DENVER – One of the companies that worked to assign an unlicensed security guard to a Denver news station team during a protest on Oct. 10 that ended with the guard allegedly fatally shooting a man has agreed to surrender its license and not seek another for at least five years.
The Denver Department of Excise and Licenses signed an order Thursday accepting a settlement agreement between the city and Isborn Security Services LLC and its registered agent Matthew Isborn in which Isborn Security agreed to surrender its security guard employer license by the close of business Friday, Dec. 4 by submitting an affidavit of surrender.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, which was reached on Dec. 1, Isborn admitted to a violation of the Denver Municipal Code section that reads, in part: “It shall be unlawful for a private security employer to permit or direct any person to perform security services unless the person has obtained a license.”
The code states such a license may be revoked if: “The licensee, either knowingly or without the exercise of due care to prevent the same, has violated any terms of the provisions pertaining to the license or any regulation or order lawfully made under and within the authority of the terms of the provisions relating to the license.”
Isborn Security and Pinkerton were both involved of the hiring of the security guard, 30-year-old Matthew Dolloff. They were both cited in early November with violations of the municipal code for employing or directing an unlicensed security guard.
The citation against Isborn Security said that the company arranged for Dolloff to work as a “plainclothes, armed security guard.”
Dolloff was not licensed to operate as a security guard or to carry a gun on the job within the city of Denver, however. Security guards operating with a license face potential penalties of up to $999 and a year in jail.
Dolloff was issued a concealed handgun permit in June 2018 in Elbert County. He was cleared through CBI at that time. Elbert County Sheriff Tim Norton said he has suspended Dolloff's permit until the issues are resolved in Denver.
Dolloff was working security through the companies for 9News on Oct. 10 when he got into an altercation with 49-year-old Lee Keltner near Denver's Civic Center Park. During the incident, Dolloff allegedly pulled a gun and shot Keltner. Keltner was pronounced dead at Denver Health Medical Center.
There had been a “Patriot muster” and a competing “BLM-Antifa Soup Drive,” as it was branded, in the hours before the incident in the area.
9News previously said in a statement following the shooting that they requested the guard be unarmed.
Dolloff was charged with second-degree murder in connection to the shooting. He was released from the Denver Jail on Nov. 3 after posting a $500,000 bond.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, once Isborn surrenders his license, the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses will consider the surrendering a revocation of the license, and Isborn will not be allowed to re-apply for a license for five years.
Eric Escudero, a spokesperson for the Department of Excise and Licenses, told Denver7 that Pinkerton’s case is still pending and that there is a show-cause hearing scheduled in the case on Dec. 8.
The company said in a previous statement that Dolloff “is not a Pinkerton employee but rather a contractor agent from a long standing [sic] industry vendor.”
Matthew Isborn and his attorney did not immediately respond Thursday afternoon to a request seeking comment about the agreement.
