A routine trip to a downtown Denver parking garage turned into a nightmare on Tuesday when a woman says a man approached her car armed with an axe and a mallet, threatened her, and left her desperate to get out of the area. The woman, who identified herself to reporters as Scarlet, says she ducked down inside her vehicle and used pepper spray to defend herself. Police later took a suspect into custody, and Scarlet has since launched a fundraiser to help her move somewhere she believes will be safer.
Dashcam footage Scarlet shared with reporters appears to show a man walking toward her car inside the garage and raising what she described as an axe and a mallet, according to KDVR. Denver police responded to the garage near 18th Avenue and Gaylord Street and arrested a 33-year-old man, who was held for investigation of felony menacing, the outlet reports. Scarlet told the station she urged the Denver District Attorney’s Office to keep the man off the streets and that he later posted bond.
“I remain fearful the man may come after me again,” Scarlet told KDVR. She says she now carries pepper spray everywhere and has started a GoFundMe to cover moving expenses as she searches for a new apartment. Friends and neighbors have circulated the dashcam clip online, and Scarlet says the growing attention has only added to her anxiety about staying in the same neighborhood.
Felony Menacing Explained
Under Colorado law, menacing is elevated to a class 5 felony if a defendant uses a deadly weapon or an object that can reasonably be perceived as one, a classification that can bring one to three years in prison along with substantial fines, according to legal references. Courts have found that waving a bludgeon-type object while making threats can satisfy the deadly-weapon element of the statute. For the statutory language and analysis, see Justia.
Parking-Garage Safety And Trends
The incident highlights ongoing worries about what can happen in dim, enclosed parking garages, particularly downtown, where officials have long flagged poor lighting and opportunistic crime as persistent issues. Denver has rolled out updated lighting guidance for private lots as part of an effort to cut down on thefts and violent encounters in garages, according to CBS Denver. Advocates argue that brighter lights, reliable cameras, and clear sight lines can lower the risk of assaults in these spaces…