GOLDEN, Colo. – A possible gang-related altercation between a group of men outside a Golden bar led to a hit-and-run that left one person dead and six others injured early Sunday morning, according to an arrest affidavit in the case.
Deputies with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Rock Rest Lodge, located at 16005 Mt. Vernon Road, at around 1:48 a.m. on reports to an unknown injury vehicle accident.
At the scene, deputies found five injured people in the dirt parking lot to the south of the bar. One of those injured, later identified as 26-year-old Adrian Ponce, was declared dead at the scene.
Witnesses to the crime told deputies they saw an altercation between a group of men before a white 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD white pick-up truck hit a group of people as it tried to leave the bar.
One witness, a manager at the Rock Rest Lodge, told investigators he believed the fight started over gang issues, “due to him hearing people flashing hand signals and talking about ‘West Side,’” according to the affidavit.
That witness account was similar to one that one of the men involved in the altercation gave law enforcement, arresting document show.
Ernesto De Jesus Avila, 25, told police he went to the bar that night with his cousins – 29-year-old Ruben Marquez and 23-year-old Jose Abraham Avila Loera – to celebrate Jose’s birthday.
As they were finishing up the night of celebrations after having between four to six drinks, Avila told deputies he went to the bathroom and was approached by two Hispanic men who asked him about his gang affiliation.
Avila’s accounts of the events that came after that encounter was spotty as investigators said he was intoxicated based on his demeanor during the interview – he smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech at the time of his arrest, they said.
Avila – who is the owner of the white pickup – told police he went to start the truck so they could leave the bar but could not do so as they were confronted by the two men from outside the restroom and other people, according to the affidavit.
He then exited the vehicle to try and get Marquez and Loera inside the truck but could not, as Loera was allegedly being kicked by a number of people after he was punched in the face.
Avila then told police he, “did not know who backed the truck out of its parking space, as a result of him trying to get Jose, who was being punched and kicked in the street, back into the truck,” and added that he could not say, “how the vehicle left the Rock Rest, or where it went” but somehow ended up into the driver’s seat of the truck while it was on the road before he was stopped by police.
In his interview, the man told deputies he is prone to blackouts when he gets drunk.
A witness who knew Ponce – the man who was declared dead at the scene – told deputies he went to the bar that night with Ponce and another man, 28-year-old Angel Estrada, Ponce’s brother.
He told deputies both Ponce and Estrada had exchanged banter with the group of Hispanic men about gang issues but said the “banter was light hearted (sic), rather than being serious,” according to the affidavit.
It's unclear what led to the group of men escalating their banter to an altercation, but the witness saw the fight unfold before the men got into the pickup truck and backed out into the crowd.
The witness identified Marquez as the driver of the white pickup truck before it left the parking lot of the bar, the affidavit states.
At least three of the witnesses interviewed by deputies said “it appeared the truck was being operated deliberately and intentionally,” when it backed up into the crowd of people gathered at the parking lot, according to the arresting documents.
Of the seven injured, four were taken to Saint Anthony’s Medical Center for treatment. The victims were identified as follows:
- Michael Gause, 28, an employee at the Rock Rest Lodge: Sustained fractures to his spine, a broken pelvis, a broken rib, and required 47 staples to close wounds on his head. He was last listed in critical condition.
- Angel Estrada, 28, Ponce’s brother: Sustained bruises to his body and was being evaluated for a potential broken leg. Deputies said he had to be sedated due to his “combative behavior.”
- Robert Fulcomer, 52, an employee at the Rock Rest Lodge: Bruised spine
- Ronnie Fisher, 27, a patron at the bar: Sustained numerous abrasions
Mike Fulcomer, father of Robert Fulcomer, shared an update on his son’s injuries with Denver7 Monday, in which he expanded on the injuries the man sustained in the hit-and-run.
"He has a big hematoma on his back that they were going to drain and a concussion, and his chest and arms and legs really hurt,” he said.
The elder Fulcomer explained that after the physical altercation broke out in the parking lot, his son stepped in to disperse the individuals.
“Even though he wasn't on duty that night, he does work there and because of what happened he jumped right in,” the father said.
Mike explained that his son doesn’t have health insurance and right now, he and his family are hopeful for community support.
“All he remembers is the fact that he was standing, and he took one step to one side, he said, and that's when he was hit,” Mike Fulcomer told Denver7.
Marquez is facing 17 charges, including first-degree murder – homicide, two counts of vehicular homicide, three counts of first-degree assault, three counts of second-degree assault, six counts of vehicular assault, violation of a protection order, and crime of violence, according to a spokesperson with the First Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Avila, who initially faced charges of accessory to first-degree murder, accessory to vehicular homicide, three counts of accessory to first-degree assault, three counts of accessory to second-degree assault, and leaving the scene of an accident involving death, according to the arrest affidavit, is now only facing one count of accessory to crime.
Marquez, who has a long criminal history going back at least a decade in Colorado, appeared before a judge on Monday and is being held on on a no-bond hold.
Avila is being held on a $100,000 cash bond hold. If he makes bond, he must stay away from the living victims, witnesses and the Rock Rest Lodge, per a court order.
Jefferson County deputies have responded to incidents at the Rock Rest Lodge 17 times in 2021 and 22 times so far this year, a spokesperson told Denver7 Monday.
Denver7 reporters Brandon Richard and CB Cotton contributed to this report.
Editor's note on Oct. 14 at 1:55 p.m.: This story has been updated with new charges filed by the First Judicial District Attorney's Office on Oct. 14.
