Did Denver police delay give Christopher Perea time to kill Loretta Barela? (52)

By Michael Roberts Tue., Nov. 20 2012 at 11:43 AM

Big photo below.

Update:The Denver coroner's office has identified the victim of a weekend homicide at South Carlan Court as Loretta Barela, 44. But beyond the tragedy of her death and the arrest of her husband, Christopher Perea, for the crime, additional questions have arisen. Among them: Did the Denver Police take hours to respond to a 911 call, thereby arriving too late to save the woman's life?

Loretta Barela.

The original release from the Denver Police Department notes that officers arrived at an address on the 1500 block of South Carlan at 8:16 a.m. Sunday, November 18. There, they found a dead woman now ID'd as Barela and arrested Perea, who'd racked up a pile of drug and weapons charges over the previous decade. They married in December, a few months after she reportedly bailed him out of jail.

Afterward, however, folks in the area stepped forward to suggest that the cops had been extremely tardy in their response time. 9News cites a neighbor who's said to have first called 911 at 2 a.m. upon seeing Barela (referred to as Loretta Rosa in the station's coverage) at the front door of the residence. She was topless and screaming for help before Perea allegedly dragged her back inside.

That would seem to be more than enough to pique officers' interest. But the neighbor maintains that cops didn't show up -- so she called again at 2:45 a.m. to ask if they were planning to stop by.

According to the station, officers finally turned up at 3 a.m., but their investigation consisted of shining a flashlight and knocking on a door before they left.

Barela with one of her five kids.

So who called 911 at 8:16 a.m.? Perea, who is said to have told operators that Barela's body was "cold" and her jaw was "stiff." The coroner's office has yet to settle on a cause of death; the completion of the autopsy is pending.

Unsurprisingly, Barela's children -- she had five of them -- are bereft at the loss of their mom, and the thought that police might have done something to prevent the slaying no doubt makes the situation even worse.

Responding to the report, Denver Police Chief Robert White has launched an investigation into the claims of slow response time.

"We are working with communications to determine why there was a delay in the dispatching," he told the station. "And once the officers were dispatched, certainly look at the actions they took to make sure they were appropriate. We have to look at, you know, what kind of call? Was the complaint anonymous? How did the call get dispatched? How was the call made to communications? All those things have to be examined."

Look below to see the 9News report, followed by our previous coverage.

Continue to see our previous coverage.

Tags:

Christopher Perea, Denver Police Department, Loretta Barela, murder, Robert White, South Carlan Court

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claudioespinoza81

When I was eight years old, I was the star witness to my brother's murder trial because I was everywhere through out the period the situation was going on. My brother had called the police and told dispatch that there was a man driving around our block with a gun trying to kill him. The police hung up on him. He called them back and dispatch thought he was acting crazy. Minutes later, my brother was shot and killed, so when we called the police back AGAIN, they eventually responded after he was shot and killed. Somebody need to loose their job, this is not right!!!

michael.roberts moderator editortopcommenter

@claudioespinoza81 A shocking story, Claudio -- one we're going to highlight as an upcoming Comment of the Day. Thanks for posting.

iam3

1 Like

I have to agree with DonkeyHotay-----More a matter of bad choices made by this lady, methinks, than the police being at fault.

I am just guessing here, but I bet this lady had PLENTY of reasons to not date the guy, much less marry him.

We can't blame the police for the choices she made in the men she chose to hang with.

Is the guy a monster? Yep, and the world would be a better place without him. But we continue to have Darwinism played out when women breed with these creeps.

Life; it's more a matter of choices than chance

and.......wait for it........

There are more volunteers than there are victims.

Delcycer

2 Like

@iam3 Blaming victims is the worst kind of response to something like this. If the police didn't take this seriously--a report of a topless woman shrieking for help at 2 in the morning, before being dragged back into the residence--and the delay may have resulted in her death, the victim's own 'poor choices' have nothing to do with it.

Let me guess that you also think a women who dresses a certain way should expect to get sexually assaulted?

Cute alliterative catch phrases don't support that argument, and the statement "more choices than chance" is garbage--an easy cop-out so that you don't have to care about what happens to other people. It's an opinion, not a fact, and it doesn't justify someone's murder.

My son once called 911 and hung up the phone (he's 8), and the cops showed up, made the kids come out of the house, called my wife and I, and turned the whole thing into an ordeal--which was the right thing to do.

This situation would seem to call for at least that level of intensity, and instead all this poor woman got was a knock on the door, followed by people like you saying it's her fault she was killed, as if that matters at all.

Shame.

Freespeech23

@Delcycer @iam3 The only person at fault here is clearly the "man" who decided it was okay to hit a woman and proceed to beat her to death! He is the only one to blame. Yes... she could've left him, but there are many factors that go into play when you look at a situation like that. For instance, what did the neighbor do when this poor woman came running over and banging on their door for help. Did they open it? Or did they just watch her get dragged back to the place of terror from which she came running seeking the closest help??? hmmmm.?

michael.roberts moderator editortopcommenter

@Freespeech23 @Delcycer @iam3 Your point is well-taken, Freespeech23. Thanks for the post.

evdebbs

@iam3

Your neighbor's house is on fire due to smoking in bed. The fire departmant is called at the first sign of smoke and 3 hours later shows up, in which time your house also is desrtoyed by fire. Blame the neighbor smoking in bed and never ask the fire departmant what the hell they were doing for 3 hours? You bet. iam3, are you for real?!?!?!?!

iam3

1 Like

Yes, Covana is correct; the neighbor would be at fault for the fire.

Had the police done everything perfectly, the headline may have read, as it happens so often:

"Did the police's timely response only delay Christopher Perea killing Loretta Barela" .

In your world evdebbs, the police must be miracle workers and mind readers; they show up, tell the people to do the right thing and people such as Perea go on to spectacular success. And because the police are possessed of magical powers, girls like Barela never make horrible choices in men ever again.

evdebbs, are YOU for real?

In the 20 years I was a single father, I met scores of women like Barela (my perception of her). And because of the choices she/they made, I would never allow them around my kids.

Covana

1 Like

@evdebbs @iam3 I'd still blame neighbor

evdebbs

2 Like

There will be a "task force" consisting of Denver elite. A pretend investigation will ensue. The police involved will lie to cover their behinds. Said police involved will within 6-12 months be given raises and promotions. John and Jill Citizen will still hoist the police on a pedestal as heroes... AND NOTHING WILL CHANGE.

Freespeech23

@evdebbs evdebbs is right, nothing will change. Ignorant individuals will choose to live the "gangster" lifestyle, and the minute something back fires on them for the way they live, they will blame everyone around them, except themselves! This will continue on and on, not even their gangster boyfriend's will be able to slap em straight. Oh wait...that's not okay.....right?

michael.roberts moderator editortopcommenter

@evdebbs A pessimistic view, strongly expressed. Thanks for the post, evdebbs.

Juan_Leg topcommenter

1 Like

It's about time SOMEONE w/ a badge is held criminally negligent !!!!

This is %100 BULLSHIT !!!

POSSIBLY COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED !!!

Freespeech23

@Juan_Leg Who exactly is being held "criminally negligent!!!!"?! I do agree with you and appreciate the fact that you posted (in your own comment, mind you) that your post is .....how did you put it....%100 BULLSHIT !!!. Although, I'm pretty sure that you meant to say 100% BULLSHIT !!!