Fort Collins Crimes Against At-Risk Adults Attorney
Can a Hug Be Considered Assault?

A man was charged with Assault Against At-Risk Adult after hugging a 70 year old woman as he left her house. Read more here.

In Fort Collins and Larimer County, crimes are punished more harshly if the alleged victim is considered at-risk. In a recent Elbert County case, a satellite TV technician was charged with Assault Against an At-Risk Adult after giving a customer a hug as he was leaving her house. You read that right – assault charges stemming from a hug. According to the report, the technician had finished his work and was being walked to the door by the customer. Instead of just walking out, he gave the 70-year-old woman a bear hug. She claimed that with the hug, her arms were pinned and she felt pain. She immediately told him to leave, and he waited a few moments before apologizing a leaving. In her initial call to the man’s boss, she never mentioned anything about feeling pain, but told officers that she did when reporting the incident to the police. The technician was charged with 3rd Degree Assault on an At-Risk Adult and Trespass.

Larimer County Assault Against At-Risk Person: Definition of Third Degree Assault Against an At-Risk Adult

The Larimer and Boulder County, Colorado law definition of Crimes Against At-Risk Persons – C.R.S. 18-6.5-103(3)(c) – is:

(3)(c) Any person who commits a crime of assault in the third degree, as such crime is described in section 18-3-204, and the victim is an at-risk person, commits a class 6 felony.

Third Degree Assault – C.R.S. 18-3-204 – is defined as:

(1) A person commits the crime of assault in the third degree if:

(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.

When the woman claimed that she felt pain, that met the requirement of ‘bodily injury’ per Colorado law. Because the woman was 70 years old, she is considered at-risk. ‘At-risk adult’ is defined as:

any person who is seventy years of age or older or any person who is eighteen years of age or older and is a person with a disability.

Sentence for Third Degree Assault Against At-Risk Person in Loveland and Estes Park

In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, Third Degree Assault is a class 1 misdemeanor extraordinary risk crime. When the alleged victim is an at-risk adult, then it is charged as a class 6 felony.

If you or someone you love has been charged with a Crime Against At-Risk Adult, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-658-0007 to schedule a free consultation. Together, we can protect your future.

Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash