DENVER — The Arapahoe County Sheriff will not face charges following an investigation into an altercation between him and other men at a Greenwood Village restaurant and bowling alley in August.
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced Thursday that her office had completed the investigation into the Aug. 21 incident at Pindustry involving Sheriff Tyler Brown and determined the evidence found does not support criminal charges against anyone involved.
Her reasoning for not filing charges included:
- All parties involved have legal defenses that could be asserted.
- All parties were drinking, and their testimony is not reliable.
- The parties involved who could be considered victims of the sheriff’s conduct do not wish to proceed with criminal charges.
- There were no serious injuries.
- Criminal justice resources would be better spent focusing on serious crimes with willing and credible witnesses.
- There is no reasonable likelihood of a conviction.
“Having concluded that criminal charges are not warranted, I want to make it clear that the behavior of Sheriff Brown in this situation was irresponsible and unprofessional for an elected sheriff,” McCann said in a statement. “I am not in a position to take any further action with regard to this situation as my role is to determine if criminal charges should be filed. I will leave any further action to the officials and voters of Arapahoe County.”
An affidavit obtained Thursday afternoon, details an altercation that escalated from men at Pindustry asking for Brown's wife's phone number and information.
According to the affidavit, Brown said in a statement to the Greenwood Village Police Department that a man had approached his wife and asked for her phone number as a bet. She gave him a fake number, the affidavit says, and he approached her again shortly after to ask for her information. Brown told him that “he and his wife were happily married.”
The man responded, “yeah, so am I, it doesn’t matter I am getting her info tonight,” and Brown told an investigator during a phone interview that he then took the man’s phone and tossed it behind his shoulder and told him it was time to go.
In a statement from his wife, she said after the man approached her, she laughed and continued to bowl.
According to Brown, one of the men tried to grab a woman in their group, and he grabbed him and put him in a "twist-lock." The affidavit says when investigators obtained the surveillance video from Pindustry, it appeared to show Brown escalated the incident by “forcefully grabbing” one of the men and shoving him across the bar and grabbing him by the neck.
Video showed during the altercation one of the men punched Brown in the head with a closed fist twice from behind. A responding officer observed a mark on the right side of his face just below his temple that was swollen, the affidavit says.
After employees helped break up the fight, the two other men took off from Pindustry.
Employees told police Brown and the men involved had all been drinking. An employee also told investigators Brown told him he was going to “shut down the bar tomorrow and get their liquor license.”
During an interview in the days following the incident Brown told and investigator “you guys are looking at me pretty hard and so, you know, this could be, this could be the end of my career.”
Denver7 previously confirmed Brown remained on duty during the investigation. The case was turned over to McCann’s office for consideration of charges because of the potential conflict of interest, sources previously said.
The Arapahoe Sheriff's Office provided the following statement:
“Sheriff Brown would like to thank the Denver District Attorney’s Office for conducting an unbiased review of the incident. This was an unfortunate event that put the sheriff in the unwelcome position of having to protect and defend his wife. Sheriff Brown trusts the legal process and is looking forward to putting these events behind him".