Authorities seek people in images appearing
to commit crime

BY BOBBY MAGILL • BobbyMagill@coloradoan.
com • August 24, 2010

Anyone able to identify rioters appearing in video
and photographs who appear to be committing a
crime in Sunday morning’s riot in Old Town Fort
Collins might be eligible for a reward from Larimer
County Crime Stoppers.

“We don’t believe Fort Collins is a place to become
the O.K. Corral in the Wild West where you throw
people through windows,” Crime Stoppers board
member and former Fort Collins Mayor Ray Martinez
said. “To us, this is more than just a riot or a party
out of control. It has turned into a crime.”

Crime Stoppers, he said, will offer rewards starting
at $100 for tipsters able to identify anyone
potentially committing a crime shown in images of
the riot posted by Fort Collins police, but only if
investigators cannot identify people in the
photographs themselves.

A reward might also be offered to people identifying
suspected criminals in video or photos captured by
others at the riot as long as the tip leads to an
arrest, Martinez said.

Police have not yet determined if images of rioters
they cannot identify will be posted online or
elsewhere, Fort Collins police spokeswoman Rita
Davis said.

Investigators are combing police videos and
photographs of Sunday’s riot and reviewing 60
police officers’ reports on the incident, Davis said.

Images of suspects in two August 2004 riots were
not posted by police following that incident, Davis
said.

Sunday’s riot began around 1 a.m. after a verbal
altercation that might have occurred at the 100
Octane bar in Old Town Square, Davis said. The
altercation turned physical outside the bar, inciting
a mob of about 400 people to spiral out of control.

100 Octane owner Tony Campana said Monday there
were no fights or other obvious altercations in the
bar late Saturday night or Sunday morning, but
security asked about 30 people to leave, fairly
typical for a weekend night.

Bar patrons are routinely asked to leave if they begin
arguing or show any other sign of over-
intoxication, he said.

“If somebody starts to argue, they got to go,” he
said.


Though there were no obvious problems at the bar
early Sunday morning, Campana said police
suggested to him that people who were asked to
leave 100 Octane without drawing attention to
themselves could have begun to fight some time
well after being kicked out of the bar.

Once the altercation turned physical, the mob began
to coalesce, later forcing police to use pepper balls
and tear gas to control the rioters.

“It’s difficult to ascertain what causes intoxicated
people to think irrationally,” Davis said. “It’s sad we
had such a large number of people in the downtown
area.”

Up to six people were arrested during Sunday’s riot,
but police have not released the names of those
arrested, Davis said.