DENVER — A Denver Police Department sergeant faces a felony charge of menacing after he was accused of pointing a weapon at another driver during a road rage incident in Commerce City, officials said on Friday.
Jason Brake, 57, faces the charge in connection to an incident while he was off-duty on Oct. 3. Brake was placed on non-paid administrative leave on the same day as the incident, Denver Police said.
According to the arrest affidavit, Brake and another driver got into a road rage incident on Highway 2 at Quebec Street that eventually ended at East 96th Avenue and Laredo Street after both parties called 911 to report the other.
Brake pulled into the travel lanes of Highway 2 from the merge lane at Quebec to get around a semi-truck, and the other driver, a man, drove to the left of both vehicles.
The man told police he rolled down his window with the intention of flipping off Brake when Brake rolled down his window and pointed a gun at him, according to the affidavit.
Brake followed the other driver, and at some point, they both stopped. Brake got out of his vehicle, and the other driver said he drove away because Brake had earlier pointed a gun at him. Brake continued to follow him, and that's when the man said he called 911.
Brake told police that the other man had pointed a gun or "a black object" at him and that he called 911 and followed the man until officers arrived. No gun was found in a search of the man's vehicle, and officers also did not find that the man had thrown a gun out of his truck, the affidavit says.
Brake told officers that he never removed his gun from its holster. When officers asked the other driver to describe Brake's handgun, he was able to exactly do so, according to the affidavit.
The other driver was not cited in the incident.
Brake joined the Denver Police Department in 1990 and was most recently assigned to the Operations Support Section.
Denver Police said they will begin an administrative review after the criminal case is resolved.