PPD: Teen punched man who tried to get him to do drugs

(PUEBLO, Colo.) — A homeless man has died after allegedly being punched by a 14-year-old when he tried to get the teen to do drugs and refused to leave the teen alone.

According to PPD, officers originally responded shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 27 to a report of an assault in the 1100 block of York Street, on Pueblo’s east side. When officers arrived, they found a 14-year-old boy providing aid to a homeless man.

Officers learned that the homeless man had approached the teen, asking if he wanted to “smoke drugs.” The teen said no and tried to leave, but PPD said the man continued to try and talk to the teen. The teen did not reply to the man, and the man lunged at him, at which point PPD said the teen punched the man in the head once.

The man then fell and hit his head on the street, and he was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. On Oct. 12, the man died of his injuries. The Pueblo County Coroner will determine the official cause and manner of death.

PPD asks anyone with information or who may have been a witness to this incident to contact Detective Shay at (719) 553-2445

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