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Cop Faces Attempted Murder Charge In Stalking Case


 “It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”



BOULDER, Colo. -- A Boulder police officer faces additional charges, including attempted murder, after being arrested last weekend and accused of stalking and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.

Broomfield police initially arrested Officer Christian McCracken, 32, Saturday on charges of stalking, harassment and domestic violence. The ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend are both Boulder police dispatchers.

"It's an unfortunate incident is what it is," Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said. "It's certainly troublesome when a department member goes off and gets involved in any type of criminal activity, especially something this serious." Boulder police said they issued a new arrest warrant Thursday for McCracken on charges of suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of stalking and one count of harassment. He remains at the Broomfield County Jail on $500,000 bond.

"At the time of McCracken’s arrest, Boulder police began a criminal investigation into information that he may have planned and taken a significant step toward committing a homicide against the new boyfriend," Boulder police spokeswoman Kim Kobel said in a news release. "After consultation with the District Attorney’s Office, it was agreed that probable cause existed to obtain an additional arrest warrant."

According to an arrest affidavit, McCracken was arrested after he told his roommate and fellow Boulder Officer, John Smyley, that he was going to track down and kill his former girlfriend and her boyfriend and then kill himself.

As evidence that McCracken acted to carry out the threat, police said he went to the Boulder Police Department on Friday and collected two handguns and bullet magazines.

However, his roommate convinced McCracken to go for an evaluation at Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was arrested early Saturday morning.

"While we are concerned and saddened by the need to arrest one of our own officers, we are primarily focused with the safety of our employees and members of the community,” said Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner in a statement Thursday.

"We're taking steps to make sure they're protected," he said, referring to department employees.

"As information became available," Beckner said, "it became increasingly apparent that we needed to act quickly. Our detectives, in partnership with the District Attorney’s Office, did a great job in putting this case together.”

The ex-girlfriend said she had been dating McCracken for several years, according to the affidavit written by a Broomfield police investigator. Broomfield police did the initial investigation because the ex-girlfriend lives in that city.

"Up to this point he has been a good employee," Beckner said. "We have had no indication that anything like this was in the works or that would happen with this employee."

Officer Suffered Brain Injury During On-Duty Assault

The woman said her relationship with McCracken started to unravel after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in August 2011, when he was assaulted on duty while breaking up a bar fight, the affidavit said.

McCracken was placed on medical leave. The girlfriend became his caretaker, taking him to doctor appointments and spending much of her free time looking after him, police said.

During his recovery, McCracken became more and more "disconnected from reality," the ex-girlfriend told police.

She said in February McCracken called her and she could tell he was troubled.

She drove to his house in Frederick and found him enraged, the affidavit said.

"McCracken was throwing things and was out of control," she told police.

She said she thought it was due to his head injury or perhaps the medication.

The girlfriend called an ambulance to take him to the hospital and also called police because she felt unsafe, the affidavit said.

After the incident, the woman said she began monitoring McCracken's narcotic medication.

Affidavit: Officer Bought Illicit Painkillers

Days later, McCracken told her that he had illicitly bought 90 Percocet tablets from a bus driver who takes him on errands. Percocet is a painkiller combining the narcotic oxycodone and acetaminophen.

A short time later, the officer called the woman at her dispatcher job and said he was ending their relationship.

Then, he began calling her at work and at home, asking to get back together with her.

The woman said she said made it clear that she wasn't interested.

McCracken began barraging her with unwanted phone calls, text messages, emails and Facebook postings, the affidavit said. He ranged from politely asking for a reconciliation to yelling profanities and accusing her of cheating on him.

"[She] felt like she was constantly looking over her shoulder and had to 'watch her back,'" the affidavit said.

In March, the woman said, McCracken began making comments that made her believe he was following her, the affidavit said.

The woman told police that McCracken talked about places she had gone with her new boyfriend, the fellow dispatcher.

On April 26, she and her boyfriend had just returned from dinner to her home when McCraken arrived and began pounding on the front door, the affidavit said.

McCracken yelled that he'd seen the two out together and she was cheating on him, the affidavit said.

McCracken left after a few minutes. The woman and her boyfriend soon left because they feared for their safety, the affidavit said.

As the pair was leaving, McCracken called the woman's cellphone and began yelling profanities and threatening the boyfriend, saying he "better watch his back" and vowed to "kick his ass," the affidavit said.

The woman asked McCracken why he was doing this, and he replied that he wanted to hurt her, the affidavit said. The woman was so frightened, she stopped living in her home, according to police.

The ex-girlfriend said that McCracken began calling other Boulder police officers and dispatchers, telling them that he had been keeping the ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend under surveillance. He accused these people of being involved in a conspiracy with the ex-girlfriend, police said.

Several fellow dispatchers told the woman that McCracken had made comments about spying on her and her boyfriend, watching them "making out," the affidavit said.

"OMG!! He's Wacked!" one dispatcher messaged the ex-girlfriend.

The ex-girlfriend told police several reasons why she feared for her safety, the affidavit said.

She said that, before his head injury, McCracken had told her that during his breakup with his former wife, he learned that she and a man were having an affair.

McCracken recalled how he'd conducted surveillance of his wife and her lover, including digging through their trash and monitoring their email, the affidavit said.

"McCracken said that he had developed a detailed plan to murder (his wife's) boyfriend, including having a schedule of their movements," the affidavit said.

However, McCracken said he eventually dropped the plan, the affidavit said.

McCracken also told his ex-girlfriend that he'd suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome after serving in combat as a Marine in Iraq or Afghanistan, the affidavit said.

On Friday, McCracken retrieved the two handguns and magazines from the Boulder Police Department, where they'd been stored during his medical leave, police said.

Learning that McCracken had obtained the guns, Boulder police officials called the ex-girlfriend, warning that her life was in danger and telling her to go to the Broomfield Police Department, the affidavit said. Boulder police officials also informed their Broomfield counterparts about the threat.

Meanwhile, McCracken went to meet Smyly, his roommate and fellow officer, and told him of his plan to find his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend.

McCracken said he was going to shoot the boyfriend in the head in front of the ex-girlfriend, then kill her, the affidavit said. McCracken said he would then go into the mountains and kill himself.

Smyly convinced McCracken to go for an evaluation at the hospital. Broomfield police officer later arrived to arrest him.



Had enough?  Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal hearings into the police problem in America.  Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a permanent  DOJ office on Police Misconduct.