Iron Horse stabbing suspects charged

Three defendants face multiple felonies in connection with assault

Three people arrested in connection with a stabbing at the Iron Horse Inn earlier this year have been charged with felony assault, among other felony charges.

Brandy Carl, 27, Ian Taylor, 26, and Christopher Lewis, 29, are accused of assaulting Bryan Picard, 26, during the early hours of Jan. 14 at the Iron Horse Inn, 5800 Main Ave. Police charged the trio with assault, attempted robbery and attempted murder.

Carl

Carl has been charged with five crimes: criminal attempt to commit murder in the second degree, a class three felony; assault in the second degree, a class four felony; two counts of menacing, both class five felonies; and a crime of violence with a deadly weapon.

Taylor

Taylor was charged with assault in the second degree, a class four felony; and two counts of menacing, both fifth-degree felonies.

Lewis was charged with second-degree assault, a class four felony.

Class three felonies in Colorado are punishable by four to 12 years in prison. Class four felonies are punishable by two to six years in prison. A class five felony is punishable by one to three years in prison.

Police responded to a report of a stabbing early Jan. 14 at the Iron Horse. They found Taylor on the floor with a gash in the back of his leg. Carl, who was also at the scene, gave “very unclear statement as to the events she witnessed or observed that led her to call 911,” according to an eight-page arrest affidavit filed in La Plata County Combined Courts.

Carl told police she found Taylor bleeding and provided assistance. But police said that was a lie.

What actually happened, law enforcement wrote in arresting documents, was Picard and an acquaintance went to the Iron Horse Inn to obtain some marijuana, and while there, Taylor accused Picard of shooting at Carl days earlier west of Durango. Taylor allegedly told Picard to empty his pockets and hit him in the head at least three times with a cane, police wrote in an affidavit.

Picard fell to the floor, and Lewis joined in on the beating, police said. Carl came down a staircase and pointed a gun at a Picard’s acquaintance. She told the man to “stay out of it,” according to an arrest affidavit.

While Picard was on his back, taking closed-fisted blows from both Taylor and Lewis, he reached with his right hand for his knife sheathed in his belt, Picard told police. He grabbed the knife, “and while still on his back, stabbed forward and upward twice,” according to arresting documents. His first stabs missed, but the last one hit Taylor.

Taylor “immediately stopped fighting and got off him,” police wrote. Picard made it to his feet and ran for the door. While making his escape, he heard a gunshot. The bullet shattered a window “inches in front of him,” according to police. Picard’s acquaintance was next to Carl when she fired the handgun, he told police.

Carl and Taylor are scheduled to appear in court March 21. Lewis is scheduled to appear again April 4.

bhauff@durangoherald.com



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