GREELEY – A graduate student at University of Northern Colorado received a mixed verdict March 9 in regards to an incident at a college party that led to charges of second-degree assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
According to reports by the Greeley Tribune, the Greeley Police Department broke up a large college party just after midnight in January. Officer Ariel Maes reported that she saw Nina Askew “actively fighting” with a man in the alley behind the house. Maes said that Askew refused to stop walking, so she attempted to arrest her. According to Maes, during the attempted arrest, Askew elbowed Maes in the stomach, causing skeletal bruising. After the arrest, as Greeley police put Askew into a police car, her arm was broken in three places.
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As a result of the incident, the Weld District Attorney’s office pressed charges against Askew. In the verdict that was delivered before spring break, Askew was convicted of resisting arrest, and found not guilty of disorderly conduct. However, a decision was not reached on second-degree assault on a police officer.
Maes testified in court that in the middle of the struggle, she was not able to explain why she attempted to arrest the Askew, and that she had a difficult time with her footing due to the ice in the alley, according to the Greeley Tribune. She also told the court that she heard Askew yell out about her shoulder hurting when they attempted to place the student in the police car.
However, Askew told the court that she did not hear Maes’ order to stop walking the second time, and that she did not resist arrest. After the incident, Askew spent three days in the North Colorado Medical Center to be treated for her broken arm, and was then booked into the Weld County Jail.
The case was controversial in Greeley – according to the Greeley Tribune, the courtroom was crowded on the first day of testimony, and the jury spent seven and a half hours on deliberation.
Askew will be retried on the charges of second-degree assault on a police officer on April 17, she told the Collegian Monday.
Collegian News Editor can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @erinmdouglas23.
Michael Davis • Mar 21, 2017 at 3:06 pm
The defendant elbowed the officer so hard in the stomach that she (the officer) had Skeletal Bruising? That sounds like a great excuse for the following police battery in which the defendant ended up with her arm broken in three places as they are putting her into the car …. And yet the defendant goes back to court to be retried on assault charges.. This is ridiculous… Can’t wait to see the lawsuit out of this..