Brandon Olsen faces robbery, burglary and arson charges after break-in at Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver
A 44-year-old man is under arrest and facing robbery, burglary and arson charges after an unusual crime spree at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver overnight. Brandon Olsen was arrested early Tuesday morning, and it's not believed that his alleged actions are tied to any recent threats that have been made to members of the Colorado Supreme Court.
The judicial center is located at on East 14th Avenue just off Civic Center Park and is the home of the state's supreme court as well as the Colorado Court of Appeals.
The incident began with a car crash outside the building after midnight. Two vehicles were involved, according to Denver police, and one of the people in one of the cars ran away with a gun.
Soon afterwards police say that same person, believed to be Olsen, shot out a window of the judicial center's east wall and broke in.
"The individual entered the building and came in contact with an unarmed security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit," Denver police wrote in a news release.
The suspect then confronted the guard and got their keys to the building. Soon afterwards the suspect went up to the 7th floor and fired his gun there more than once. He also allegedly started a fire in a stairwell.
By this time Denver officers as well as officers from the Colorado State Patrol were at the scene. They say a little less than 2 hours after the crash -- at 3 a.m. -- Olsen turned himself in and was arrested without any sort of fight.
Denver firefighters were able to extinguish the fire.
So far it's hasn't been determined how much damage was caused to the building, which was closed on Tuesday while an investigation took place.
Olsen has a criminal history in Colorado involving mostly drugs and theft cases that dates back to 1997. He was being held at the Denver Jail.
The Colorado Supreme Court made headlines late last year when it ruled that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution's so-called insurrection clause and ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state's Republican presidential primary ballot. That decision has been appealed. Since the ruling some of the justices have received threats.
