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Colorado DEA Agent Brian Neil Charged In Road Rage Incident

(CBS4) - CBS4 has learned a Colorado-based agent for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has been charged with multiple felonies after he stopped a Douglas County teenager following a road rage altercation. ​The teenager, Mohid Saeed, 19, of Parker, claims Brian Neil racially profiled him and drew a gun on him and a friend during the incident on May 5.

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Brian Neil booking photo (credit: DCSO)

"I thought 100% he was going to shoot, or something bad was going to happen​," ​Saeed said.

Neil has been charged with felony menacing, attempt to influence a public servant - a felony, and misdemeanor. Neil's attorney did not respond to multiple calls and an email from CBS4 seeking comment.

According to an arrest affidavit from the Lone Tree police department, Neil said Saeed cut him off in traffic at Ridgegate and Lincoln Avenue in Lone Tree. Saeed told police he cut off Neil's car to "repay the favor" ​after he claims Neil cut him off first.

Neil was driving an unmarked government Hyundai SUV and pulled Saeed and his passenger over in a nearby church parking lot.

According to Saeed, and cellphone video of the incident shared with CBS4, Neil approached Saeed's car and asked for identification.

"My friend looks over and said, 'He doesn't look like a cop,'" ​Saeed recalled in an interview with CBS4. "At this point, we think he's not a real cop; never seen a Hyundai cop car."

According to Saeed, Neil asked Saeed where he was from. Saeed was born in the United States and his parents are from Pakistan, and have been ​in the U.S. for 30 years.

Saeed told police he believed the question was a ​"slur toward his race​" and ​"was racially motivated because of Neil's demeanor and tone.​"

​The arrest affidavit says Neil told investigators he noticed Saeed's foreign name and asked where he was from, saying he thought ​"they were just going to have a casual conversation about where he was from​."

Neil told police he had recently returned from Pakistan, ​according to the affidavit.

At one point, Saeed's passenger began videotaping the interaction, and ​Saeed says Neil went to the passenger side of the car and attempted to reach into the car and grab the passenger's phone.

It was then that Saeed stepped on the gas and fled.

"And then I look in my rearview, and there's a gun pointed so I told my friend 'duck,'" ​Saeed said. "We're ducking because we thought he was going to shoot us."

When police investigators initially spoke to Neil, the​ affidavit says he "denied" ever pulling his gun, saying, "it never left his waistband."

But later, after realizing some of the incident might have been captured by a nearby surveillance camera, Neil told police he did remember pulling his gun out of his waistband as the teens sped away.

"I was scared," Saeed said. "What he did was 100% wrong. I just hope it doesn't happen to anybody else."

Neil told local police he believed the occupants of the car had been smoking marijuana. But both teens in the car denied marijuana use, said there was none in the car, and invited police to search the vehicle. Police declined the offer.

"It's a sad story," Saeed's father, Shahid Saeed, told CBS4. "We all belong to our country as everybody else. What I taught my kids is you be a good citizen."

The father went on to say, "[Neil] should help the community, not put the community in danger, which is what he did."

Lone Tree police wrote in their affidavit they believed "Neil acted outside the scope of his authorized authority."

After CBS4 began investigating the incident, Neil's attorney asked a judge to suppress the case, meaning no information would be made public and any evidence or information about facts of the case are hidden from public view.

A judge agreed and issued the suppression order July 7.

CBS4 obtained a mugshot of Neil and the police affidavit before the suppression order was granted. To read the full affidavit, click here.

Neil is free on a $50,000 bond, although it's unclear when his next court appearance ​will be, since the case is now shielded from public view.

A spokesperson for the DEA said the agency is conducting its own internal investigation and Neil is currently limited to only administrative duties.

"When allegations of employee misconduct are brought to the DEA, we conduct thorough internal investigations," the agency said. "If it is determined that an employee of the DEA has violated a law or an internal DEA policy, we will take appropriate action to hold that individual accountable."

CBS4 reporters Brian Maass and Kati Weis serve on the CBS4 Investigates team, uncovering fraud, waste, and corruption. Send them a news tip or follow them on Twitter @Briancbs4 and @KatiWeis.

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