">Hiv Infection | Denver Hiv-positive Man Charged With Using Spit As Deadly Weapon

“We are at the point in the case where it has gone to the deputy district attorney who will handle it and he is currently reviewing it,” Lynn Kimbrough told the Colorado Independent. “The circumstances here are not common… this doesn’t come up very often.” Kimbrough said that off the top of her head, she was unaware of another case where the saliva of an HIV-positive person had been treated as a deadly weapon. “Without knowing a specific case and a specific defendant, I would hesitate to say with certainty.”

According to the police report, Jason Arb, a technician with the Rocky Mountain Offender Monitoring System, arrived at the home of Mathew O’Kelly to install a monitoring system at O’Kelly’s home for a drunk driving offense. During the visit, O’Kelly objected to the price of the system and told Arb to leave the house. Arb said he would have to report the information to O’Kelly’s probation officer. The two argued and O’Kelly reportedly spit in Arb’s face. Later, upon speaking with O’Kelly’s parole officer, Arb learned O’Kelly was HIV positive, at which point he filed a formal complaint.

O’Kelly’s partner, Geoff Guth, who was at the scene at the time, told the Colorado Independent that it was not O’Kelly but Arb who became angry during discussion at the house.

“Mr. Arb immediately began making threats about complaining to Mr. O’Kelly’s probation officer. He stormed out of the house, slamming the door. Mr. O’Kelly followed to ensure Arb left the premises and to prevent any damage to our property. There was a verbal altercation, with Mr. Arb threatening violence. Mr. Arb left, and Mr. O’Kelly returned to the house,” Guth said.

O’Kelly is charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Assault in the Second degree. The charge details that the “assault” was commi