Domestic Violence in Greeley and Weld County is not a crime itself, but a sentence enhancer that can be added to any underlying crime when the two people involved are currently in or have been in an intimate relationship. A Denver defense attorney was recently in the news, because he has been arrested for multiple crimes all as an act of Domestic Violence. The attorney, who is representing the man accused of causing the I-70 crash that killed 4 people, was arrested after the woman picking him up from DIA claimed that things quickly became very strange. According to the Affidavit for Arrest Warrant, the attorney told the woman he was being chased. He pushed the woman away from the vehicle so that he could drive. She claims she repeatedly asked to be let out of the car, but he refused. He drove aggressively, driving through the gate arm of the exit booth and breaking the car windshield. All in all, the attorney’s charges included Kidnapping, Motor Vehicle Theft, Reckless Endangerment, and Criminal Mischief all as an act of Domestic Violence.
Weld County Aggravated Motor Vehicle Theft Attorney: Stealing a Car Can Be a DV Crime?
The Weld, Morgan, and Logan County, Colorado law definition of Aggravated Motor Vehicle Theft as it applies to the case above – C.R.S. 18-4-409(2)(d) and (e) – is:
(d) Uses the motor vehicle in the commission of a crime other than a traffic offense; or
(e) Causes five hundred dollars or more property damage, including but not limited to property damage to the motor vehicle involved, in the course of obtaining control over or in the exercise of control of the motor vehicle
Based on the woman’s statements, the attorney did not have permission to drive her vehicle. It’s likely that the damage caused to the car and the gate arm would total more than $500.00. Also, by not allowing the woman to exit the car when she requested, he committed another crime using the stolen vehicle. Because all the charges involved the woman, who the lawyer must have been in an intimate relationship with at some point, all the charges were considered Domestic Violence.