{"id":40962,"date":"2022-04-26T00:55:53","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T06:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-state-representative-smelled-of-alcohol-refused-breath-test-before-dui-arrest\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:58:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:58:06","slug":"colorado-state-representative-smelled-of-alcohol-refused-breath-test-before-dui-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-state-representative-smelled-of-alcohol-refused-breath-test-before-dui-arrest\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado state representative smelled of alcohol, refused breath test before DUI arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"State
State Rep. Matt Gray, D-Broomfield, in the Colorado House chambers as the second regular session of the 72nd Colorado General Assembly convenes at the Colorado State Capitol. (Kathryn Scott\/Special to The Colorado Sun file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Police officers say they smelled alcohol on state Rep. Matt Gray\u2019s breath before they arrested the Broomfield Democrat on Thursday on suspicion of driving under the influence as he was trying to pick up his children from school.<\/p>\n

According to a Broomfield Police Department report, Gray also repeatedly told officers that he was friends with Brian Mason, the Democratic district attorney for Broomfield and Adams counties. \u201cJust know Brian Mason is my friend,\u201d Gray allegedly said.<\/p>\n

The report also says Gray \u201cexplicitly\u201d told officers they shouldn\u2019t treat him differently than anyone else.<\/p>\n

Police were called to Coyote Ridge Elementary School by staff members there who refused to let Gray pick up his children because they were worried that he was intoxicated.<\/p>\n

\"State
State Rep. Matt Gray. (Broomfield Police Department)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gray, when interviewed by police, denied consuming any alcohol before driving to pick up his children. However he refused a breath test as well as a roadside test.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stated that he has been having anxiety and panic attacks,\u201d said the report, which was first obtained by 9News. \u201cHe was having a panic attack while picking up the children today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officers said Gray\u2019s eyes were bloodshot and glossy and that he was slurring his words and unsteady on his feet. They did not, however, find any alcohol or alcohol containers in his car.<\/p>\n

Police spoke to state Sen. Faith Winter, a Westminster Democrat and close friend of Gray\u2019s, who told them that Gray had been struggling with panic attacks in recent months and that it \u201chad been a long, exhausting day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked her if the panic attacks cause him to consume alcohol and she stated she did not know,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Gray was marked excused from the House on Friday and then for most of Monday before participating remotely at the Capitol early Monday afternoon. He has not publicly discussed his arrest except for a brief statement on Twitter on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not intoxicated, but my symptoms of anxiety and depression are such that too many people are worried when they\u2019re around me,\u201d Gray said in a tweet that was later deleted. \u201cI\u2019m going to increase my level of therapy and appreciate all the support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old is in the final year of his third two-year term in the Colorado House. He has filed to run for re-election in November.<\/p>\n

Gray, a former prosecutor, was first elected in 2016 and has championed transportation issues at the Capitol, particularly around funding road and transit projects. He was also one of the architects of Colorado\u2019s new paid family and parental leave program, approved by voters in 2020.<\/p>\n

The 17th Judicial District Attorney\u2019s Office, which is led by Mason, prosecutes cases in Broomfield and Adams counties. Gray used to be a deputy district attorney with the office.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Mason initially referred questions about the arrest to the Broomfield Police Department before saying Monday that the 1st Judicial District would handle the case because of the \u201cconflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver, said last week that it was his \u201cbelief that (Gray) has been struggling with alcoholism for some time now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray\u2019s ex-wife wrote in a witness statement to Broomfield police last week that she \u201cwasn\u2019t surprised to get the call because of Matt\u2019s history with drinking.\u201d The police report indicates she ultimately picked up her kids from school.<\/p>\n

Gray is scheduled to be arraigned on June 8.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

was trying to pick up his children when he was arrested, according to police report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[924,586,120,394,14,2336,233,168,480,28,52],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-40962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alcohol","tag-arrest","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-colorado-state-house-of-representatives","tag-colorado-state-officials","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-crime","tag-dui","tag-headlines","tag-law-enforcement"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84810,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40962\/revisions\/84810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40962"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=40962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}