By Christopher Koeberl, Clear Creek Courant
Two former Clear Creek County deputies could enter into a plea bargain for charges they face in the 2022 shooting death of Christian Glass. The former deputies, Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould, appeared briefly in court Monday, and are expected to return in November in a deal that could prevent a trial.
Buen is charged with second-degree murder and official misconduct and reckless endangerment. Gould is charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.
Specifics of any plea deal were not divulged in court. District Court Judge Catherine Cheroutes continued the hearing to Nov. 2 to allow defense counsel an opportunity to discuss the potential plea bargain with their clients.
Glass died June 11, as he was stranded in his car near Silver Plume. He had called 911 for help, saying he was trapped and his car was stuck.
Officers asked Glass to leave his car, but he refused in what turned into a long standoff that ended when officers broke the car window and used a Taser on Glass. Former Clear Creek County Deputy Buen shot Glass five times, killing him, according to an indictment.
Glass was not armed and there was no reason to believe he would have been a danger to any law enforcement personnel, to himself or to any member of the public, the indictment said.
“The decision to remove him from the vehicle directly lead to the death of Mr. Glass,” the indictment said.
Then-Sgt. Gould was in contact via cellphone with Buen during the standoff, the indictment said. It goes on to say during the cellphone conversation, Buen muted his body-worn camera audio. The conversation was not recorded.
A civil suit resulted in a $19-million settlement between Glass’ family and four agencies, including the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office. In a court-ordered apology as part of the settlement, former Sheriff Rick Albers blamed officers who “failed to meet expectations.”
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