Denver man accuses ex Gilpin County deputy of blinding him with Taser in lawsuit

A former Gilpin County sheriff’s deputy is under fire for assaulting and permanently blinding a Denver man in one eye during an arrest last year, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Christopher Bustos is suing former Gilpin County sheriff’s deputy Filip Perry in Denver County District Court for his use of force and for violating Bustos’ constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, the lawsuit stated.

On March 19, 2023, Perry approached a car that had been reported stolen after another officer noticed it parked in the garage of the Ameristar Casino in Blackhawk. Bustos and an unidentified passenger were sitting in the car after visiting the casino.

Perry ordered Bustos out of the car, continuously pointed his gun at the unarmed man — at one point holding it directly behind Bustos’ head “execution-style” — and tased Bustos in his left eye, the lawsuit alleges.

The then-deputy never checked on or addressed the car’s passenger, according to the lawsuit.

During the incident, Perry repeatedly told Bustos to “shut the f*ck up” and had his gun pointed at Bustos the entire time, the lawsuit said. Both actions directly violate the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office’s policies and procedures.

“At no point did Bustos ever swing or punch Perry. At no point did Bustos ever kick Perry,” the lawsuit stated. “At no point did Bustos ever brandish or show a firearm. At no point did Perry or any other law enforcement officer find or discover a firearm in the vehicle, in Bustos’ possession or in the passenger’s possession.”

Even after Perry reholstered his gun and grabbed the taser, he never warned Bustos or announced he was going to use it, the lawsuit stated, referencing body camera footage.

Bustos is now permanently blind in one eye and awaiting surgery to remove his left eye and replace it with a prosthetic, according to the lawsuit.

The Denver man pleaded guilty in August 2024 to aggravated motor vehicle theft as part of a deal, court records show. He is serving a 10-year sentence in the Department of Corrections.

Perry was fired after a similar fight in June 2023 in which he wrestled with a man after ordering him out of his car in the same Ameristar Casino parking garage, according to the lawsuit. Perry slammed the man against the ground and into the side of his car, the lawsuit stated.

However, the lawsuit alleges Perry was never reprimanded or disciplined for his similar assault on Bustos months before. It also claims the deputy never filed the correct “use of force” paperwork after the incident.

During the internal affairs investigation into the June incident, Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office investigators found text messages from Perry talking about blinding Bustos, according to the lawsuit.

“Perry was bragging about blinding people (that is, Bustos) and that he was, quote, ‘a big bad law man’ who enjoyed flaunting his authority in an excessive and violent manner so much that he would ‘do [the job] for free’,” the lawsuit stated.

One text that Perry sent to another deputy allegedly contained a GIF of Heath Ledger as the Joker. The GIF compared Perry to the villain and was captioned “Perry after tasing a guy in the eyeball” and “It’s about sending a message.”

Bustos is asking for compensation for past and future medical bills, economic losses from being unable to work, attorney’s fees, pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress and other damages, according to court records.

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