14 charges filed against each of the Basalt assault suspects
Eagle County Sheriff’s Office
Fourteen charges were filed Thursday against each of the two defendants in an alleged Basalt assault Aug. 14.
If convicted, the most serious charges against each of them carries a sentence of 10 to 32 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, according to Heidi McCollum, assistant district attorney in the Fifth Judicial District.
Daniel Wettstein and Mustafa Muhammad are accused of holding a man against his will and beating him at a Willits Townhouse starting Aug. 26 and into the next day. The alleged victim escaped the house through a window and got onto the roof of the residence where he called for help, according to police reports. He gained the aid of a neighbor, who called police. The man suffered broken bones and lacerations to his face and wounds to other parts of his body, police said. He was airlifted to a hospital in Grand Junction for treatment.
Wettstein surrendered shortly after police arrived at his residence and urged him via a phone call to exit the residence. Muhammad surrendered about four hours later after a SWAT team was brought into the townhouse complex. Police were cautious because the victim told them firearms were in the house.
Wettstein and Muhammad lived at the residence. The victim was visiting from elsewhere in the midvalley, police said.
The charges against Wettstein are: three counts of assault in the first degree; second-degree kidnapping, two counts of assault in the second degree; three counts of menacing; tampering with physical evidence; possession with the intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance; conspiracy — controlled substances; unlawful possession of a controlled substance; and false imprisonment. All charges are felonies except false imprisonment, which is a misdemeanor.
Muhammad is facing charges of: three counts of assault in the first degree; second-degree kidnapping; two counts of assault in the second degree; robbery; menacing; violation of bail bond conditions; possession with the intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance; conspiracy — controlled substance; unlawful possession of a controlled substance; violation of a protection order; and false imprisonment. All the charges except the last two are felonies.
Muhammad is being held in Eagle County Jail on $25,000 bond. Wettstein was released after posting bond.
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