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El Paso County prosecutor declines to charge veteran for choking suspected thief

Gazette - 4/9/2017

April 08--The family of a man choked nearly to death by a veteran who thought he was acting suspiciously walked out on prosecutors when they were told Thursday no charges would be filed.

The 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced Friday that Craig Uehling, 30, would not face charges for putting Scott Ryan Smith Jr., 25, in a chokehold, causing him to lose consciousness and stop breathing.

"They were trying to tell us it was OK what Uehling did, and we were so upset, we walked out," said Kristie Smith, Scott's aunt. Uehling's actions were "way over the top," she said.

Uehling, an Army veteran, suspected Smith was a burglar when he saw him, clad in all black, near his house the evening of Jan. 22. Authorities later found that Smith was carrying stolen property from three vehicles, including Uehling's. No theft charges have been filed against Smith, who recently was released from the hospital.

A phone message left for Uehling on Friday afternoon was not immediately returned.

After coming out of a weekslong coma, Smith spent more than a month in rehab before being allowed to leave Tuesday to live with a family member, his aunt said. The father of two has difficulty communicating and is fed by a tube, she said.

"He's definitely not 100 percent, and we don't know if he ever will be," Kristie Smith said.

But he has made miraculous progress in light of doctors' initial predictions that he would be "a permanent vegetable" if he ever came out of the coma, family previously told The Gazette.

The District Attorney's Office gave the following account:

Uehling was driving to his house when he saw Smith walking from the area of his driveway and backyard. Uehling turned his car around to follow Smith, then got out of his car to call out to him.

Uehling said he saw Smith throw an object into the bushes and go over the fence into his neighbor's backyard. Uehling followed Smith into the backyard and caught up with him while he was trying to enter an RV in another neighbor's yard. While calling 911, Uehling confronted Smith. Smith heard a dispatcher ask Uehling for his location.

Smith advanced on Uehling, who told Smith to get on the ground. Smith punched him in the face twice. Uehling then put him in a chokehold.

Smith, who had lost consciousness and stopped breathing, was revived by paramedics and hospital personnel but "suffered serious bodily injury."

Smith's family said his heart stopped and he was deprived of oxygen for more than 30 minutes.

"If he didn't make it, I'm going to feel bad, but it's my life, too," Uehling told The Gazette hours after the incident.

One of the reasons Uehling will not be charged is because Smith was the first to use physical force, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Colorado law allows a person to defend himself from unlawful physical force -- or the threat of it -- "if he uses the degree of force which he reasonably believes to be necessary," according to the District Attorney's Office. The person may also "use reasonable and appropriate physical force" to prevent a theft or to stop a person who has committed a crime in his presence.

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Contact Ellie Mulder: 636-0198

Twitter: @lemarie

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