Stark County Court grants lower bond to assault suspect

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A Colorado man accused of aggravated assault could be released from the Southwest Multi-County Correction Center if he can come up with the funds to meet the new reduced bond amount agreed to in court Tuesday at the Stark County Courthouse.

Stark County Assistant State’s Attorney James Hope said at the pretrial conference that the state was willing to agree to a $10,000 cash bond and make Andrew Jay Torres, 28, of North Glenn, Colo., responsible for posting 10 percent in order to be released.

Hope also requested that the court require as a term of Torres’ release that he abstain from alcohol and not go to any establishment licensed to sell alcohol.

If Torres can come up with $1,000 in cash to get released from the SWMCCC and does not adhere to the terms of his release and is not law abiding, he would owe the court the remaining $9,000 of his cash bond.

“My client has been incarcerated since August,” Torres’ attorney, Jay Greenwood, said. “The bond has been the same the whole time, and he is not able to come up with that amount since he’s been in jail 90 days.”

Greenwood said Torres has since lost “a good job” and lost a place to stay, but has contacts to help him find new employment and a place to stay.

Hope agreed to Greenwood’s request for a lower bond.

Torres is alleged to have struck a victim in the head and other body parts with an acetylene torch nozzle, according to the criminal complaint. The complaint states that the victim suffered a large cut in the back of the head.

Judge Zane Anderson questioned why the charge was aggravated assault, which requires seriously bodily injured to have been caused. Hope said the law has a clause about intent to cause bodily injury.

“Ninety-plus percent of the aggravated assault cases we prosecute cause serious bodily injury,” Hope told Anderson. “This is not a serious bodily injury case. This charge was more of an intent issue.”

In other court:

- A revocation of probation hearing for Kyle Dixon, Dickinson, will be rescheduled after Dixon asked for more time in order to hire a lawyer to represent him in the matter.

Dixon, born 1985, is accused of issuing six checks payable to Dickinson businesses that totaled $1,012.16 from a Gate City Bank account without sufficient funds.

He also faces another insufficient checks charge, which is set for a hearing in January.

Dixon said he was not aware of his Tuesday hearing until he received notice in the mail on Monday.

Hope agreed to the request to reschedule the hearing.

- Jacob Michael Bauer, 20, Minot, will be scheduled for a two-day trial on burglary charge.

Stark County State’s Attorney Tom Henning said at a pretrial conference Tuesday that the state’s proposed offer was rejected by the defendant.

Anderson granted the state one more week to extend another plea offer, but Henning said while the state does not object to an extension, no other offer would be submitted.

Bauer allegedly entered Don Pedros Restaurant in Dickinson Aug. 30 after hours and vandalized the restaurant’s interior.

Tags: stark county court, andrew jay torres, news, assault, bond