Boulder Police arrested a 28-year-old man on June 27 in connection with a string of assaults involving a heavy metal chain that spanned two days and affected at least 10 people across the city.
But an earlier part of the timeline was missing from the initial report: The attacks began more than seven hours before police first said, and one victim was hospitalized with a fractured skull.
In a public statement issued on June 27, police said the attacks began shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday, June 26. They also reported there were no serious injuries and said no victims were transported by emergency medical services.
But that same morning, at around 4 a.m., 22-year-old Ashton Sasser was attacked near Broadway and Pearl, according to his mother, Kristina Sasser. He was transported by ambulance to Foothills Hospital with a fractured skull and loss of vision in his left eye, she said.
The incident was not mentioned in the department’s initial press release. In a Facebook post, Kristina Sasser wrote that her son was struck in the head with a thick metal chain in front of Lindsay’s Deli. After being released from Foothills Hospital on the afternoon of June 26, he was evaluated at UCHealth hospital in Aurora the next day, she said. Doctors there told the family he had a shattered eye socket requiring plastic reconstructive surgery, along with damage to his nose and pupil. He remains unable to see out of his eye, according to his mother.
“I do not understand why they are not being honest with the people of Boulder and they are not reporting what actually happened,” she wrote in the June 29 post to the Boulder Collective Facebook group. She did not respond to requests for comment from Boulder Reporting Lab.
A revised timeline
Police acknowledged the earlier attacks in a follow-up statement issued on June 30. They confirmed that officers had responded to the 4 a.m. incident near Broadway and Arapahoe but had not initially connected it to the later assaults. In that update, police also reported that a second man came to the department around 7:30 a.m. to say a man with a chain had struck his bicycle — an incident they now believe involved the same suspect.
Dionne Waugh, a spokesperson for the Boulder Police Department, told Boulder Reporting Lab that, as of the June 27 news release, there were no formal reports of serious injuries. “The hospital told officers there was no serious bodily injury,” Waugh said.
She added that linking the early morning incidents to the broader chain of assaults took time.
“Investigations take a lot of time to fully ensure that all aspects are thoroughly investigated and reviewed in accordance with the law,” she said.
According to police scanner records, a man matching the suspect’s description — in his 30s, riding a red and black bike — was also reported two days earlier, on the night of June 24, swinging a chain at people, although police have not confirmed that he was the same suspect.
What happened next
According to police, the assault spree they initially focused on began at 11:22 a.m. on June 26, when officers responded to a report of a woman being assaulted near 13th and Canyon. Within 15 minutes, more reports came in from 16th and Pearl, where a man with a chain was allegedly threatening and assaulting people. At 12:05 p.m., another incident was reported in South Boulder, near the 4800 block of Broadway, according to police.
Police say the suspect used a chain “similar to one used to lock up bikes” to strike or threaten victims. In total, 10 people — seven women and three men — were identified as victims across the two days. Police say only Sasser sustained serious injuries or required ambulance transport.
The suspect was arrested at 4:24 p.m. on June 27.
Concerns about police communication
Kristina Sasser told 9News she believes police should have warned the public earlier. It wasn’t until 12:22 p.m. on June 26 – more than eight hours after her son’s attack and after several more assaults – that police posted a photo of the suspect on X, saying they were searching for him downtown and asking anyone who saw him to call 911.
She also said she contacted police on June 26 and was told they wouldn’t follow up with her son until July 1.
Waugh told Boulder Reporting Lab that records show Kristina Sasser contacted police on June 27, and that a detective responded within an hour. She added that a detective had attempted to reach Ashton Sasser at Foothills Hospital around 10 a.m. on June 26 but was told he had already been discharged. The detective also tried calling him, was initially unable to reach him and eventually made contact on July 1, Waugh said.
Charges and possible additions
According to police, the suspect is being charged with felony menacing, criminal mischief, attempted second-degree assault and second-degree assault, a charge that includes recklessly causing serious bodily injury.
In Colorado, first-degree assault requires proof of intent to seriously injure or disfigure another person.
Police said the investigation remains active and that “additional charges are possible as detectives consult with the District Attorney’s Office.”
What is the chain assaulter’s NAME?