CSU football player arrested for alleged assault

CSU football player Nicho Garcia was arrested this week on misdemeanor charges of harassment and assault for an alleged altercation with a neighbor that occurred around midnight Oct. 16.

Eighth Judicial District Court Judge Devin Odell signed an arrest warrant for Garcia on Jan. 20 following an investigation by Fort Collins Police Services, and Garcia turned himself in Tuesday. He was booked into the Larimer County Jail and released Wednesday on a $2,000 bond, records show.

"We have been aware of the legal matter involving Nicho Garcia and have been in communication with the university and local authorities throughout the process," Colorado State University coach Mike Bobo said Friday through a school spokesman. "As with all pending legal matters, we do not have further comment at this time."

Garcia, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman from Overland, Kansas, transferred to CSU last summer after playing football for two seasons at Highland Community College in Kansas. He practiced with the Rams throughout the 2016 season but has yet to play in a game for CSU. He was with the team in Boise, Idaho, for the Dec. 22 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Garcia, 20, was identified through surveillance video more than a month after a 20-year-old man said he was punched repeatedly outside his apartment complex just west of campus by a man he asked to stop urinating next to him, according to a police report. The alleged victim had been sitting on a stoop outside the complex, smoking a cigarette. He was unable to identify his reported assailant, saying he had never seen the man before.

Surveillance videos were not obtained by police until Nov. 30, at which point Garcia was identified as the suspect. Garcia and the victim were both residents of the same apartment complex on West Plum Street.

Police interviewed Garcia along with an unidentified coach or other staff member on Dec. 7 in the football offices at Colorado State University, according to the police report.

Garcia admitted to being "really hammered" that night and said he often urinates outside when he's drunk. He told police he did not recall being involved in an altercation that night, even while watching video that showed him taking a swing at the victim that didn't connect.

Garcia's arrest affidavit remained sealed Friday, a court clerk said, because he had not yet had an advisement hearing. He's scheduled to appear Feb. 8.

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news