City of Idaho Springs
1711 Miner Street • PO Box 907 • Idaho Springs, CO 80452 • 303.567.4421 • (f) 303.567.4955
PRESS RELEASE
Settlement reached in Christian Glass Use of Force Incident
Contact: Andrew Marsh, City Administrator (303) 567-4421, admin@idahospringsco.com
Idaho Springs, Colorado – May 23, 2023.
The City of Idaho Springs and its insurance carrier have reached an agreement with Simon and Sally Glass to settle its part of a claim involving the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, Georgetown Marshall’s Office, Colorado State Gaming, Colorado State Patrol, and the Idaho Springs Police Department (ISPD) for the events of June 10, 2022. On that date, Christian Glass was initially contacted by deputies from the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office in Silver Plume, Colorado, and other law enforcement agencies responded to assist. Mr. Glass’s vehicle was apparently disabled on a rock outcropping and Mr. Glass had called for assistance.
An ISPD officer responded to the scene to assist with mutual aid. In a supporting role, the ISPD officer attempted to gain rapport with Mr. Glass by forming a heart shape with her hands but was unsuccessful in getting Mr. Glass to exit the car. Clear Creek County deputies and the Georgetown Marshall attempted to physically remove Mr. Glass from the vehicle and ultimately, a Clear Creek County deputy shot and killed Mr. Glass. An independent investigation revealed that poor tactics, lack of agency-to-agency communication, a lack of continued de-escalation communication with Mr. Glass, and the inability of a single agency to take clear command of the situation were some of the factors that led to the tragic death of Mr. Glass.
A settlement amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000), approved by Christian’s parents, fully satisfies all claims against the City of Idaho Springs for its role in this incident and will be paid by the City’s insurance carrier. All claims against the ISPD officer were also resolved as part of the settlement.
The press release initially issued by the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office was inaccurate in its characterization of Christian as a criminal actor responsible for his own death. That press release should have included more specific details and, once inaccuracies were realized, all involved agencies should have immediately corrected the information. The City and ISPD Chief Nate Buseck acknowledge that the lack of judgment, poor tactics, and lack of clear command structure resulted in the unnecessary death of Christian Glass.
“I have three teenagers and one young adult child. I cannot imagine the agony and pain the Glass family is experiencing in losing Christian. We, in law enforcement, need to do a much, much better job. This outcome is not acceptable, and all law enforcement officers need to remember why we signed up to do this job…and that is to help people,” said Chief Buseck.
ISPD continues to work collaboratively with the Jefferson Center for Mental Health which has a licensed clinician ride with an officer/deputy each week for community outreach, ISPD also continues to develop a mental health co-responder program within Clear Creek County, and ISPD currently has four of seven officers who have completed Crisis Intervention Team (C.I.T.) training, with a goal to have 100% of officers C.I.T. trained by the end of 2023.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Chuck Harmon said, “We hope that settlement of this matter can provide closure to the many people involved. City leadership remains committed to the constant self-evaluation and betterment of the ISPD in all ways.”