BRIGHTON, Colo. — A Denver police sergeant has been charged with menacing after allegedly pointing a weapon at a driver during a road rage incident in Commerce City, according to an affidavit.
A formal charge of menacing was filed Friday against Jason Brake, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office. The charge, a Class 5 felony, stems from an incident Oct. 3 along E. 96th Avenue in Commerce City where Brake allegedly pointed a weapon at a person, the district attorney's office said.
Brake is a sergeant with the Denver Police Department. DPD said he joined the department in 1990 and was most recently working in the DPD Operations Support Section.
On Oct. 3, he was placed on paid administrative leave for the investigation. Because he has been charged with a felony, he is now on unpaid leave.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Denver7, a Commerce City detective responded to the scene on E. 96th Avenue and Laredo Street and found two dark-colored pickup trucks parked on the shoulder. Both male drivers had been pulled over by patrol officers and were detained. The detective at the scene noticed one of the men standing nearby was wearing a DPD polo shirt.
One of the men said Brake had pointed a gun at him "while both were engaged in a road rage incident on Highway 2," the affidavit reads. One of the patrol officers had removed a firearm from Brake while handcuffing him. Brake told police that the other man had pointed a gun at him, and he followed the truck until they were both pulled over.
The patrol officers searched the other man's car but did not find a firearm or any other weapons, according to the affidavit. They also did not find it off the road in the area, in case he had thrown it.
In an interview, Brake told police that he was behind a semi-truck entering a merge lane from Quebec Street onto Highway 2, and the truck was driving slowly. Brake said he had been looking at his phone when he moved over into another lane. That was when he noticed the driver of another pickup speed up to him from behind, around to his left into oncoming traffic. Brake said he sped up so he could pass the semi truck and move into the right lane for the other driver. He said as they drove next to each other, the other driver pointed a "a gun at me or (pointed) an object at me," the affidavit reads. When asked how certain he was that it was a gun, he said he was 90% sure.
Brake told investigators that he wanted to get a picture of the man and yelled for him to pull over. The man "abruptly applied his brakes" and stopped on the shoulder, with Brake pulling over ahead of him, the affidavit reads. Once Brake was out of his car, he said the other man accelerated and returned to the northbound lanes of Highway 2, the affidavit reads.
Brake, who also jumped back on Highway 2, called 911. Commerce City police then pulled both cars over near E. 96th Avenue and Laredo Street. When asked, Brake said he lost sight of the other man and does not know if he discarded a firearm along the way. Brake said he did not remove his firearm from his holster, the affidavit reads, but the other man had described exactly what the firearm looked like to police, the document reads.
Brake's actions "are contrary to the training Jason Brake has received as a police officer when confronting an armed suspect," the affidavit reads.
Police then conducted an interview with the other man, who admitted to being an aggressive driver in this incident. He said Brake quickly drove from behind the semi, across a yield lane, and into his lane. The man told police he pulled up alongside the vehicle with the intention of flipping off the driver, but between 88th Avenue and 96th Avenue, Brake rolled down a window and pointed a gun at him, the affidavit reads. The man said Brake was following him very closely from behind, so he called 911.
During his interview, the man said he did not have a gun.
The district attorney's office is conducting the criminal investigation. DPD said it will begin its administrative review after that case is adjudicated.
Denver7 is working to learn more. This story will be updated.
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