Trespassing and Disorderly Conduct in Fort Collins | 50 Cents Makes All the Difference

Learn how Disorderly Conduct and Trespassing are charged in Colorado.
Learn how Disorderly Conduct and Trespassing are charged in Colorado.
Image Credit: Pixabay – rusticusa

It is always upsetting when you go to pay for something and the cashier asks for more money than what you expected to pay. It rarely, however, turns into a criminal matter – except for one 19-year-old girl. She had ordered some hot wings from a fast food restaurant drive-thru and had pulled up to the window to pay, when the cashier told her the total cost was $.50 more than what she expected to pay. The girl demanded a full refund and when she was denied, she parked her car, entered the restaurant and began screaming and cursing at the manager. When police were called, she was arrested and charged with Trespassing and Disorderly Conduct.

What is Third Degree Criminal Trespass / Trespassing in Larimer County?

The Colorado law definition of 3rd Degree Criminal Trespass – C.R.S. 18-4-504 – is:

A person commits the crime of third degree criminal trespass if such person unlawfully enters or remains in or upon premises of another.

Anytime a person asks you to leave the premises, whether it be a home or business, and you refuse, you can be charged with Criminal Trespass / Trespassing in Larimer, Boulder, and Grand County. The potential sentence will change depending on the type of premises. Whether the trespassing occurred in a dwelling, agricultural land, motor vehicle, or restaurant will decide what level of Trespassing to charge: First Degree Trespass, Second Degree Trespassing, or Third Degree Trespassing. Because the girl would not leave the restaurant after being told to, she is facing this Third Degree Criminal Trespassing charge, a class 1 petty offense.

[pullquote align=”center” textalign=”center” width=”95%”]Have you been charged with Trespassing or Disorderly Conduct? Contact the experienced attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office to defend you today![/pullquote]

What is Disorderly Conduct in Fort Collins?

The Colorado law definition of Disorderly Conduct – C.R.S. 18-9-106 – is:

A person commits disorderly conduct if he or she intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly:

(a) Makes a coarse and obviously offensive utterance, gesture, or display in a public place and the utterance, gesture, or display tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace; or

(c) Makes unreasonable noise in a public place or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy; or

(d) Fights with another in a public place except in an amateur or professional contest of athletic skill; or

(e) Not being a peace officer, discharges a firearm in a public place except when engaged in lawful target practice or hunting or the ritual discharge of blank ammunition cartridges as an attendee at a funeral for a deceased person who was a veteran of the armed forces of the United States; or

(f) Not being a peace officer, displays a deadly weapon, displays any article used or fashioned in a manner to cause a person to reasonably believe that the article is a deadly weapon, or represents verbally or otherwise that he or she is armed with a deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm.

In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, the level of petty offense or misdemeanor charge for Disorderly Conduct depends on which part the person violated. If a person was charged with Disorderly Conduct for violating parts (a) or (c), it is charged as a class 1 petty offense. A violation of part (d) is a class 3 misdemeanor. It is a class 2 misdemeanor if a person was charged for violating parts (e) or (f). I guess you can say the woman was lucky to be charged with Disorderly Conduct for offensive utterances and unreasonable noise because she is facing the lesser of the punishment levels, another class 1 petty offense.

If you or someone you love has been charged with Third Degree Criminal Trespass or Disorderly Conduct in Loveland or Fort Collins, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent and contact the best criminal defense lawyers from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-658-0007 today. Together, we can protect your future.