Man accused of attacking Boulder city councilwoman faces additional charges

BOULDER, Colorado – A man accused of attacking Boulder City Councilwoman Tara Winer now faces 17 additional charges.

Chase Raskin, 26, is accused of attacking Winer and two others as they attended the opening of Nana's Dim Sum, a new restaurant on The Hill, on Sept. 6.

Raskin was arrested shortly after the attack on suspicion of menacing and two counts of third-degree assault.

On Monday, the public prosecutor's office filed 17 new charges against him. He is now accused of the following:

• Criminal robbery attempt
• Two counts of third-degree assault
• Three cases of prejudice-motivated crime
• Two cases of threat
• Two cases of harassment
• 10 cases of harassment through ethnic intimidation

According to Winer, while young children were performing a cultural dance, a man began shouting racist slurs and epithets against Asians.

The councilwoman said she stepped out of the restaurant and shouted to the man, who was already halfway down the block, that she was going to take his photo and report him to the police for hate speech.

In response, the man turned around, ran toward her and brutally attacked her, she said. According to Winer, the attacker punched her, threw her to the ground and then pinned her down by sitting on top of her.

“It happened so fast,” she said. “I'm lying face down on the street. He sits on top of me. Someone, I don't even know who, is pulling him down.”

It was later revealed that Matt Jensen, a man attending the event, intervened and pulled the attacker away from Winer. Two security guards from Illegal Pete's, a restaurant across the street, also rushed to subdue the attacker.

During the altercation, the attacker is said to have bitten Jensen and one of the security guards.

Winer suffered from severe headaches, bruised arms and legs, and wore a brace for her rib injuries.

Prosecutors allege that Raskin intended to intimidate or harass the artists or visitors based on their actual or perceived race. The new indictment also states that he attempted to take a cell phone from someone.

Raskin's next court date is scheduled for October 28.

This story includes reporting by Rhea Jha.