The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Death of ‘Teflon’

Posted on | February 17, 2021 | Comments Off on The Death of ‘Teflon’

Ramiro “Teflon” Carrasco began his life of crime at a young age, with a record dating back to 2003, the year he turned 14. In late June 2011, Carrasco was wanted on six active warrants, including failure to appear in court to face charges of fraud, domestic violence and probation violation, when police spotted him in Loveland, Colorado. Carrasco managed to elude police for two more days before he was finally arrested with the help of a SWAT team and a police K-9. Six years later, in February 2017, Carrasco was wanted on four outstanding warrants — including two felonies — when Loveland police tried to arrest him again, but he barricaded himself inside an apartment and once more, the SWAT team had to be called to take “Teflon” into custody.

You might think that a lifelong felon who had twice been the subject of SWAT interventions might have gotten a lengthy prison sentence. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, “Teflon” was a known gang member, whose face was covered with tattoos. Despite his felonious history, Carrasco was released from prison in Colorado in January 2019. His obituary was published 13 months later:

Ramiro Carrasco, a loving father, son, brother, uncle, cousin and friend. Ramiro left this world unexpectedly at 30 years young on Feb 26, 2020.

“Unexpectedly”? His death was actually quite predictable. The cause of death was three gunshot wounds from a Greeley police officer’s pistol.

At the time of his death, Carrasco was out on bond on charges in Larimer County. He also had an outstanding warrant in Boulder County. He and a woman named Keya Marie Pobanz (who had also done time in prison) had spent a few days smoking marijuana and methamphetamine. About 1 a.m. on February 26, 2020, Carrasco and Pobanz were in a green Honda in the parking lot of the Island Grove Village Apartments, “an affordable rental housing community” near a park on 14th Avenue in Greeley.

A police officer “was conducting crime suppression patrol” in the neighborhood, which was known “to be a high crime area specifically, narcotics and a dumping ground for stolen vehicles.” The officer spotted the Honda, which was “suspicious” because it did not have a front license tag and was backed into a parking space. Exiting his vehicle, the officer approached the Honda, and his bodycam video captured what happened:

 

Watching the video with an untrained eye, you might not realize why, at about the 42-second mark, the officer raises his pistol and orders Carrasco: “Stop moving. Put your hands up right now, dude.”

What happened? The officer shined his flashlight on Carrasco and saw he had a pistol on his lap. Carrasco moved his hand to try to conceal the pistol, and that’s when the officer drew his gun. A tense standoff followed for more than a minute, and the officer moved away from the car door for his own safety. Just about the time backup arrived, the officer saw Carrasco reach for the gun and BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Despite being hit with three shots, Carrasco still had the presence of mind to try to get rid of his gun — a Ruger .380 semi-auto — by tossing it out the open passenger door. You can actually hear it hit the pavement at about the 2:29 mark in the video. Despite this, Pobanz continued insisting that Carrasco did not have a weapon until the next day:

Pobanz told Commander Smith she was with Teflon for the last few days. During this time Teflon had told Pobanz he was not going back to prison as he has spent the better part of his life in prison. She didn’t know why he kept the gun lying on his lap as the officer approached. She said they knew the cop was going to contact them when he pulled into the lot, and she did not know why Teflon did not hide the gun prior to being contacted by the police.

Well, I think we all know the answer to that mystery. “Teflon” didn’t hide the gun because he wanted to have it handy, planning to shoot the cop and then try to escape. But the cop was smart, and when “Teflon” saw the backup police cars arriving, he made the only choice he had left.

Was he going to shoot, or was Carrasco reaching for the gun in a desperate last-minute attempt to hide it before more cops arrived?

It doesn’t matter, really. The shooting was justified because the officer had reasonable cause to believe his life was in danger. In releasing his report on the incident, the district attorney explained that he was not naming the police officer because of Carrasco’s “very strong and documented ties to known criminal gangs,” which could put the officer at risk of retaliation from Carrasco’s gang associates.

And that’s the story of how a career criminal “left this world unexpectedly.” His nickname was “Teflon.” But it wasn’t Kevlar.




 

Category: Colorado, Crime

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