A Black Denver Police Recruit Was Allegedly Hazed So Badly in Training, He Lost His Legs

Victor Moses had lifelong dreams of becoming a police officer. It was something he’d dreamed about since he was in middle school. He finally got the opportunity in 2023 when he became a recruit for the Denver Police Department, but his training experience allegedly ruined Moses’ career before it had a chance to start.

During a January 2023 incident, Moses was involved in a “dynamic action drill” at the Denver Police Training Academy. The drill is meant to teach recruits how to de-escalate and escalate force properly, according to USA Today, but instead it left him without legs. 

At one of the stations, Moses was allegedly knocked to the ground during a simulated attack and hit his head, causing him pass out immediately. Despite his condition, he was forced back on his feet to continue the drill, only to pass out again.

Mind you, he noted on his police application that had a sickle cell trait. But still, officers apparently forced him to keep going.

Though paramedics found that his blood pressure was low, his training continued, and he was dragged to another station for the escalation training where an officer put his entire body weight on Moses during a simulated ground fight. He stated, “I can’t breathe,” before passing out.

More from USA Today:

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.”

As a result, Moses filed a lawsuit last month, where he accused the paramedics who took him to the hospital of lying to the doctors who treated him. He also adds that the Denver Police Department is covering up their role in his current state.

The lawsuit also states that he developed Moses developed other conditions, including severe compartment syndrome, rhabdomyolysis, malignant hyperthermia, and severe hyperkalemia in the hospital, according to the lawsuit.