You didn’t mean for it to happen, but when you and a few of your buddies were horsing around, one of them sustained an injury. Now, you are facing reckless endangerment charges because it was your actions that caused your friend’s injury. You and other Colorado residents should understand the circumstances and penalties surrounding this type of charge.
What exactly is reckless endangerment? FindLaw explains it as behavior that places the life or safety of someone else at risk. For example, a parent may face reckless endangerment charges for leaving a child in a hot car. Authorities may charge a driver with reckless endangerment for drag racing through a busy area. A babysitter may face charges if she temporarily left the house to visit friends down the street and the children suffered injuries because she left them without supervision.
Severe reckless endangerment charges
The penalties may be more severe if the circumstances involved a deadly weapon. After having too much to drink, for example, you and your friends decided to see if you could throw a knife as close as possible to a friend who is standing against a wall, without hitting the friend – you can imagine how this kind of horseplay might turn out.
Penalties for not thinking before acting
Although usually unintentional, acts involving reckless endangerment that harm others or put them in danger can affect the injured party for a lifetime, as well as result in charges that haunt you for the rest of your life. You may have never intended for someone to get hurt when you and your friends went joyriding after getting drunk – after all, alcohol is known to inhibit judgment, and the temptation to show off in front of friends might make you act before thinking. Therefore, the law entitles you to a competent defense if you are facing potentially life-altering charges.
