Third Degree Assault is charged in Fort Collins and Larimer County when a person is accused of causing bodily injury to another. Recently, residents of a Colorado town were concerned after a homeless man was issued a summons for 3rd Degree Assault, instead of being arrested. According to the article, a homeless man had entered a business and was refused service. He didn’t seem to take it well and ended up hitting the owner of the business. Police became involved and the man was given a summons for Assault. Law enforcement must have posted about the encounter on social media, because people were not happy that the homeless man was not arrested. This caused the police agency to respond to explain that in these situations, the person charged does not need to see a judge, so an arrest is not necessary (COVID or not, an arrest wouldn’t have happened). However, if Assault was an act of Domestic Violence, then a mandatory arrest would have occurred.
Larimer County Third Degree Assault – Arrest Mandatory?: Definition of Assault in the Third Degree in Colorado
The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of Assault in the Third Degree – C.R.S. 18-3-204 – is:
(a) The person knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another person or with criminal negligence the person causes bodily injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon; or
(b) The person, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm another person whom the actor knows or reasonably should know to be a peace officer, a firefighter, an emergency medical care provider, or an emergency medical service provider, causes the other person to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, saliva, mucus, vomit, or toxic, caustic, or hazardous material by any means, including throwing, tossing, or expelling the fluid or material.
Bodily injury basically means causing pain. So, if a person is hit and says it didn’t hurt, then it is charged as Harassment. If a person is hit and they tell police that it hurt, then it is charged as Third Degree Assault.
Sentence for 3rd Degree Assault in Loveland and Estes Park
In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, 3rd Degree Assault is a class 1 misdemeanor extraordinary risk crime. This level misdemeanor is punishable by 6 to 24 months in the Larimer County Jail and up to $5,000 in fines.