Christian Glass acted in self-defense, did not pose threat

DENVER — Christian Glass was not a danger to himself, law enforcement, or anyone else when he was accosted by Clear Creek County deputies and shot, and the decision to remove him from his vehicle directly led to his death, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Monday.

Two now-former Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputies were indicted last week and fired after the grand jury returned true bills on counts including murder and criminally negligent homicide last week in connection with the June shooting that killed Glass, who was 22 when he was shot and killed in Silver Plume.

“But for the decision by Gould to remove Mr. Glass from the vehicle there is no reason to believe that Mr. Glass would have been a danger to any law enforcement personnel, to himself, or to any member of the public, and the decision to remove him from the vehicle directly lead [sic] to the death of Mr. Glass,” the indictment says. “The coroner’s report found that Mr. Glass’s death was a homicide as the result of being shot.”

The grand jury indicted former deputy Andrew Buen on counts of second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment. And former deputy Kyle Gould was indicted on counts of criminal negligent homicide and reckless endangerment, according to the indictment.

Court records show Buen posted a $50,000 bond in his case, and Gould posted a $2,500 bond in his case, last week after their arrests.

The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office also said last week the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was conducting an internal investigation into the June 10-11 incident in Silver Plume. The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office said preliminary findings showed “there were policy and procedural failures.”

Buen and Gould were both fired after they were indicted last week.

The original narrative from the sheriff’s office about what happened was called into question after the body camera video of the shooting was obtained from prosecutors, attorneys with Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC and Glass’s parents said at a news conference on Sept. 13.

The indictment says the call Glass made to dispatch “would indicate to anyone listening that he was paranoid, hallucinating and/or delusional and experiencing a mental health crisis.”

It also names the other law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene after Buen told Glass not to throw his rock knife and hammer out the window to neutralize the perceived threat on his own.

The indictment says Glass was still showing signs that he was in the midst of a mental health crisis as Georgetown Police Chief Randall Williams tried to talk with him and coax him out of his vehicle. The other officers who arrived also tried to help him, according to the indictment.

But it says, which is evidenced by video obtained by Denver7 earlier this year, that Buen became verbally aggressive toward Glass. He and another deputy at one point called his shift supervisor, Sgt. Gould, but muted his body worn camera audio. After talking with Gould, he told Chief Williams that the decision had been made to get Glass out of his SUV.

“At that point, no one on the scene had made a determination that there was probable cause or reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed or was being committed,” the indictment states.

It then says that deputies “escalated the encounter” with Glass to get him out of the vehicle. The indictment notes that Glass “at no time made any threats to any law enforcement.”

It was then that Buen broke out the front-passenger-side window, then shot six bean bag rounds into Glass. He and Williams then used Tasers on Glass, which the indictment says “caused Mr. Glass to scream in agony and panic.”

It says Glass took his rock knife “and swung it in various directions in a state of complete panic and self defense.”

When Williams tried to open the door, Glass swung the knife in his direction, the indictment says. That was when Buen shot Glass five times. He would die at the scene.

“Williams at no point was in imminent danger of being stabbed by Mr. Glass and Mr. Glass never attempted to exit the vehicle,” the indictment states.

The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office said the internal investigation is ongoing. In a statement from Glass’s families attorneys, they said the family is relieved about the charges and “some of those responsible for the murder of their son.”

“Nothing will bring Christian back to his family. Simon and Sally Glass are relieved appropriate charges have been brought against some of those responsible for the murder of their son. However, justice for Christian will require all those involved being held accountable. Christian’s death is a stain on every officer who was present and failed to prevent the escalation and unnecessary uses of force,” attorneys Siddharta Rathod, Qusair Mohamedbhai, Matthew Cron and Felipe Bohnet-Gomez said last week.

The two former deputies are next due in court on Dec. 12, according to court records.