Criminal Mischief is charged in Fort Collins and Larimer County when a person is accused of causing property damage. A man was recently charged with this crime after he was caught setting ten dumpster fires across Colorado Springs. According to the report, the man was caught while trying to set his 11th dumpster fire. Emergency personnel responded to the reported fires and law enforcement began searching for the person starting the fires. When he was located, they caught him actually trying to set the 11th fire. He admitted to setting all the fires, but didn’t explain why. Luckily, the fires stayed contained in the dumpsters, but caused damage to those dumpsters, so that’s why he was charged for the property damage.
Larimer County Criminal Mischief Attorney: Dumpster Fire Causes Property Damage
The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of Criminal Mischief – C.R.S. 18-4-501 – is:
Intentionally causing a fire on someone else’s property will almost always cause some property damage.
Sentence for Criminal Mischief in Loveland and Estes Park – How Much is a Dumpster Worth?
Criminal Mischief can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony in Loveland, Fort Collins, and Estes Park depending on the amount of damage caused. It is charged as follows:
(b) A class 2 misdemeanor when the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is three hundred dollars or more but less than seven hundred fifty dollars;
(c) A class 1 misdemeanor when the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is seven hundred fifty dollars or more but less than one thousand dollars;
(d) A class 6 felony when the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is one thousand dollars or more but less than five thousand dollars;
(e) A class 5 felony when the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is five thousand dollars or more but less than twenty thousand dollars;
(f) A class 4 felony when the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is twenty thousand dollars or more but less than one hundred thousand dollars;
(g) A class 3 felony when the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is one hundred thousand dollars or more but less than one million dollars; and
(h) A class 2 felony when the aggregate damage to the real or personal property is one million dollars or more.
So, depending on the value of each dumpster and the extent of the damage caused, the man could be facing a felony Criminal Mischief charge. When you are talking about fire damage, $1,000 worth of damage is not very hard to cause.
If you or someone you love has been charged with Criminal Mischief, 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 your free initial consultation. Together, we can protect your future.
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