Man shot by officer after armed robbery formally charged
A man who was accused of being part of an armed robbery at a gas station in Longmont before he was shot by a police officer has been released from the hospital and was formally charged Tuesday.
Nicholas W. Kovacs, 47, is charged with firstdegree assault on a peace officer, aggravated robbery, two counts of menacing, possession of a weapon by a previous offender, prohibited largecapacity magazine, unlawful conduct involving an unserialized firearm, and possession of a dangerous weapon.
Kovacs is set to appear in Boulder County Court for a review hearing at 1:30 p.m. today.
According to an affidavit, Longmont police responded to an armed robbery at 9:51 p.m. March 18 at the Circle K, 605 S. Emery St.
Police said two people entered the Circle K and one of them pointed a gun at an employee before placing a gun on the counter.
After the employee handed one of the robbers money from the register, they helped the other access the cigarettes.
A customer then entered the store, and the two robbers left through the back door and appeared to get into a gray Chevrolet truck, according to the affidavit.
As the suspects drove eastbound out of town, the driver ran a red light and was reported to hit speeds up to 100 mph. Subsequently, officers used spikes to deflate the truck’s tires, and just after the driver passed Weld County Road 7.5 another officer struck the back passenger side of the truck with his vehicle, causing the truck to spin and stop in the shoulder on the north side of Colo. 119.
Longmont Police Officer Christopher Glenn shot Kovacs after he
reportedly exited a vehicle carrying a handgun, according to the affidavit. The affidavit did not state how many times Glenn fired his gun or how far away Glenn was from Kovacs.
Police found a handgun
two feet away from Kovacs.
Afterward, Kovacs was taken to Uchealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland for treatment.
Police said Kovacs was traveling with Miranda Sewell, 44, and William Zule, 40, at the time of the shooting. Sewell faces charges of aggravated robbery, vehicular eluding, menacing with a weapon, theft between
$300 and $1,000 and reckless driving. Zule is facing two counts of aggravated robbery, menacing, and theft between $300 and $1,000.
Both are currently in custody and are set for a preliminary hearing in Boulder County Court on April 8.
Booking photos of Zule and Sewell were not available for release at the time of publication.
Glenn is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into the shooting, which is standard procedure in a use-of-force case.
The Weld County Incident Response Team is investigating and will present its findings to the Weld County District Attorney’s Office, according to a Longmont Public Safety post.