Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced Thursday that she has filed a criminal charge of assault against a Denver police officer caught on video tackling a man outside a downtown bar where he was working, uniformed but off-duty, the night of the Denver Nuggets NBA Finals victory.
Police officer Adam Glasby, 39, has been charged with one felony count of second-degree assault that led to serious bodily injury in connection with the alleged altercation early on June 13.
He and another Denver Police Department officer were working off-duty at the Hayter’s & Co. bar at 1920 Blake St. when they saw men fighting outside the bar. Trying to break up the fight, Glasby pulled one of the men away from the others and slammed him to the pavement, leaving him unconscious, according to a district attorney news release.
Glasby stayed with the victim — Elijah Smith, 26, from Roseville, Calif. — and tried to help him. When the victim got up about two minutes later, friends walked him away, police said in an affidavit application for Glasby’s arrest.
The video shows Glasby slamming Smith, a father of four, to the pavement. The Denver Police Department launched an internal investigation and removed Glasby from his patrol duties.
Glasby and other bouncers were working to clear the bar around 1 a.m. about 30 minutes after the mass shooting nearby that wounded 10 people.
Smith had intervened to try to stop the fight and had thrown a punch, and then backed off before he was tackled, the affidavit said.
The friends took Smith to the Denver Health Medical Center where he received treatment. He told police that he was diagnosed with a concussion, brain bleeding, and nerve damage that could leave him impaired, the affidavit said.
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