ARVADA, Colo. — Four men accused of throwing a chlorine bomb at an Arvada police officer in April 2019 — knocking the officer unconscious and causing him to suffer pulmonary damage — were sentenced to probation and a Jefferson County alternative jail program and received deferred judgment, officials announced Thursday.
Gavin Beret Dawson, 20; Maxwell Cade McCann, 20; and Braiden John Ulmer, 20, pled guilty in May to attempted second-degree assault of a peace officer - toxic caustic device, according to the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
All three received two years' probation and time in the county's alternative sentencing program, which includes a jail work-release program and in-home detention.
Dawson and McCann received 60 days in the alternative program. Ulmer received 30 days.
In December, a fourth suspect, Isaac Carl Koch, 20, pled guilty to conspiracy to posses an explosive/incendiary device and was given a two-year deferred judgment for his sentence.
The injured officer is still feeling effects from the incident, officials said Thursday.
Police documentssaid the young men in April 2019 created the chemical concoction using brake fluid and pool shock that they bought from an area Walmart. A receipt with the purchase found by detectives led police to arrest the five suspects on Sunday after police reviewed surveillance video.
The officer who responded to the scene near West 68th Ave. and Beech Street inhaled some of the chemical reaction and passed out. The officer was taken to a hospital and treated for chlorine gas exposure.
The suspects told police they were not targeting anyone in particular but “just d-ckin around with them,” according to arrest documents.
Police said Maxwell admitted to throwing one of the devices toward the officer. He told detectives, from his reading on the internet he felt the gas from the bombs was not “very toxic or harmful.”
According to the First Judicial District Attorney's Office, the suspects had created a hazard in the road "to create a stationary target for their bombs."
When the officer stopped to clear the hazard, the chlorine bomb landed near him.
“These men set up an ambush for police," District Attorney Pete Weir said in a news release. "When the first Arvada officer arrived to clear away the road hazard, he was a fixed target for their toxic chemical bombs. These young men purchased the chemicals and plastic bottles at Walmart, mixed the bombs and then set up their targets for ambush. The impact on the law enforcement community has been enormous.”
