Darryl Glenn Explains 1983 Assault Charge That Was Dropped
DENVER (AP) — Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Darryl Glenn says he was defending his mother against an abusive father in a 1983 altercation that led to a misdemeanor assault charge against Glenn that was later dropped.
Glenn, the Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet, had previously denied he was arrested and speculated it could have been another person with the same name, The Denver Post reported Thursday.
Glenn also previously told the Colorado Springs Independent that the incident might have involved his older brother, who died in 1992.
Glenn said he did not remember the incident more than 30 years ago until he spoke this week to his mother about it.
Glenn was 18 at the time, and the charge was dropped. The Independent reported that Glenn's father, Ernest Glenn, was arrested on suspicion of three counts of misdemeanor assault that also were later dropped. Ernest Glenn died in 2006.
Darryl Glenn told the Post in a statement that he was defending his mother after his father hit her, and that his father falsely claimed he had been struck by his son. He said he and his mother don't believe he hit his father.
Glenn issued his statement after the Post presented his campaign with Colorado Springs police records on Tuesday.
"I understand why some people might say, 'How can he not remember something like this?'" Glenn said.
"I want to do my best to explain that: The painful truth is that my parents' marriage was violent. This was not the first night my father attacked my mother, and maybe more sadly, this wasn't the worst time it happened — not even close."
Glenn added: "When you grow up in a violent home, the fights, the screaming, the pain all blur together. To survive, you block as much of it out of your head as you can in the moment."
Glenn, an El Paso County commissioner, won a five-way party primary to challenge Bennet, who is seeking a second full term.
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