A Thornton Police Department sergeant won’t face criminal charges after an arrest led to the fracturing of a suspect’s spine and an abrasion to the head.

Sgt. Rusty Waters will not be charged following the arrest and injury of Kevin Atkinson on Feb. 8 — according to a letter from 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason to Thornton Police Department Interim Chief Greg Reeves — despite Mason openly disagreeing with Waters’ use of force during the arrest.

“Let me be clear: I do not find Sergeant Waters’ actions here to have been appropriate,” Mason said in the letter. “On the contrary, I find Sergeant Waters’ conduct to be overly aggressive, uncontrolled and irresponsible.”

Despite the disagreement in actions, Mason noted that the office could not find enough evidence to prove that Waters acted in an attempt to hurt the man or enough evidence to disprove that Waters believed the man to be a threat to his, or his fellow officers’, safety.

The incident occurred after an undercover prostitution operation conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations. The operation posted fake advertisements online promoting sex with minors in exchange for money. Once someone reached out, CBI would transfer the information to the local department for potential arrests, according to the letter.

The Thornton Police Department received information that Atkinson responded to the advertisement. An undercover Thornton detective then communicated with the man and set up a time to meet at the Candlewood Suites Hotel.

While the undercover detective met with Atkinson, Waters led the group of four other officers waiting in an unmarked car for the arrest.

As the four other officers left the vehicle and held Atkinson at gunpoint and demanded that he surrender himself for arrest, Waters ran around the officers, lowered his head and shoulders and “violently” tackled the suspect, according to the letter. The tackle injured both Atkinson’s spine and head.

In the body camera footage, Atkinson did not appear to resist arrest or look to flee, instead standing with his hands in his pockets and looking toward the officers.

In interviews after the arrest, other officers said that Atkinson appeared to be stunned and contemplating what to do, according to the letter.

In Waters’ report, he pointed toward Atkinson’s history of prostitution-related crimes and weapon offenses as a reason that Waters was suspicious of whether the arrest would go as planned.

When Atkinson’s hands did not leave his pockets and the undercover agent remained behind him, in the line of the other officers’ weapons, Waters believed the best course of action was to tackle the suspect to the ground.

Ultimately, Mason said that the district attorney’s office could not prove the Waters acted with the intent to injure the man, but acted out of fear for the safety of the other officers. Therefore, charges of assault will not be pressed against the sergeant.

The Denver Gazette has reached out to the Thornton Police Department for comment, but there has been no response.