Man who shot Denver boy in stolen car had been accused of impersonation, lying to police

The man who police say fatally shot a 12-year-old boy who was in his stolen car was previously arrested in Maryland after the emergency lights on his car drew police attention, according to records obtained by The Denver Post.

The Maryland charges, which included impersonating a firefighter and making false statements to police, were dropped. No reason was given.

Denver police records identify Jack Reed, 35, as the man who shot and killed 12-year-old Elias Armstrong on Feb. 5 while the boy was in Reed’s stolen car near downtown Denver.

Police determined someone in the car fired shots during the confrontation, and said the boy was killed in an “exchange of gunfire.”

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann declined to press criminal charges against Reed.

Records obtained by the Post show Reed was frustrated by the tepid police response to his stolen vehicle that night, telling dispatchers he was armed and had to act because police would not.

Earl Armstrong, Elias’ uncle, said of the shooting: “Jack Reed on that day played officer, judge, jury and executioner. And obviously from the out-of-state charges, this is in his makeup. There is no way he should be set free.”

The Maryland incident happened on June 7, 2016, when Reed — who was then living in Ohio — was pulled over around 9 p.m. in Laurel, Md.

He was driving a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria — a model of car long used by law enforcement — that had emergency lights and a siren, and he was carrying a loaded gun and extra ammunition, according to a Prince George’s County Police Department report obtained by The Post through an open records request.

He was pulled over because his license plate was obstructed and because the car was registered to a private owner yet had emergency lights.

Reed told the officer that his post as a firefighter in a small department in Tennessee allowed him to put emergency lights in his personal vehicle. But he couldn’t produce current credentials for that job, and when the officer called the fire department, he was told Reed hadn’t worked there for five years.

Additionally, Reed’s Ohio concealed-carry license was not recognized in Maryland.

He was arrested and charged with having a handgun in a vehicle, having a handgun on his person, making false statements to police, and impersonation of a firefighter, according to clerks at the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County.

The local prosecutor’s office later dropped all the charges, according to court records. The court file does not give a reason for the dismissal, and a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office did not return a request for comment on the case.

A man who answered a phone number listed for Jack Reed on Monday initially said a reporter had reached the wrong number, then said “no comment” after the reporter explained the reason for the call. Reed did not return additional requests for comment sent through his social media profiles, one of which appeared to then be deactivated or made private.

On the night Reed tracked down his stolen car in Denver, he called police just before 6 p.m. and reported that his Audi Q3 had been stolen from a shopping center. He said that he had a GPS tracker on the vehicle and told police where the Audi was located, according to a Denver police search warrant.

Reed “became agitated” about the police response, according to the search warrant, and “made threats to protect his property with a weapon and stated he would pull a gun on the suspect.”

About an hour later, Reed called police again and said he was “about to intercept” his car.

A video of the subsequent confrontation shared with The Post by Elias’ family shows the stolen Audi double-parked on a deserted street. Another vehicle approaches and stops about 20 feet behind the Audi; as the other vehicle’s driver sprints toward the Audi, it begins to pull away. Several gunshots were heard on the 911 call, according to the search warrant.

“He shot at me and I returned fire,” Reed told the police dispatcher.

When officers arrived, they found Elias Armstrong behind the wheel of the stolen Audi a short distance away. He had been shot multiple times and was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Video showed Elias was with two other people during the confrontation. They’d left the Audi after the shooting and were picked up by a driver blocks away, according to the search warrant.

McCann declined to file charges against Reed, saying prosecutors did not believe they could prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Elias’ father, Thomas Armstrong, said prosecutors told the family the man had a valid self-defense claim.

Elias’ family has protested that decision and pushed for charges to be filed. Earl Armstrong called Reed’s actions “vigilantism” and said the decision not to bring charges was “bogus.”

Denver police refused to release additional video from city cameras showing the shooting and said Monday that the investigation remained active. A police spokesman did not answer a question about what is still being investigated in the wake of McCann’s decision not to bring charges against Reed.

Under Colorado law, someone can use deadly force in self-defense only if that person reasonably thinks using less force won’t be sufficient, and the person reasonably believes he or someone else faces an immediate threat of being killed or seriously hurt.