Plea deal offered in Colorado to former deputies in death of Christian Glass
A plea deal has been offered in the criminal cases for the two former Clear Creek Sheriff's Office employees charged in the death of Christian Glass. Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould were both fired from the sheriff's office after the indictments were handed down last fall.
Buen is facing several charges including second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment and Gould has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.
The details of the offer have not been released. The court has granted the defendants a continuance to continue discussions and a disposition hearing is set for Nov. 2.
Qusair Mohamedbhai, one of the attorneys for the Glass family says they are exhausted with the time it has taken for the "wheels of justice" to turn, even though they are in support of the plea deal presented by the 5th District Attorney.
Sally Glass, Christian Glass' mother, was not present for the first time at the latest status conference for the suspects, which Mohamedbhai said was proof of their disappointment and frustration.
Bodycam video from the night of June 10, 2022 and the morning of June 11, 2022 in Silver Plume shows several deputies open fire on 22-year-old Glass, whose car had broken down. Glass, was born in New Zealand to a New Zealander dad and a British mom. He was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis and was scared of the deputies who responded.
It started on the night of June 10, 2022 when he was driving and made a U-turn, getting one of his car's wheels stuck between two boulders, according to court documents.
Glass told a 911 dispatcher and responding deputies that he had a hammer and a knife, among other tools, since he was an amateur geologist. He offered to throw the hammer and knives out of his car to make the deputies feel safer, but Buen, one of the first deputies on the scene, told Glass not to, according to his 10-page indictment.
Law enforcement officers from the Georgetown Police Department, Idaho Springs Police Department, Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Gaming Commission also responded as backup.
About an hour passed between the time deputies first arrived and the time law enforcement attempted to remove Glass from his car. During those conversations, Glass tries pleading with the deputies and officers, saying he's not a threat to them and that he's just scared and needs help. At one point, he makes a heart with his hands.
Buen then broke out the front passenger side window of Glass's car with a baton as Williams unsuccessfully tried to do the same on the rear driver's side window. Buen then shot Glass with six bean bag rounds, one of which broke the rear driver's side window.
Buen and Williams then both tased Glass, causing him to scream in pain and then swing his knife in panic and self-defense, the indictment stated. Williams tried to open the rear driver's door and as Glass continued swinging the knife, Buen shot Glass five times with his pistol.
He was then removed from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.
Earlier this year, a $19 million settlement was reached with Glass' parents, Simon and Sally Glass. The settlement also mandates that Clear Creek County will establish a crisis response team by 2025, although the county had already been working on plans for this in 2022. The idea is to help get someone trained to deal with crises just like Christian Glass's non-violently. The county is hoping to get someone on retention for crisis response right away, in light of this shooting.
Finally, the firm representing Glass' family said the Colorado State Patrol will create a virtual reality training scenario based on Glass' murder, focusing on "de-escalation in a high-stress situation." This will include an introduction to the video with a presentation by Glass's parents, explaining the importance of an officer's duty to intervene.
