Man Made Up Like Evil Clown Accused in Fatal Stabbing

Fatal attack happened outside a Torchy's Tacos in Denver
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2017 8:46 AM CDT
Freddy Krueger-Like 'Clown' Held in Stabbing at Taco Joint
President Obama waves after an unannounced stop at a different Torchy's Tacos in March 2016, in Austin, Texas.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

An altercation outside a Denver taco eatery ended in death, between a man CBS Denver describes as a "well-known transient" and a suspect who was allegedly made up like a clown and tried to flee on a scooter. KUSA reports that police found an unresponsive Brian Lucero, one stab wound to his throat, lying in the parking lot of Torchy's Tacos, around 1am Tuesday after receiving a call. Witnesses say, per a police statement, that the fight between the 29-year-old Lucero and the alleged perpetrator, 36-year-old Christian Gulzow, actually started at a nearby gas station. Gulzow—who was said to have been sporting white clownlike makeup with black streaks and Freddy Krueger-like gloves, with 2- to 3-inch blades on the fingertips—allegedly started threatening Lucero, then swinging at him.

Lucero fought back, and the two men eventually ended up at Torchy's, where Lucero collapsed in the lot. Gulzow reportedly took off on a scooter, but High Activity Location Observation cameras the Denver PD has scattered about the city picked up his trail, and he was arrested not long after, bloodied and sans weapon (camera operators say they saw him toss a knife, which was later recovered, into the bushes). Gulzow told cops that Lucero tried to steal his scooter and that Lucero may have been stabbed when they fell, perhaps impaled by one of Gulzow's blades or a spike on his wrist bracelet; he says he didn't know Lucero had been stabbed when he zipped away, though that's not what witnesses are saying. He's now being held on suspicion of first-degree murder charges. Lucero died at a nearby hospital of his stab wound. (A skateboarder was allegedly stabbed by a group of clowns.)

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