2 weeks Ago By Aspen Daily News Staff Report
A man suspected of firing a pistol outside of a residential complex in Aspen has two appearances scheduled at the Pitkin County Courthouse later this month. Neighbors of an Aspen man arrested early Friday morning after he allegedly discharged a firearm told authorities they feared for their lives and would not feel safe living next to him in the future, according to police interviews that were cited by an affidavit released Tuesday. Police also confiscated a 9mm handgun located in the apartment unit where suspect Noah McCuiston, 23, lives after executing a search warrant, says the affidavit in support of a warrantless arrest, which was written by Aspen Police Officer Kirk Wheatley.
The arrest and firearm seizure came after Aspen officers responded to an apartment complex on Cowenhoven Court near the base of Smuggler Mountain, where there was a report of “shots fired.” Authorities received the call at 4:11 a.m.
Friday. One of the first officers responding to the incident initially spotted McCuiston, who, according to the affidavit, “appeared from some bushes and walked on to the roadway with his hands in the air.” McCuiston told the officer he and his neighbor had exchanged words through their apartment units’ wall and took the matter outside, which is from where McCuiston admitted that his 9mm pistol fired.
Police then arrested him and took him to Pitkin County Jail, while other officers secured the scene and interviewed witnesses. One of those witnesses — the man who exchanged words with McCuiston — told police he was watching television in his bedroom after he arrived home at around 3:15 a.m.
The witness told police he and McCuiston previously had disagreements over noise, so he kept the volume low on his television. That, however, did not seem to work. “(The witness) said McCuiston began banging on the wall from McCuiston’s apartment,” the affidavit says.
“(The witness) said he usually does not bang on the wall, but this time he did. (The witness) said McCuiston banged on the wall again, and (the witness) returned the banging.” When the two met outside, at one point McCuiston raised what appeared to be a handgun and fired it, the affidavit says.
“(The witness) said he immediately curled and lowered his body. (The witness) said he did not know if he was hit by the bullet. (The witness) said he went back to his apartment and began looking over his body to assure he was not hit.
” The witness did not find any injuries and called 911, and police later found the bullet and shell casing near the ground where the witness had been standing, the affidavit says. Meanwhile, in the moments after the incident, as the witness was talking to his roomate in the vicinity of their unit’s front door, McCuiston approached him, apologized and offered some compensation, the affidavit says. “(The witness) said McCuiston even offered $100 and believed this was a bribe not to call enforcement.
(The witness) said McCuiston eventually walked away.” Interviewed by police, the witness’ roommate said she heard gunfire and “they feared for their lives” and that they “would never feel safe if McCuiston is allowed to live next door to them,” the affidavit says. McCuiston faces a class 5 felony charge of menacing, a class 1 misdemeanor of prohibited use of a weapon and a class 2 misdemeanor of reckless endangerment.
Online court records show McCuiston is due in Pitkin County Court, where traffic and misdemeanor offenses are filed, on Oct. 15, and Pitkin County District Court, the venue for felony cases, on Oct. 21.
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