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Man who prompted Kremmling school lockout Tuesday was facing other unrelated criminal charges

Sawyer D'Argonne
Sky-Hi News

Grand County resident Jason Bustillos was arrested Wednesday evening after allegedly threatening to kill a friend in Kremmling. Though resolved peacefully, the incident caused the West Grand School District to enter into lockout protocols and forced the activation of the Middle Park Emergency Response Team.

Bustillos, 39, was facing charges at the time of the alleged offense for an unrelated alleged assault in Grand County.

The Kremmling Police Department, along with deputies from the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, responded to a call April 17 in the area of 11th Street and Park Avenue in Kremmling on a possible felony menacing case. Upon arrival officers spoke with the reporting party, a man who identified himself as Bustillos’s uncle, according to an affidavit in support of warrantless arrest filed in Grand County District Court.



The man said that earlier in the day, at about 11 a.m., Bustillos waved him over and asked for help installing stairs in a Park Avenue house. He agreed to help, and returned after lunch. He said that when he arrived the downstairs door was open and Bustillos met him at the door wearing a gun holster and pointing a revolver at him and said he would kill him.

He noted that Bustillos, his nephew, was not acting normally and said that he may have been on heroin or another illicit substance, though that was not confirmed in the report. Believing Bustillos was serious, the man got on his bike and flagged down a patrol vehicle in front of the Kremmling Police Department.



Officers asked the West Grand School District to enter into lockout protocols — meaning nobody could go in or out of the schools — until the situation was resolved. At about 3:20 p.m., the Middle Park Emergency Response Team took Bustillos into custody without incident, and the schools were reopened. Bustillos was transported to the Grand County Jail on a charge of menacing, a Class 5 felony.

Bustillos appeared Wednesday in Grand County Court for a hearing on advisement where Grand County Judge Nicholas Catanzarite set a $2,500 cash surety bond and issued a mandatory protection order barring him from contacting the reporting party. Bustillos was also given 24 hours to surrender any firearms or ammunition in his possession.

This latest incident is not the first time Bustillos has had a run in with the law. In addition to several prior offenses, Bustillos currently has two other pending assault cases from earlier this year.

On Jan. 3, Bustillos allegedly punched in the face a man he was staying with in Kremmling and threatened to hit him again, according to an affidavit for arrest warrant. Police were unable to locate Bustillos at that time, noting that he did not have a permanent address.

Bustillos was then arrested Jan. 14 after allegedly assaulting another party he was staying with. According to a warrantless arrest probable cause statement, Bustillos informed the party that he had an active warrant out for his arrest. The two allegedly argued about rent money, after which Bustillos attacked the man from behind, punched him in the ribs, jumped on top of him, strangled him and punched him repeatedly.

Bustillos denied that any argument or assault ever happened, and said he didn’t know he had an active warrant, according to the report. The report further stated that police photographed redness on the man’s ribs and bruising on his left eye. A subsequent CT scan found nothing of concern and an attending physician informed the police that the man’s injuries did not meet the Colorado Revised Statute definition of serious bodily injury, according to the affidavit.

The man who Bustillos allegedly threatened to kill this week, self-identified as being his uncle, spoke with police at the hospital regarding the Jan. 14 incident, stating that, to the best of his knowledge, Bustillos knew he had an active warrant from the Jan. 3 incident and asked the man he was staying with not to tell anyone he was staying there. Bustillos was booked on third-degree assault and later released.

Bustillos is scheduled to appear in Grand County District Court for arraignments for all three cases at 10 a.m. April 24.


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