GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) - Four men who set off a chlorine bomb that injured a suburban Denver police officer and a civilian have been sentenced.
The men, all 20 years old, pulled street signs out of the ground and dragged them into the middle of a street in Arvada on April 7, 2019, according to prosecutors. An officer and a resident were clearing the road hazard when someone yelled obscenities and threw a plastic bottle that released the chlorine gas.
The officer lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for chlorine poisoning and released. The resident was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Prosecutors said the officer suffered serious pulmonary damage and spent months going to medical appointments and missing work.
“These men set up an ambush for police. When the first Arvada officer arrived to clear away the road hazard, he was a fixed target for their toxic chemical bombs,” District Attorney Pete Weir said, adding that “the impact on the law enforcement community has been enormous.”
Prosecutors said Thursday that Gavin Dawson and Maxwell McCann were sentenced to two years of probation and 60 days in a program that includes jail work release and in-home detention. Braiden Ulmer got two years of probation and 30 days in the same program.
The three previously pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree assault of a peace officer with a toxic and caustic device.
Meanwhile, Isaac Koch was given a two-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to possess an explosive device.
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