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'Where is my justice': Man who lost eye in assault wants all parties charged

Posted at 6:51 PM, Oct 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-21 20:52:03-04

What started with dinner at a Greenwood Village IHOP ended with Derryl Brewer losing his left eye.

"I never saw that much blood in my life," said Brewer. "I'm a Black man, and here I get assaulted by three white dudes, and I get no justice to that?"

Police reports state last January, Brewer and a friend were eating when they said three men started giving them dirty looks.

"He stared at us the whole way out," said Brewer. "You'll see it in the videotape."

Police reports state IHOP surveillance video appears to show the group of men returning to the restaurant window "twice to antagonize the victim."

Brewer said they repeatedly used the N-word. When he and his friend went to La Quinta next door, he said that the same group of men ambushed him.

"It was a can he had in his left hand, a beer can. He hit me center dead in my eye," said Brewer. "I heard that pop inside of me and saw blood gushing everywhere."

Medical records show that doctors could not save Brewer's eye. Greenwood Village police arrested Brian C. Ogden, 31, for second-degree assault.

"It was a total racist attack. There were N-words being thrown around. He was being threatened," said Mark Burton, Brewer's attorney, who said they had to pressure District Attorney George Brachler to increase the charges to first-degree assault and bias-motivated crime.

Now, they are also fighting for the two other men involved to face charges.

"If you aid or encourage another person to commit a crime under our law, you are just as guilty as the person who actually did the act," said Burton.

Burton has sent a letter to the D.A. stating that if the other two men aren't prosecuted, he will petition the court himself for an appropriate prosecution.
Brauchler's office released a statement: "At this time, no other individuals have been charged in relation to this incident."

"If it was three black men, we would be underneath that jail cell. We would be in jail right now," said Brewer, who said fighting for justice is what keeps him going. "When all three of them get charged, that's when I'm going to come at peace with myself."

The suspect, Brian Ogden, told police that he believed Brewer had a gun and that he was defending himself. Ogden will be in court on Oct. 28.

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