The 22-year-old Boulder man killed by a Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputy in June had committed no crime and acted in self-defense before the deputy shot him while he sat in his car, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed Monday.
The Fifth Judicial District’s grand jury on Wednesday indicted two of the deputies involved in Christian Glass‘ death, though specific details of the allegations against the men initially had been kept secret.
Deputy Andrew Buen faces charges of second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment for shooting Glass. Sgt. Kyle Gould faces charges of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment for deciding to pull Glass from his vehicle.
Both men were fired from the Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office last week after the charges were announced.
Buen shot and killed Glass on June 11 after Glass crashed his car in Silver Plume and called 911 for help. Glass, who was experiencing delusions and paranoia, at first communicated with officers while sitting in the front seat of his car but later stopped responding.
After about an hour, Gould authorized the seven officers on the scene to forcibly remove Glass from the car.
“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.
The officers used beanbag rounds and Tasers on Glass before Glass “in a state of complete panic and self-defense” swung a knife in the direction of Georgetown police Marshal Randy Williams, who was standing next to the broken backseat window behind Glass, the indictment states.
“Chief 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.
Buen shot Glass multiple times and Glass died at the scene.
“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 led to the death of Mr. Glass,” the indictment states.
Glass’ death came to national attention in September after attorneys for his parents released body camera footage showing the incident and the shooting. Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum announced in October that she would present the case to a grand jury.
“Officers don’t get to create their own exigent circumstances,” attorney Siddhartha Rathod, who represents the Glass family, said Monday. “The grand jury found that the officers’ conduct was not only wrong but criminal, that Christian had committed no crime and was murdered.”
The grand jury found that Buen spoke to Glass in a verbally aggressive manner. The jury also wrote that Williams and Idaho Springs police Officer Brittany Morrow tried to coax Glass out with their words and in an understanding way.
Gould and Buen are scheduled to appear in court Dec. 12, online court records show.
