Surveillance video shows teenage girls assault man who said he didn’t have a cigarette

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A man attacked at a Lakewood RTD station in February by two teenagers suffered fractures to his nose and jaw as a result of the assault, according to an arrest affidavit.

On Feb. 13, two female suspects approached the victim, who was waiting for the RTD light rail at the Wadsworth Station, according to Lakewood Police. The suspects asked the victim whether he had cigarettes and attacked him when he said he did not, according to police.

Jaidyn Drury, 18, turned herself in, and a juvenile girl was arrested, according to police.

Drury pleaded guilty in September to one count of assault and one count of harassment, according to court records. She was sentenced in November to probation. 

According to the affidavit for Drury’s arrest, the victim, a 27-year-old man, was waiting on the platform when he was approached by the teens, who asked him for a cigarette. He reported that he said no and that one of the teens accused him of responding with an “attitude.” The victim said one of the teens began hitting him “30-50 times,” the affidavit says.

He told investigators that the other teen also joined in and that during the assault, his glasses were broken. He also told investigators one of the teens had called him racist names.

According to the affidavit, the assault was captured by video cameras at the RTD station. The document says the victim walked past the two teens and one of them appeared to talk to him, but he kept walking. A short time later, one of the teens, later identified as Drury, removed her backpack, ran up to the victim, grabbed him by his hoodie and began punching him.

RELATED: 2nd suspect arrested after assault at Lakewood RTD station

The video shows her hitting him multiple times in the face and yanking him around by his hood, which caused him to fall to the ground several times. At first, the other girl was off to the side, but at some point, she hit the victim with an “open hand” in the face and back of the head, the affidavit says.

Eventually, Drury pulled the other girl off the victim. When the train arrived, both the victim and the suspects boarded different cars.

The victim got off at Union Station, where an RTD officer noticed his injuries and asked him whether he was OK. He explained to that officer that he had been attacked. Medical later showed he had a closed fracture to his nose and jaw, the affidavit says.

On March 21, Lakewood Police released photos of both suspects through a Metro Denver Crime Stoppers bulletin. That same day, Drury called Crime Stoppers and indicated that she wanted to turn herself in.

 She eventually did so and agreed to speak with investigators. She said she and the other teen, whom she described as a “runaway,” had been drinking alcohol at a nearby mall. She explained that they had taken a bus to the light rail station and were planning to take the W Line back to her home.

On the platform, she said, the other teen asked the victim for a cigarette and he ignored her, so she asked again, more loudly.  When the victim said no, Drury said, the girl called him a racist name, according to the affidavit.

Drury claimed that the victim turned and saw her with the victim and claimed the victim called her a racist name, the document says. After that, she told investigators she ran up to the man and “grabbed him by his hair” and began “beating his face in,” the document says. She estimated that she landed between 10 and 15 punches.

She said that afterward, they got on the train and got off at Union Station, where she said she saw the victim talking with police. According to the affidavit, she reported that they boarded a bus and left the area without speaking to law enforcement.

When investigators asked Drury whether she was “justified” in assaulting the man because of what she said was his use of a slur toward her, she replied “No,” the affidavit says.

She admitted she could have responded differently but denied that alcohol use that night had impacted her actions, according to the affidavit.

She was asked whether they had considered contacting police to share their side of the story, and she said no, but also indicated she had “no idea” her face would be all over the media a month later.”

Drury has previous arrests for assault and burglary, according to the affidavit.

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