A Longmont man accused of attempting to murder a police officer last year admitted during a jailhouse phone call earlier this month that he previously tried to take an officer’s gun to provoke a shooting, according to court testimony Monday.
Longmont Police Detective Stacey Graham testified in Boulder District Court that she has listened to hundreds of 22-year-old Brandon Duke’s jailhouse phone calls, which are recorded by the Boulder County Jail’s phone system. Duke talked about wishing he had a gun during earlier contacts with police so he “could have been popping shots,” and admitted during a March 12 call to his grandmother that he tried to take a South Carolina officer’s gun during a 2007 arrest as a Colorado fugitive, Graham said.
Duke was shot and wounded in May 2010 after he and Longmont Police Officer David Blake exchanged gunfire near Main Street and Second Avenue, where Blake stopped Duke because he was suspected of assaulting his grandfather. According to police, Duke ran, pulled a gun and fired at the officer. Blake returned fire and struck Duke once in the arm and once in the torso. Another of Blake’s shots grazed Duke’s head.
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