Parking garage security officer beaten to death
DENVER CO May 28 2018 – Police in Denver have arrested a suspect believed to be responsible for the murder of a security officer whose body was left on the fourth level of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts parking garage early Friday morning.
Caleb Schroeder, 23, is being held for first-degree murder and aggravated robbery, the Denver Police Department said Saturday afternoon.
Court records show Schroeder has been arrested previously for robbery, assault, possession, and damaging business property.
Electricians parking on the 4th level of the Denver Performing Arts Complex garage made a gruesome discovery Friday morning.
As one of them was backing into a space at 5:40 a.m., he turned around and saw a body.
He and a co-worker, who both asked to remain anonymous, said the body appeared to be badly beaten.
“It was unreal,” one of them said. “I just looked at the body and stood there and said, ‘this isn’t happening right now.’”
He added, “My body was shaking and trembling.”
The two electricians said the victim was wearing a security guard uniform and that a fire extinguisher was lying nearby, in an adjacent parking space.
Police initially said they were conducting a death investigation, but later said the man’s death was being investigated as a homicide.
They’re not saying whether the fire extinguisher was the weapon used.
Investigators closed the garage at 13th and Arapahoe for several hours as they processed the crime scene.
A news crew noticed several sets of cameras in the garage, but police aren’t saying whether the crime was captured on camera.
A spokesman for Denver Arts & Venues says the garage has 1,700 parking spaces.
When asked how busy it was Friday morning, Josh Lenz replied, “I can tell you it has room for 1,700 cars.”
Lentz would not say which company has the security contract.
The garage reopened at 12:32 p.m. Friday.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call DPD at (720) 913-7867.
ABC7
NOTE: The POI News Desk spoke with police and the assignment desk for Denver news station ABC 7 who confirmed that the murder victim was an on duty security officer and that they are waiting for an autopsy report and ID confirmation before releasing further details on Tuesday, May 29 2018.
NOTE: This is the fourth on duty security officer killed this week-end.
