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According to the Rocky Mountain News, Denver police arrested a man who pulled a gun on partygoers Sunday. That’s the short of the story, but the long of it, according to the News, is much more complicated…
Denver police lobbed tear gas into a Curtis Park home Sunday morning to flush out a man who had crashed a party and briefly held the guests at gunpoint. Officers arrested the man without incident shortly after 10 a.m. after he fled naked from the two-story house in the 900 block of E. 26th Street following a four-hour standoff.
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Okay, before we go any further there are two points here that get COMPLETELY glossed over by the News as though they are just minor facts in the story. For one thing, who has a party at 6:00 in the morning on a Sunday? You’d have to assume that this was just a party that really went on late into the night, but judging by the facts below, it’s hard to make any sort of guess. And then there’s this tidbit: he fled naked from the two-story house. Am I the only person amazed by how nonchalant this comes across in the story? Oh, by the way, the guy was naked.
Police later identified the man as Paul Romero, 29. He was wanted on a parole violation and an escape charge, said police spokesman Sonny Jackson. Romero is being held on investigation of felony menacing, a barricading charge and misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching two of the guests at the party. The owner of the home, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified, said it took awhile before anyone realized the suspect had not arrived with any of the 15 guests.
Nobody thought the guy was strange? He was naked and he had a gun? What kind of party was this?
“We were just having a party, having a good time,” the homeowner said as firefighters used electric fans to vent tear gas residue from his home. “Everyone assumed he was a friend of a friend.”
Who brought the naked guy?
When the man began acting aggressively, the party-goers realized he was not one of their group and confronted him. The homeowner ordered the man to leave. “Then he pulled a gun on us, and we just kind of chilled,” he said.
Then…he pulled…a gun on us. Pretty good sign that nobody invited him. By the way, if he was naked, where was he keeping the gun?