Man Arrested in Bias-Motivated Crime with a Firearm

BOULDER, Colo. – Thanks to good investigative work Boulder Police have made a swift arrest in a crime that occurred last night where a man threatened two men at gunpoint because of their ethnicity.

Just after 9 p.m. last night, Jan. 27, officers were called to a gas station in the 2900 block of 30th Street. Two Latino males told officers they were pumping gas when a man they did not know pointed a gun at them and made comments to the men about their ethnicity.

Detailed investigative work by Watch 3 Patrol officers identified a possible suspect as Christopher Antonio Morris (date of birth 04/26/2001). Today officers, plainclothes detectives and BPD’s Special Enforcement Unit conducted surveillance and found Morris at a local grocery store on 30th Street. Together they safely took him into custody without injury. At the time of his arrest, Morris had a pistol with a laser attachment on his person, similar to the one that was used in the crime last night. It is pictured here.

Tonight Morris was booked into jail on four counts of bias motivated crimes (a Class 1 Misdemeanor) and four counts of Menacing (a Class 5 Felony). He was given a $20,000 bond by a judge.

Boulder Police officers previously arrested Morris on New Year’s Day along with a woman on misdemeanor charges of Disorderly Conduct/Discharge of a Firearm and Prohibited use of a Weapon for shooting guns in a large open field near Highway 119.

“We will not tolerate this type of behavior in our community,” Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said. “Our community members should not live in fear as they go about their daily lives. We are fortunate this situation wasn’t worse than what it was, and I’m proud of the good investigative work done by both Patrol and detectives to quickly identify and the find the person responsible for threatening these victims.”

As in every criminal case, these charges are an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.

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