Orlando Bustamante-Bello accused of reacting to snowball by whacking guy with liquor bottle

Flickr

Bustamante-Bello, 22, is accused of first-degree assault for allegedly clobbering a snowball tosser in the face with a liquor bottle.

On February 19, according to the Boulder Police Department, Bustamente-Bello and two buddies, Adam Nedelka and Danny Goldberg, both 21, were driving down 13th Street in a Jeep around midnight when he passed by a group of young people on opposite sides of the road. They were chucking snowballs at each other, and one or more may have lofted over the Jeep.

The Bustamente-Bello trio stopped at a stop sign nearby before moving forward. But instead of simply driving away, witnesses say the Jeep U-turned about a block away and headed back to the snowballers. Bustamente-Bello then dismounted with a liquor bottle in his hand and introduced it to the face of a male group member, hitting him hard enough to open up a cut at the point of impact.

When police subsequently quizzed Nedelka and Goldberg, the pair claimed they'd picked up an unnamed acquaintance who'd done the clubbing. But cops say they later fessed up to covering for Bustamante-Bello, who was arrested this weekend, charged with first-degree assault, and tossed into Boulder County Jail on $20,000 bail. Nedelka and Goldberg also face accessory charges.

Of course, if they'd retaliated with snowballs instead of a booze bottle, there's no guarantee they'd have gotten off the hook. Back in February, David Shefte, David Trainer and Kurt Heckle were cited in Aspen for throwing snowballs from the roof of a dry goods store. Police deemed the snowballs "prohibited missiles."

Give peace a chance.

More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Alexander Landau police beating: Denver settles lawsuit for $795,000."