A dispute between neighbors over a loose dog in Colorado Springs escalated hours later into a violent confrontation that left a woman with life-threatening injuries, according to police. Dax Pellegrino was arrested in connection with the assault, which happened in the 4600 block of Crimson Circle North.
Colorado Springs Police Department officers were sent to the block around 4 p.m. for a report of an assault and subsequently learned neighbors were arguing over a loose dog, according to KRDO. The physical assault did not happen during that initial call. Instead, per the same report, it occurred several hours later when Pellegrino and the victim got into a second argument over the earlier dog incident, and that confrontation turned violent. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Pellegrino returned to the victim's neighborhood before the altercation took place.
During that second encounter, the victim pepper-sprayed Pellegrino, who then allegedly turned the victim's own walking stick against them, inflicting the life-threatening injuries, the station's report states. The Colorado Springs Police Department documented the incident in a blotter entry, per the Gazette. As of Tuesday evening, Pellegrino's court date had not been set and Pellegrino had not yet appeared in the El Paso County jail registry, according to the Gazette.
Where It Happened
The incident took place in the 4600 block of Crimson Circle North in Colorado Springs.
The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region lists Colorado Springs animal-code chapters and describes Animal Law Enforcement, which handles calls involving aggressive domestic pets. The organization lists 53,068 calls for service and 5,177 responses to dangerous animals, according to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region.
How a Walking Stick Becomes a Deadly Weapon
Colorado law does not require a weapon to start out dangerous for prosecutors to treat it as one. Under Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-1-901, any bludgeon, instrument, or material used in a manner capable of producing death or serious bodily injury legally qualifies as a deadly weapon, according to the Sawyer Legal Group. That definition means an everyday walking stick can carry the same legal weight as a knife or firearm when it is used in a manner capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.
The statute defines serious bodily injury as harm involving a substantial risk of death, serious permanent disfigurement, bone fractures, or protracted impairment of an organ, per Mile High Legal. The specific charges in this case remained unclear as of Tuesday evening.
The victim pepper-sprayed Pellegrino before the alleged beating, according to the station's report.
Formal charges from the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, the victim's current medical condition, and whether any municipal citation was issued over the loose dog that sparked the initial dispute all remain unclear as of Tuesday evening.
