Denver, Colorado

From the Denver Post of January 4, 2006

Police: Man shot after bar break-in

A man was seriously wounded in a shooting at the Funky Buddha early Tuesday while the downtown bar was closed.

The man broke in to the bar at 776 Lincoln St., and one of four people who were inside at the time shot him about 4 a.m., police said.

It's unknown if it was an employee who shot the man and if there was a relationship between the shooter and the man who broke in, police spokeswoman Virginia Lopez said.

The names of the people involved were not released.

No arrests were made, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.

The bar is owned by Regas Christou, who owns several nightclubs in Denver.

The wounded man was taken to Denver Health Medical Center.

From the Denver Post of January 5, 2006

Co-owner held in bar shooting

The criminal charge comes in connection with a burglary at the Funky Buddha earlier this week.

The co-owner of the Funky Buddha bar is facing a criminal charge of first-degree aggravated assault in connection with the shooting of a burglar earlier this week.

Christakes Christou, 60, is being held at the Denver County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Denver police said he shot Dwayne Stepp, 44, about 3 a.m. Tuesday during a burglary inside the bar at 776 Lincoln St.
Stepp, who was shot in the abdomen, is expected to survive.

He's being treated at Denver Health Medical Center and is facing a burglary charge when he recovers.

Police spokesman Sonny Jackson declined to say whether investigators believe Christou acted in self-defense, but emphasized the charge Christou faces indicates an aggravated assault.

Business owners do not fall under the protection of Colorado's "Make My Day" law that allows homeowners to defend themselves if they encounter an intruder, Jackson said.

Christakes Christou has a prior arrest record for a third-degree domestic violence assault in 1994 and a misdemeanor assault arrest in 1998.

Stepp appears to be a transient, according to court records, and has a lengthy criminal record that includes arrests for drinking in public, shoplifting, trespassing, assault, possession of drug paraphernalia and loitering.

From the Denver Post of August 1, 2006

Attempted-murder charge tossed in shooting of alleged bar burglar

After watching surveillance tapes from the Funky Buddha restaurant, a Denver judge orders the co-owner to stand trial for first-degree assault.

A Denver businessman who said he shot a burglar in self-defense inside his restaurant won a crucial victory Monday when a judge threw out an attempted-murder charge against him.

County Judge Aleene Ortiz-White said that Dwayne Stepp, 44, who broke into the Funky Buddha bar at 3:11 a.m. on Jan. 3, repeatedly advanced toward co-owner Christakes Christou.

The judge, who twice watched surveillance-camera tapes of the encounter, said Stepp and Christou were in close contact during the confrontation. Although armed with a pistol, Christou, 60, did not fire, she said.

Instead, Ortiz-White said, Christou pushed Stepp back twice. Only on the third occasion, when Stepp again was right in his face, did Christou shoot, wounding Stepp in the abdomen.

The judge, however, did order Christou to stand trial for first- degree assault, leaving it up to a jury to decide whether Christou intended to "cause serious bodily injury" to Stepp by shooting him.

Defense attorney Larry Pozner said that had the incident occurred in a home, Christou would have been able to shoot Stepp under Colorado's "make my day" law without any repercussions. But Pozner said the law doesn't apply to businessmen confronted in their businesses.

During the day-long preliminary hearing, Pozner also hammered Denver detectives and prosecutors, contending that they had failed to look into Stepp's lengthy criminal background. Pozner said that over the years, Stepp has been arrested more than 50 times in four states and used seven different names and three different Social Security numbers.

Among Stepp's most recent arrests, Pozner said, was at the Funky Buddha, where he was arrested Aug. 26, 2005, for walking in the back door, taking a bottle of bourbon from a liquor cabinet and then walking out.

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Still More:

From the Rocky Mountain News of August 1, 2006

Lounge-shooting tape disputed

Funky Buddha owner Christakes Christou's fate could rest on what jurors can make out of the shadows.

Prosecutors contend a surveillance video seized by police shows the bar owner lying in wait for a man who had been breaking into his club then shooting the almost cowering intruder.

On Monday, however, after repeatedly viewing the tape, Denver County Judge Aleene Ortiz-White disagreed with that interpretation.

The judge found there was enough evidence to order Christou to stand trial on a charge of first-degree assault but told prosecutors they could not proceed on an attempted murder charge.

Christou, 60, is accused of shooting Dwayne Stepp, 44, a transient with a record of more than 50 arrests in the past 10 years, whom Christou told police had broken into his Funky Buddha Lounge on four previous occasions.

The surveillance video shows a man forcing his way into the front door of the bar at 776 Lincoln St. and being confronted by a man who emerges from a back room.

The rest of the video is in dispute.

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From the Denver Post of November 7, 2006

Funky Buddha owner sentenced in shooting

The owner of a Denver bar who shot a burglar pleaded guilty Tuesday to tampering with evidence, and received a deferred prison sentence with no prison time.

Christakes Christou, 60, was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault after he shot Dwayne Stepp, who broke into Christou's Funky Buddha Lounge, 776 Lincoln St., at 3:11 a.m. Jan. 3.

A judge threw out the attempted first-degree murder charge earlier. Christou still faced the assault charge, which carries a sentence of 10 to 32 years on conviction.

But prosecutors agreed Tuesday to dismiss that charge in return for his plea to tampering with evidence, a class 6 felony. The tampering charge stemmed from an allegation that Christou picked up a gunshell casing at the shooting scene and put it in his pocket.

Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney's office, said prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain because "we didn't believe there was a reasonable likelihood of conviction had we gone ahead with the first-degree assault charge."

Denver District Judge Shelley Gilman gave Christou a deferred sentence. Christou will not, under the plea agreement, have to pay restitution to Stepp.

The deferred sentence means the case will be dismissed as though it never happened if Christou doesn't break the law in the next two years.

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