DENVER -- Police were at Coors Field on Monday trying to obtain a written statement about a deadly raid from Colorado Rockies second baseman Mike Lansing.

	Lansing

The statement is part of an investigation into why an officer did not take a written report from Lansing who was on a "ride-along" when police shot and killed 45-year-old Ismael Mena Sept. 29.

It was unclear early Tuesday whether police were able to obtain a statement from Lansing between games of a doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics.

Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas, who conducted an independent investigation into the shooting, also plans to interview Lansing, according to spokeswoman Pam Russell.

Police Chief Gerry Whitman said Lansing remained in the police van while officers raided the wrong house and killed Mena, an innocent man.

Lansing has said he did not witness the shooting.

The raid by the Denver Metro SWAT unit resulted in the ouster of former Police Chief Tom Sanchez and the reassignment of Public Safety Manager Fidel "Butch" Montoya. The officer who obtained the search warrant faces perjury charges and Denver paid $400,000 to Mena's family in Mexico.

Police spokeswoman Virginia Lopez said a written statement should have been taken from Lansing, but an officer decided against it.

"(Lansing) made a verbal statement at the time that he didn't see anything," Lopez said.

"The officer used his own judgment that this information didn't have any bearing on the case," Lopez added. "No matter how irrelevant the statement might have appeared, a written statement should have been taken and all forms filled out."

Robert Maes, who represented the Mena family, said the revelation about Lansing months after the shooting causes him to question the police department's credibility.

"What else might there be that's not been disclosed," Maes said. "And what kind of policy do they have for Colorado Rockies to ride along, then if they are witnesses they can be whisked away at the first sign of controversy?"

Whitman said he is conducting an investigation into procedure violations.

"We like to document what witnesses see and don't see just to keep an investigation from being sidetracked," Whitman said, refusing to identify the officer who interviewed Lansing.

Civilian ride-alongs are common with patrol officers but are unusual with SWAT teams, though Lansing had the required ride permit for that day, Whitman said. Lansing apparently was riding with an officer he was friends with.

Police shot and killed Mena after the Mexican national pointed a gun at them. No drugs were found in the house, and Thomas' investigation concluded the raid was conducted on the wrong house.