Raymond Joseph Libonati

RAY LIBONATI According to Ray, "At 6'8, I was too tall to be a Fireman, as I exceeded their height restrictions that were in place in 1964, so I decided to become a cop and wanted the job so bad, I stuffed my pockets with 20 pounds of change to make the weight requirement." Ray grew up in South Denver and as hard as he tried to be wild, his father was there being the disciplinarian. He ruled with an iron fist. His dad was a wild teen, tipping over outhouses and tripping trolley car wires, but he was determined to not let Ray grow up that way. There were three kids in the Libonati family; Ray and his two sisters. His mother was loving and a great lady. Both Ray's father and mother died of cancer. When Ray was in Junior High School, he was getting a ride with a friend, he suspected had stolen the car. This was confirmed when they got pulled over by the cops. The cop asked Ray if he wanted to go home or to Juvenile Hall, and Ray responded, "The Hall," fearing more what his dad would do to him. The cops took him home and he was grounded for so long, Ray thought it was going to be for the rest of his life. Ray attended St. Francis High School, where he met his first wife in high school. They were married a few years later and had three children together. Ray attended Colorado College for one year on a basketball scholarship. He then got another basketball scholarship to Pueblo Jr. College, where he attended for a year and brought his grades up. Ray continued his education at D.U., Metro, and C.U. He never received a degree, however, as he found the party life to be better than the study life. He could sure play basketball though! Prior to joining the Denver Police Department, Ray worked at Marathon Oil Research and for the Coca Cola Company in Denver. It was during his employment with Coca Cola, that he called-in sick one day to take the test to become a Denver Policeman. Back then, you had to be 23 years old and to make the weight requirement, he stuffed 20 pounds of change in his pockets. Ray joined the DPD in 1964. Ray's first patrol assignment was in District One (there were only four Districts at that time). He stayed there for 5½ years, until he transferred to Vice. He and his partner would fill 3-4 log sheets each night. Most of the entries were Class 2 actions and they made their share of felony arrests. Their precinct ran from West 6th Avenue to West Colfax Avenue, and from Sheridan to the river. They also had part of the Sun Valley and Las Casitas Projects. One night, Ray and his partner were chasing a bad guy on foot. Ray saw a clothesline, so he ducked, but Jim didn't. It caught him under the nose and flipped him onto his back - very funny at the time! During that time, there was little dope so there were few arrests for narcotics possession. They always had a good time doing police work. In the late 60's, Ray was part of the Denver Police Basketball Team that travelled to Kentucky to compete in the National Championship. They placed 2nd against a Kentucky team comprised of ringers from the Kentucky Colonels, an A.B.A. Team. Ray jumped at the opportunity, in 1970, to go to the Vice Bureau, hoping to eventually end up in Narcotics. After six months working Vice, his Sergeant asked Ray if he wanted to transfer to Narcotics. Ray asked him, "Is tomorrow too soon?" Ray then made Detective in 1971. On one of the hundreds of surveillances Ray worked during his career, he recalled a time when he and his partners were waiting to execute a Search Warrant on a drug house, they saw one of the dopers open the backdoor to let the dog out. Ray was hiding in the bushes and all of a sudden felt his leg getting warm. He looked down to find the dog relieving himself on him. From that moment on, Ray gained the nickname of "The Tree"! From Narcotics, Ray was selected in 1973 to work in the elite MEG Unit (Metropolitan Enforcement Group), where he served for four years undercover. Ray got shot while in the MEG Unit. The suspects had shot and killed a cop up in Wyoming and wounded another one. Through an informant, they found out that they were coming to Denver to pick up one of their girlfriends at a specific house. So, Ray and the other guys were all there staking out the house. The suspects were supposed to be there at 8:00 p.m., but when they didn't show up by 10:30, the MEG guys figured they weren't going to show at all, so they called off their surveillance operation. While they were packing up to leave, here came the truck and now they were all out of position. The suspects picked up the girl and Ray and the other members of the MEG Unit started following them. They got into a high speed chase up I 25 and got off on 58th Avenue. When they reached Washington Street, there was a train blocking them and they couldn't go anywhere. The MEG Unit then pulled up behind the suspects, jumped out of their vehicles, and the bullets started flying. They had a couple of shotguns and everyone was firing. Ray had a 9mm Smith and Wesson. With one shot, his gun jammed and he got hit in the stomach by a double ott buck. Luckily, it just went through and through, and didn't hit anything. They recovered the pellet at the hospital, because it ended up in Ray's shirt. Ray said the amazing thing about this shootout, was that the girlfriend was sitting in the middle of the pickup truck between the two outlaws, when they jumped out from both doors and started shooting at the cops. The truck looked like Swiss cheese, because there were about eight cops firing back. Ray said, "My partner was there firing with a shotgun for us and the girl never got hit. She had a cut on her head from flying glass and that was it." After Ray left the MEG Unit, he became a Sergeant and was assigned to Internal Affairs. After Ray was promoted to Lieutenant, he returned to District Two and then worked other assignments that included the I.D. Bureau and Traffic Operations. Ray retired from Traffic during his last year on the job in 1995. Ray is one of those cops who loved the job and the camaraderie he shared with the guys. He always had a positive attitude while spending a lot of time laughing every day at the endless comical circumstances that happens in police work. Ray met his second wife at Lyle Alzado's Sports Grill in Cherry Creek. This time, Ray was working an off-duty security job in uniform at the restaurant, and she had gone there to meet some friends from the office. They immediately hit it off and began dating each other. They were married in 1984 and enjoyed 31 years together.

Reception:
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
2100 Wadsworth Blvd
Lakewood, CO
80214