A grand jury on Friday did not find probable cause that either of two El Paso County sheriff\u2019s deputies committed any criminal offense in the officer-involved shooting death a Security-Widefield man in July.<\/p>\n
The grand jury\u2019s decision was unanimous, according to a news release by the 4th Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
Deputies Brenden Koehlinger and Juanito Cuellar fired on Brian Prine, 59, after a July 18 call reporting a disturbance in Security-Widefield led to Prine taking a Taser from one of the four responding deputies and striking one.<\/p>\n
Jurors felt \u201cshock, dismay, anger and confusion\u201d after initially reviewing the evidence presented to them, including body-worn camera footage, testimony and expert opinions, the grand jury report shows.<\/p>\n
Prine had been on the front porch of his residence in the 6500 block of Tranters Creek Way when he was told he was going to be detained by deputies. He then became uncooperative and lunged toward a deputy, officials said, grabbing and deploying a deputy\u2019s Taser and then attempting to gain possession of a deputy\u2019s firearm.<\/p>\n
The jury was presented evidence for two days by the 4th Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office from a multi-agency deadly force investigation.<\/p>\n
Jurors found \u201cat first view\u201d the video evidence supported a claim for excessive force and involved reckless behavior, according to the grand jury report. Concern arose among jurors about the \u201clack of coordination and communication\u201d between deputies and the \u201cmanner\u201d of response. <\/p>\n
The jury then \u201cgained a better understanding of the facts\u201d after reviewing body camera footage from four deputies and testimony from a use of lethal force expert from the Colorado Springs Police Department who is also a Taser instructor.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the grand jury concluded Cueller and Koehlinger \u201csimultaneously, and independently\u201d responded with the same action while at different vantage points and did not find probable cause that either committed any criminal offense.<\/p>\n
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