DENVER — Charges have been dropped against all but one Colorado law enforcement officer accused of not stepping in and possibly preventing the fatal 2022 shooting of a man in distress who had called 911 for help.
The misdemeanor charges of failing to intervene were dismissed against Tim Collins, Brittany Morrow and Ryan Bennie under a deal that required them to record a training video about what went wrong in the standoff with Christian Glass in a small mountain community, Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum confirmed Friday.
They were among six officers charged in 2023 with failing to intervene to stop the actions of former Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office Deputy Andrew Buen, who shot and killed Glass. The shooting drew national attention and prompted calls to reform how authorities respond to people with mental health problems.
Prosecutors tried twice to convince jurors to convict Buen of second-degree murder. The first time the jury convicted Buen of a misdemeanor for recklessly putting other officers in danger by opening fire. In his second trial, jurors convicted Buen of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide for the shooting itself in February. He was sentenced to three years in prison, the maximum sentence he faced.
That verdict and the effect three more trials could have on Glass’s family as well as the county of about 10,000 people led prosecutors to enter a deal to dismiss the charges, McCollum said. Under the agreement, Collins, Morrow and Bennie all received additional training, including on de-escalation, and participated in making the training video, she said.
The hope is that their video will be used by law enforcement agencies across the country that are already using body camera footage of the Glass shooting to teach how not to respond to people in crisis.
“If we can save one life, if we can prevent one law enforcement officer from killing someone, then the dismissal of these three cases is worth it,” McCollum said.
Another officer is still charged with failing to intervene and third-degree assault. McCollum said she cannot comment on possible plea deals with him or any defendant.
Siddhartha Rathod, a lawyer representing Glass’s parents, Simon and Sally Glass, praised McCollum for trying a different approach.
“This is the type of prosecutors we want, who are being creative, who want to create solutions that result in a safer community,” he said.
Duty to intervene charges were also dropped against two other officers who work for the state’s gaming division in December. A judge ruled they were not covered by the law passed in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd.
Buen’s supervisor pleaded guilty to failing to intervene.