan Waddy, near Larimer Beer Hall around this time. DPD Officers claimed that Mr. Waddy pointed a gun at them, but the officers’ body camera footage clearly shows Mr. Waddy throwing his gun on the ground in compliance with the officers’ commands seconds before the officers began firing their weapons. The officers fired seven rounds into a crowd of bystanders and injured at least six people.
Three of those innocent bystanders were Yekalo Weldehiwet, Bailey Alexander, and Willis Small IV. Mr. Weldehiwet was shot in the arm. The bullet was lodged into his arm and required surgery to set the bones correctly and remove the bullet. Ms. Alexander’s back was hit by a DPD bullet, and it exited through her arm. Ms. Alexander still has bullet shrapnel lodged in her arm. Mr. Small’s foot was grazed by a bullet. All of our clients had to receive emergency medical treatment for their physical wounds. The mental and psychological injuries our clients have faced as a result of the DPD officers’ reckless conduct, however, will remain with them for the rest of their lives.