GREELEY, Colo. — A 21-year-old man facing multiple violent felony charges, including attempted second-degree murder, has been released from the Weld County Jail after being found incompetent to stand trial and unlikely to regain competency in the foreseeable future, 9 News reported.
The man was arrested in April 2025 by Greeley Police in connection with a downtown bar attack that left a man with skull fractures and multiple brain bleeds, according to the report. The violent assault was captured on video and shows the man continuing to punch the unresponsive victim after knocking him out.
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The suspect was initially charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and engaging in a riot. While in custody, he received additional charges, including menacing with a weapon and first-degree burglary, related to an earlier incident in January.
However, courts ruled the suspect not competent to stand trial, and with no available beds at the Colorado Mental Health
Hospital in Pueblo, the law required his release. The Weld County Sheriff’s Office shared video clips of the violent assaults and expressed frustration and alarm at having to release someone they described as a danger to the community.
“We’re releasing someone that we don’t think should be released,” said Captain Matt Turner. “We’re releasing someone who is a danger to the community… The way the law is written, he has a get-out-of-jail free card.”
According to Turner, Colorado’s competency laws, specifically House Bill 24-1034, offer necessary protections for individuals suffering from mental illness but apply equally to nonviolent and violent offenders.
“For a low-level offender who’s not a threat to the community, that works great,” Turner said. “But today, it protected a person who was being held on attempted second-degree murder.”
One of the suspect’s alleged victims remains severely impacted by the attack. The victim’s sister, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, described her fear following the release.
“The fear is that the next time he will kill somebody,” she said. “Our local officials have their hands tied. They’re trying to protect us, and they can’t.”
The victim was attacked while walking with his wife and friends near a Greeley bar when a group, including the suspect, allegedly approached unprovoked, according to the report.
Additional footage released by the sheriff’s office shows another unprovoked attack in which a man attempting to walk away from a fight is punched repeatedly by the suspect and knocked unconscious.
In a separate Jan. 26 incident detailed in police affidavits, the suspect is accused of showing up at a home wearing a ski mask after a prior altercation, pulling a pistol with an extended magazine and holding it against a man’s ribcage. At the time of that incident, the suspect was under an Extreme Risk Protection Order issued in Larimer County prohibiting him from possessing firearms.
Sheriff Steve Reams called the man’s release a result of legislative failure.
“The state legislature and the governor have continued to weaken the criminal justice system by handcuffing law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges for the sake of criminals,” Reams said. “Colorado HB24-1034 has created a crisis where very dangerous individuals are being released to the street to reoffend over and over. This is the latest example.”
Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke echoed those concerns, stating that his office and the courts had no legal option but to dismiss the charges once the suspect was deemed unlikely to be restored to competency.
“This law must be amended in the name of public safety,” Rourke said. “It is my sincere hope that the legislature will do just that as soon as possible.”
