A 22-year-old stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base faces a felony charge after allegedly pulling a pistol and threatening to kill another airman for saying he looked like “Diego off of Dora the Explorer” as they played beer pong.
The altercation happened more than seven months ago in February at a Super Bowl party, but the Air Force has just turned the case over to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office.
The incident involving Dionido Bauzon had been under investigation by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, but the case was handed over to local law enforcement because it happened at an Airbnb in the 8400 block of Ridge Road in Laramie County and not on the base.
Why it took seven months to make that determination wasn’t clear in court documents available Monday in Cheyenne Circuit Court.
Bauzon faces a charge of aggravated assault and battery.
A call to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately returned on whether Bauzon has been arrested.
Then A Gun Was Pulled
An affidavit filed in the case states that Bauzon attended a Super Bowl party Feb. 9 that had several other Air Force base service members present.
He and a partner were playing beer pong against two airmen. The game involves players trying to land a pingpong ball into cups filled with beer.
Bauzon and his partner were winning when one of the airmen on the other team started “trash-talk” with his opponents, the affidavit states. Bauzon was told, “Get this man off the table, he cannot shoot.”
Bauzon responded with an expletive and an airman from the other team told him: “You know who you look like man? You look like Diego off of Dora the Explorer.”
The affidavit states that Bauzon then pulled a firearm from his pocket, racked the slide, and pointed it at the airman who made the remark.
The airman told OSI investigators that Bauzon held the gun close to his body, between his chest and waistline and asked the airman what he just said.
‘I’ll Kill You All’
The airman told OSI that he questioned Bauzon about whether he was “really gonna pull a gun out for beer pong?”
“I don’t know any of you, but I’ll kill you all,” Bauzon allegedly replied.
The airman said Bauzon pointed the gun at him for a few seconds and a blue laser on the gun was pointed at his chest. He said Bauzon made a circular motion with the gun as it was pointed at him.
The airman told OSI that he feared for his life but knew that other members at the party were TCCC (tactical combat casualty care) trained.
Back at work the next day, Bauzon’s partner apologized to the airman and said the only reason Bauzon pulled the gun was because “they didn’t know each other” and he hadn’t expected all the “trash talk.”
The alleged victim’s beer pong partner told OSI that Bauzon had the pistol down when he said, “I’ll shoot everybody in here.”
He said Bauzon had racked a round in the chamber of the pistol and had his finger on the trigger. He described Bauzon’s eyes as “teary” and his left fist “balled up.”
The partner said he did not fear for his life but thought he was going to get shot because the laser light was on his own chest for a few seconds. He estimated the laser was on his partner’s chest for about a minute, the affidavit states.
Bauzon’s beer pong partner told investigators that Bauzon told the opponents that, “I don’t know all y’all n***ers, but I’ll kill y’all n***ers.”
Told To Leave
The affidavit states that Bauzon’s partner and another airman stepped in front of the pistol and told him to put the gun back in his pants and leave.
He said that Bauzon did not have his finger on the trigger when he was yelling threats.
Bauzon’s dorm roommate, who also attended the party, told OSI that he heard the players as they “jokingly argued about each other’s skill level” and then the sound of a gun cocking and someone screaming, the affidavit states.
He said he helped get Bauzon out of the house and saw a tan pistol magazine hanging out of Bauzon’s pocket.
The affidavit references videos of Bauzon taken from the Airbnb that shows Bauzon walking out with an object sticking out of his right pant’s pocket. Another video from the Airbnb shows Bauzon talking to five people standing between him and the door.
He is heard saying, “That’s the thing, I don’t even know these people.”
In another video at the Airbnb, Bauzon’s beer pong partner is seen telling the first alleged victim that he was trying to calm Bauzon down. He told the man that he knew he had a gun in his car and asked him to “chill.”
The affidavit states OSI interviewed 11 others from the party who had similar accounts of the incident.
Aggravated assault and battery is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
