DENVER (KDVR) — Former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office deputy Andrew Buen was sentenced to three years in jail on Monday after being convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the death of 22-year-old Christian Glass in 2022.
Buen was sentenced to the maximum possible sentence on the criminally negligent homicide charges, three years in the Department of Corrections with a mandatory parole of two years. He was also sentenced to 120 days in jail on reckless endangerment, which will run concurrent to his sentence. Buen has already spent 54 days in jail.
This sentencing comes after Buen was found guilty of reckless endangerment in the first trial in 2024, but the jury was deadlocked on the charges of second-degree murder and official misconduct. After a second trial, the jury opted for a lesser charge than the original second-degree murder charge, and Buen was convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
Christian Glass shot, killed after calling 911
Glass called 911 on June 10, 2022, after his car got stuck in an embankment on the side of a road in Silver Plume. During the call, Glass told dispatchers that he had two knives, which his family said he packed for an amateur geology trip, and was scared to get out of the car.
Officers arrived, and for over an hour, they tried to get Glass to exit the vehicle. Body-worn camera footage released months after the shooting showed Glass expressing fear and unusual behavior in the standoff. Glass can also be seen making heart shapes with his hands before police broke a window, shot him several times and used a Taser twice.
In court, the defense didn’t dispute that Buen fired his weapon, but that Glass was hostile and a threat to deputies. Meanwhile, the prosecution argued that Glass was experiencing a mental health crisis and needed help.
After a hung jury could only convict Buen of a charge of reckless endangerment for his role in Glass’s death, the second trial convicted Buen of criminally negligent homicide.
During Buen’s sentencing, family members from both Glass and Buen spoke.
“You going to prison, I don’t think is going to make you a decent person. You going to prison isn’t going to bring back our son,” said Glass’s mother, Sally Glass. She continued, “You’ve done so much damage, and you must not get away with it. You must be punished.”
She asked for the maximum sentence, which she believed was too short. Buen’s family and friends spoke of his character, and Buen also apologized to Glass’s family.
“There’s nothing I can do or say that can change the past. There’s a million things I should’ve done better that night and when I look back at it every day, I wish that I did,” said Buen. “I know my actions and decisions that night are what escalated the situation, and Christian deserved better. You all deserved better.”
Other officers were also charged for their role in Glass’s death.
Former Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kyle Gould pleaded guilty to an amended charge of failure to intervene and was sentenced in November 2023 to two years of probation with no jail time. Meanwhile, duty to intervene charges were dismissed for the two officers facing charges in connection with Glass’s death.
