Even deputies describe him as “the victim,” but a Colorado father nonetheless faces a criminal charge for fighting two men while holding his four-year-old daughter. Richard Warry Brown, 39, was issued a summons for misdemeanor child abuse. If you thought this was a Florida story, you were wrong. This story of problematic parental multitasking comes out of Colorado.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office released video of the incident on Monday because they’re looking for one of the other men involved. This unidentified subject, and a second individual, 31-year-old Joel Michael Wilson, attacked Brown at a pizza and wings bar on January 25, deputies said.
As depicted on video, a man can be seen holding a girl in his left arm. Ostensibly, that is Brown. He walks up to another man, who is wearing what seems to be a beanie. Two women stand between the two of them, apparently trying to stop a fight. A second man in a beanie then approaches Brown and backhands him on the face. This starts a fight. Brown and the second man exchange blows. Oh, and the girl remains in her dad’s arm the pretty much the entire time, even when the first man approaches Brown from behind and punches him several times in the face. A bystander eventually yanks the girl from Brown’s arm while the men continue hitting Brown. Once the girl was taken from the scene, they get Brown to the ground, continue to beat him, and tear off his shirt.
The child was not injured, though Brown was beaten so badly he needed to be air lifted to the hospital, deputies said.
Jail records obtained by Law&Crime show that Jefferson County deputies arrested Wilson on Friday and booked him for first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and child abuse. He was a scheduled for a Monday court date.
[Screengrab via Crossroads Pizza & Wings Bar and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office]
