June 18, 2024 |
Photo – Justin Brown – Courtesy Bjorne Hoss Bruin Facebook
Former Saratoga Police Sergeant Justin Brown died last week from an sudden medical emergency.
On Wednesday, June 12th, Justin Micah Paul Brown died in a Colorado hotel room. Brown was 44 years old.
A Facebook post written by Brown’s fiancé Megan Kate states that the couple attended a concert in Red Rocks, Colorado. Kate writes that after the concert, Brown’s left leg swelled up, prompting Kate to ask if they should go to the hospital. Brown allegedly said his leg wasn’t bothering him and blamed the swelling on retaining water from traveling.
In her Facebook post, Kate writes that Brown collapsed soon after they returned to their hotel room. Kate said she performed CPR until paramedics arrived. After being worked on for over 45 minutes, Brown was pronounced dead.
In the summer of 2021, Brown was hired by the Saratoga Police Department. Around the same time, Brown started TYR K9 Training and Boarding north of Saratoga.
In February of 2022, Brown was arrested for allegedly threatening Carbon County Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Opfar. Brown was also accused of allowing a dog he was training to attack his ex-wife, Amanda Brown, and, on a separate occasion, their daughter, resulting in the child needing 18 stiches.
The alleged dog bites occurred in 2021. That December, the Carbon County Circuit Court issued a seizure warrant for the dog, named Shaw. Brown allegedly claimed that the dog had been moved out of state and threatened anyone who attempted to take Shaw. Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Opfar said due to Brown’s alleged threats, the warrant was not served at the time.
The following month, in January of 2022, Carbon County Prosecutor Ashley Davis issued a warrant for Brown’s arrest, citing the injuries his child sustained from the dog and threats made against Deputy Opfar. Brown was arrested and quickly released from custody on a $5,000 bond. Following his arrest, Brown was suspended from the Saratoga Police Department.
During the March 1st Saratoga town council meeting, Brown received a public hearing which, those in attendance said resembled a trial. Town Attorney Jane France served as prosecutor for the town, arguing that Brown should be terminated because of behavior unbecoming a police officer, including threats made to Carbon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sergeant Ben Opfar, who was trying to serve the warrant to seize the dog Shaw. France called Deputy Opfar and Police Chief Kenneth Lehr as witnesses. At the time, the criminal case against Brown had not gone to court.
Following the 90-minute-long hearing, the town council entered executive session. After calling the meeting back to order, the council unanimously voted to terminate Sergeant Brown.
Two months later, Brown pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of interference with a peace officer and was sentenced to a year of probation and a $200 fine.
Brown, who had an extensive military background, continued to operate and run TYR K9 Training and Boarding after being dismissed from the Saratoga Police Department.
On April 30th of this year, Brown became engaged to his longtime girlfriend Megan Kate.
According to Brown’s Facebook page, he was a former Army Ranger, Spec Ops and SWAT tactical medicine instructor, and a medic for the private military contractor, Blackwater Worldwide.
As of the reporting of this story, no details have been given regarding funeral services for Brown.
