Formal charges were filed Wednesday against a man accused of beating a Denver police officer to the ground and trying to grab her gun before two bystanders intervened to help.
Stephen Hamper, 26, faces two counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault and one count of attempting to disarm a peace officer, according to the Denver district attorney’s office. All of the charges are felonies.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, the near the ramp from South Downing Street to southbound Interstate 25, after responding to several reports of a man wandering into traffic and washing his clothes in a storm drain, according to a probable cause statement.
The officer said Hamper appeared to be acting strangely, and she attempted to place him into handcuffs. But she was able to put only one of his hands in the restraints before he turned around and hit her in the face with a closed fist.
Hamper ran toward the officer’s patrol car. He then turned back toward the officer and hit her several times in the face and body, knocking her to the ground.
While she was on the ground, Hamper climbed on top of her and tried to grab her gun.
Two people who saw the attack stopped to help the officer.
Additional officers arrived and placed Hamper into the back of a patrol car.
Hamper screamed at the officers, “If I would have gotten her gun, I would have killed her,” according to the police document. “You guys kill children and old ladies.”
Hamper remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in Denver County Court on Friday.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794, jsteffen@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jsteffendp
