On July 11, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty filed formal charges against the suspect accused of attacking multiple people with a metal chain earlier this month. According to Boulder police, at least 10 people were targeted, four of whom were physically injured.

The charges include one count of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, seven counts of attempted second-degree assault, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, harassment, three counts of menacing, criminal mischief and third-degree assault.

This is the first time a first-degree assault charge has been publicly confirmed. Initially, police had only announced second-degree assault and did not connect a serious early morning attack to the string of incidents that followed later in the day. That attack left 22-year-old Ashton Sasser with a fractured skull and loss of vision in his left eye, according to his mother.

“The charges reflect the serious nature of these attacks upon completely innocent people who were simply trying to enjoy their lives,” Dougherty said in a statement. 

The suspect is currently being held on a $200,000 secured bond.

Brooke Stephenson is a reporter for Boulder Reporting Lab, where she covers local government, housing, transportation, policing and more. Previously, she worked at ProPublica, and her reporting has been published by Carolina Public Press and Trail Runner Magazine. Most recently, she was the audience and engagement editor at Cardinal News, a nonprofit covering Southwest and Southside Virginia. Email: brooke@boulderreportinglab.org.

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