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Aspen police: Man jumps into car in love triangle feud

Rick Carroll
The Aspen Times
Aspen police place handcuffs on Joseph McMenimen after he allegedly jumped into an SUV on North Mill Street on Friday. He was charged with false reporting.
Rick Carroll/The Aspen Times |

A bizarre scene played out Friday on North Mill Street by the Hotel Jerome, where a man allegedly jumped in front of an SUV. Aspen police cited the man for false reporting after they determined that he intentionally leapt into the vehicle, as opposed to his version of the incident, which was that the car tried to strike him.

After more than half an hour, Joseph McMenimen, 38, failed to persuade police that the motorist attempted to hit and hurt him.

Before the incident, McMenimen and the driver had been in Pitkin County Court for a domestic-violence and assault hearing. McMenimen had been there simply to attend the hearing. The driver was there because he allegedly was punched several times early Friday morning by his girlfriend, Alison Marie Geraty, 23, of Snowmass Village. McMenimen and Geraty apparently had some type of relationship as well, one McMenimen described to police as “emotional” but nothing more.



But McMenimen and the driver, who had a visible knot on his head from that morning’s incident, did not appear to be friends, occasionally hurling insults at each other as police interviewed each of them and gathered evidence.

“This all seems to have come out of some sort of triangle,” said detective Ian MacAyeal, who was on scene.




Police also interviewed witnesses to the spectacle and determined McMenimen wasn’t being honest with them.

One person who didn’t witness the crash but saw some of its aftermath said, “All I heard was a thump and then the driver get out and say ‘Did you see that? He jumped in front of my car.’”

McMenimen, who declined to be interviewed for this story, was booked and later released from Pitkin County Jail. Geraty also was released on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond, which was set by Pitkin County Judge Erin Fernandez-Ely.

Snowmass and Pitkin County law enforcement arrested Geraty some time after 3 a.m. on a misdemeanor assault and domestic-violence counts. When police responded to the scene of the assault in Snowmass Village, the alleged victim “appeared to be in emotional turmoil,” according to an arrest affidavit.

“At times he cried, proclaiming his love for Geraty and at time exclaiming that Geraty was ‘psycho,’” the affidavit says.

Geraty appeared to have been drinking and told police that she had tried to throw her boyfriend out of her apartment.

“Geraty admitted to hitting (the man) and stated that was ‘me acting out in rage, because he threatened me and whatnot.’”

rcarroll@aspentimes.com

Crime


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