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The Denver Post
July 28, 1994
Author: Marilyn Robinson Denver Post Staff Writer
ADAMS COUNTY – A man shot to death Tuesday night by a sheriff’s deputy after allegedly attacking officers with a 9-inch screwdriver had a history of mental problems and had been convicted in a previous assault on deputies, authorities said yesterday.
Kenneth Candelarie’s father called deputies to the family home near Brighton on Tuesday night, saying his 29-year-old son had been drinking and possibly using drugs and “was acting irrational and being very destructive,” said Sheriff Ed Camp.
The father said he and other family members had locked themselves in the house and his son was trying to break in, Camp said.
When deputies arrived, they found the younger Candelarie in a building on the property. “When they tried to contact him, he attacked them with a screwdriver,” said Camp. “They all thought it was a knife. We found out later it was a screwdriver.”
Ryan tripped and fell over concrete forms, breaking her left wrist, as she tried to back up. Andrews’ protective vest saved him from injury, and Davis escaped with a scratch, Camp said.
In 1992, Candelarie was charged with second-degree assault after he attacked two deputies who had answered a “suicidal party” call to the home. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor assault counts in connection with the incident and was placed on probation. That was terminated last October after his probation officer reported he had completed his mental-health treatment and was continuing to take medication for depression , court records show.
He also got probation in a 1988 criminal-mischief incident at his sister’s home, records show.
His father told deputies his son had been having mental problems since a motorcycle accident several years ago, Camp said.
The shooting is under investigation by a team of officers from county law-enforcement agencies. Ryan, an eight-year veteran of the sheriff’s department, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
“On face value, it appears the officer acted appropriately,” Camp said.
Record Number: DNVR221575
Copyright 1994 The Denver Post Corp.