DENVER – The FBI agent who shot a man at a Denver nightclub in June when his handgun fell from his waistband as he performed a backflip pleaded not guilty to a felony assault charge in a Denver courtroom Thursday morning.
Chase Bishop, 29, faces one count of felony second-degree assault. He had been set to enter a plea in a mid-October hearing, but the hearing was pushed to Thursday.
He is accused of shooting a man accidentally in the early morning hours of June 2 at the Mile High Spirits club.
The judge in Bishop’s case accepted his plea of not guilty Thursday and set disposition and motions hearings for Jan. 17 and 18, respectively.
Bishop was offered a plea deal by Denver prosecutors earlier this year, but the details have not been disclosed. Bishop will be able to accept his plea deal all the way up until the end of a possible trial, which would take place next year, a Denver District Attorney’s Office spokesperson said.
Bishop posted a $1,000 bond in the case in June that allows him to travel back and forth between Denver and Washington, D.C., where he lives and works.
Attorneys for both sides have 35 days to file motions in the case.
Denver7 interviewed Tom Redington, the man who was hit by the bullet, in June. Reddington’s attorney said the bullet hit one of his client’s main arteries and he could have bled to death had witnesses not stepped in to create a makeshift tourniquet with a belt.
