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Man accused of stabbing Barnes & Noble employee stole gummy bears from bookstore, affidavit says

Scott Schwelling faces first-degree assault charge
Boulder Barnes and Noble
Posted at 5:21 PM, Jan 06, 2023
and last updated 2023-01-09 11:33:38-05

UPDATE | Jan. 8, 8:40 a.m. — The judge overlooking the case of Scott Schwelling, who's accused of stabbing a person at a Boulder Barnes & Noble, set a $100,000 secured bone plus $10,000 secured bond. He remains in custody. The court imposed mental health treatment and medication, if applicable.

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BOULDER, Colo. — The man accused of stabbing a Barnes & Noble employee with a knife stole gummy bears from the bookstore before he was confronted, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Denver7 Friday.

Scott Schwelling, 42, faces a first-degree assault charge for allegedly stabbing an employee Thursday between the Car Toys garage door and the Full Cycles bike shop located at 2355 30th Street, not far from the Barnes & Noble from which the suspect reportedly stole gummy bears, the affidavit states.

Police said in arresting documents the employee – a manager of the bookstore – was approached by one of his employees who told him a person had just stolen a bag of gummy bears before leaving the store.

Both employees then found Schwelling walking northbound through their parking lot and towards the Car Toys store.

The employee caught up with the suspect and confronted him about stealing the bag of gummy bears, but the employee told police Schwelling “got pissed” and “aggressively” walked up to the employee and got in his face as the employee was backing up, arresting documents show.

Per the affidavit, the employee then pushed the suspect away from him before Schwelling “quickly approached [the employee] a second time to stab him with an unknown object. … From there the suspect quickly thrusted the object up into [the employee’s] lower right abdomen area. [Taylor] believed the second stab motion hit his belt and did not penetrate into his body cavity.”

The affidavit goes on to say Boulder officers contacted Schwelling near the Hyundai Dealership at 2555 30th St.

“Upon contact, Scott informed these Officers that he was at the Barnes and Noble and was attacked by a 7’ tall employee who accused him of stealing Gummy bears,” arresting documents show.

A witness to the crime, however, told police he saw the employee push Schwelling before the suspect got up and stabbed the Barnes & Noble employee.

In an interview with police, Schwelling admitted to stabbing the employee after going into “self-defense mode” by grabbing some wire cutters with his left hand and striking the victim with them after he was pushed by the bookstore employee.

Schwelling was taken into custody and taken to the Boulder County Jail. There, police discovered he had a failure to appear for domestic violence warrant out of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.

The employee was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his stab wound and was later released.

Schwelling will appear in court for a hearing and filing of charges on Jan. 10 at 1:30 p.m.

Denver 7+ Colorado News Latest Headlines | January 6, 4pm