A Fort Collins man was stabbed at the Hilton Hotel after a bad escort deal. There are conflicting stories, but the victim claims he entered the hotel room to meet with the escort and then she ‘freaked out’ and called her male friend. Yelling ensued and when the victim left the room, the friend followed and stabbed the man in the back. The stabbing victim ended up with a 5-inch deep stab wound, which caused serious internal injuries. Because of the nature of the injuries and the weapon used, both the escort and her friend are being charged with First Degree Assault.
A Stab Wound: What is First Degree Assault in Larimer County?
Colorado law defines C.R.S. 18-3-202 – Assault in the First Degree as:
(a) With intent to cause serious bodily injury to another person, he causes serious bodily injury to any person by means of a deadly weapon; or
(b) With intent to disfigure another person seriously and permanently, or to destroy, amputate, or disable permanently a member or organ of his body, he causes such an injury to any person; or
(c) Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, he knowingly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to another person, and thereby causes serious bodily injury to any person.
In Larimer, Boulder, and Grand County, the most important element of 1st Degree Assault is serious bodily injury. “Serious bodily injury is defined as bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part or organ of the body.” Because the stab wound from the knife caused serious internal injuries, and these injuries were sustained through the use of a deadly weapon, First Degree Assault would be the charge.
[pullquote align=”center” textalign=”center” width=”90%”]In other cases where serious bodily injury occurred, we have seen Assault in the 1st Degree charged when the deadly weapon was a gun, firearm, bottle, rock or baseball bat.[/pullquote]