ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — No charges will be filed against the driver of a Jeep who was seen driving through a crowd of protesters that had made their way onto Interstate 225 back in July, in part because protestors were illegally on the highway and the driver had little to no warning that they would be there.
DA George Brauchler held a press conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday in which he outlined his decision. He spent the majority of the time going over videos and photos that show the moments before, during and after the event.
On the evening of July 25, a protest occurred in Aurora in support of Black Lives Matter and calling for justice of Elijah McClain. It involved hundreds of protesters and large group of them made their way onto the lanes of Interstate 225, which confused many drivers, Brauchler said.
He noted that the only people legally permitted to be on that highway were the drivers inside their vehicles. He also said that protesters on the highway confronted drivers, blocked their paths and even instructed them to turn around and drive back the way they came, which would have meant driving the wrong way on the highway.
In one instance, a protester threw a bike into the path of an oncoming car. That incident was captured on the video, and in the video, the driver can be heard saying that there are children in the car that he was on his way to the hospital.
Brauchler said part of the problem was that there was no law enforcement positioned at the on-ramp from westbound Alameda Avenue to northbound I-225 to prevent unsuspecting drivers from getting on the highway.
"There is no police blockade," Brauchler said. "The intersection was blocked by a female protester on a motorbike. This was just some person supportive of the protest who tried to physically put her bike and her between traffic onto that onramp."
As part of their investigation, they drove onto the highway from that area with a dash camera recording to illustrate when a driver would first be able to see the protestors on the highway. He said drivers would have had little to no warning of what was ahead. Brauchler said other drivers who entered the highway after the Jeep were met with similar confrontations from protesters.
In a YouTube and Facebook video statement, Greg Goodenough, the passenger in the Jeep, said once on the highway protesters started throwing “projectiles at the Jeep” and began surrounding the vehicle. He also said their vehicle was intentionally hit by a white truck, which Brauchler said they determined was true.
"This truck by the driver's words and conduct, deliberately drove his truck into that Jeep," said Brauchler.
As the Jeep drove through the crowd following that collision, a man in the crowd, identified as Samuel Young, fired several gunshots toward the vehicle, Aurora Police said.
Two people were struck by gunfire, according to APD. One man was shot in the leg and was taken to the hospital, and another was grazed on the head. That man also went to the hospital.
RELATED: Two protesters shot by a fellow protester in Aurora as vehicle drives through crowd on I-225
Brauchler said from what he observed in the video the Jeep driver tried to stay in the middle lanes of the highway and avoided people before exiting at the next possible point, which was East 6th Avenue.
"There are people that rush into the street to throw things at the Jeep the driver navigates around them or just keeps going," Brauchler said.
"Seeing that post-collision conduct and he [the Jeep driver] has the ability, in my opinion, he has the ability to swerve left or swerve right do a whole bunch of things that would indicate some sort of intent or maliciousness on his part to hurt someone, he does the exact opposite."
After exiting the highway, the driver immediately met with officers from APD who happened to be in the area investigating a prior crash.
During preliminary interviews the driver told officers that after his vehicle was hit by the truck he drove toward the protesters because he was scared and trying to get away.
Brauchler said if new evidence such as photos or videos come to light the decision not to charge the driver could be revised. He urged anyone with any of those items to contact police or Metro Denver Crime Stoppers.
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