Clear Creek deputy “intentionally and maliciously caused harm” when he killed Christian Glass, judge says

The case against former Clear Creek sheriff’s deputies Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould in the 2022 killing of Christian Glass will continue, a judge ruled late last week.

Judge Catherine Cheroutes, of the Fifth Judicial District, denied motions to dismiss those cases in two separate rulings issued last Friday.

Buen, “while acting as a deputy with the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, intentionally and maliciously caused harm to Mr. Glass by shooting and killing him, which exceeded the authority of his official function as a Deputy Sheriff,” Cheroutes wrote in her ruling. “The malicious intent can be inferred from the aggressive demeanor and the ultimate action of the Defendant shooting Mr. Glass as seen in the bodycam footage.”

RELATED: Indictments unsealed in Clear Creek sheriff’s deputies’ alleged killing of Christian Glass

Buen is accused of firing the shots that killed Glass in the early morning hours of June 11, 2022. Glass had gotten one of his car wheels stuck on a boulder while trying to make a U-turn in Silver Plume. He called police for help but was scared of the deputies that responded. His family says he was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time.

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.

Gould, a former sergeant with the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, was not at the scene. As a supervisor, he was watching the incident unfold from home through a live feed of Buen’s bodycam. From his home, he ordered deputies at the scene to remove Glass from his car, according to the indictment against him. As a result, he asked for the case against him to be dismissed.

Attorney Christopher Brousseau represented Gould and told the judge there weren’t grounds to charge Gould with a crime. The judge, however, disagreed.

“Whether the Defendant made the decision to extract Mr. Glass or authorized the extraction of Mr. Glass, his responsibility, at least for purposes of assessing the sufficiency of the indictment, was the same,” she wrote in her order.

RELATED: Officer wants charges dismissed in shooting of Christian Glass

An attorney representing Buen did not respond to a request for comment via phone or email and attorney Bob Weiner — who, alongside Brousseau, is representing Gould — said their legal team wanted to wait until the conclusion of the trial to offer any comments.

Attorneys from Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC, representing Glass’ parents, released the following statement Wednesday:

The Glass family is pleased but not surprised that the criminal charges against Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould will proceed. The Glass family believes that the evidence is overwhelming that these Clear Creek County officers are responsible for the murder of their beautiful son, and they fully support the District Attorney’s efforts to hold Buen and Gould accountable for their crimes. 

However, the Glass family remains frustrated that none of the other officers involved in Christian’s murder have suffered any consequences. Christian needed intervention and protection from the other law enforcement officers who were on scene and failed to stop the unlawful escalation of force against Christian. The Glass family strongly believes that officers from Georgetown, Idaho Springs, and the State of Colorado should also be held accountable for their individual roles in the killing of Christian.

Buen is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree official misconduct and reckless endangerment. Gould is charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

Both deputies are due back in court Monday.