AURORA, Colo. — A kidnapping suspect claimed the victim was injured when a bottle was tossed during a fight at a Denver club, however, a witness reported seeing the victim being struck several times in the face with a gun so hard that it caused the gun magazine to dislodge.
Middell Harper is charged with second-degree assault and second-degree kidnapping. He was arrested days after a Dec. 29 assault involving the victim.
On that day, a witness reported that he saw a man near a gray Dodge Charger repeatedly striking a woman in the face with a gun in the area of 4221 North Shawnee St. The witness later elaborated the man was holding the gun in his right and holding the woman's held with his left when he struck her with the gun three to four times. He reported that during the assault the magazine fell from the gun and bullets scattered on the ground, according to an arrest affidavit from the Aurora Police Department. The witness said the man picked up the bullets from the ground and then forced the woman who was bleeding into the Charger and left.
Officers responded to a nearby home and asked the resident if they heard anything, The resident reported hearing an argument and then checked their Ring camera for video.
The video, according to the arrest affidavit, captured an argument between a man and a woman. Audio indicated that a man yelled at the other other person, who appeared to be a woman who was crying.
Officers checked the area where the argument occurred and located blood on the ground near a speed limit sign. Several coins were also found near the blood and collected as evidence.
Despite the violence of the attack, police could not initially locate the victim.
Due to the scene being very close to Denver city limits, Aurora Police investigators contacted Denver Police to ask about any incidents possibly involving the same Dodge Charger.
They found another call involving people matching the description of those in the Aurora incident was reported around 10 p.m. in the 5300 block of East 33rd Avenue in Denver. A resident in that area said his home cameras recorded the incident he had reported to police, the affidavit says.
According to the document, a man matching the description from the Aurora incident was seen exiting a Charger. A woman can be heard in the video yelling "Middell Harper." The affidavit says the video also shows her screaming, crying and yelling repeatedly, "Where is my phone?"
According to the document, the woman is heard calling the man a derogatory name, and he responds by threatening to kill her if says it again.
On Jan. 3, detectives canvassing the area on Shawnee Street spotted a car Dodge Charger in a driveway which they learned had been rented by Harper on Dec. 28. Detectives also checked call records for the address and found there was a verbal domestic violence dispute call to that home in January of last year involving Harper.
Eventually, a detective went to the home and spoke to a woman who was wearing an eye patch. The affidavit says the woman had stitches near her eyebrow and her eye itself was "bright red and swollen." According to the document she was not fully cooperative about her injury, despite a detective telling her they had concerns about her safety and thought she could have died to the seriousness of the assault.
The woman told investigators she had been injured during a bar fight when a bottle was thrown. Harper later called police and said he wanted to tell his side of the story. During his interview, he also told investigators that the woman had been injured by a bottle at a bar. He said he took her to a hospital for treatment but could not name which one.
When confronted about the door camera video, he admitted that the two had gotten into an argument but denied assaulting the woman or pistol whipping anyone.
According to the affidavit, he also mentioned his large size multiple times and reasoned that if he had assaulted her, she'd have more injuries.
Harper is due in court on Jan. 17.
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