CHEYENNE — An argument with a maintenance worker at an extended-stay motel quickly escalated when a 61-year-old resident barged into a neighboring room and threatened to kill people with a knife.
John Delgiudice had his initial court appearance Wednesday on a single felony charge of aggravated assault and battery for allegedly going out of his way to retrieve a knife and push his way into the other room.
For his part, Delgiudice told police that he got the knife from his room because he thought that another resident and employee at the Big Horn Motel in the 2000 block of Lincolnway was going for a weapon of his own, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Cheyenne Police Officer Alyssa Muzquiz.
However, Muzquiz outlines in her affidavit that during the confrontation with the three other people, Delgiudice left to go back to his room, get a knife, then come back and continue to threaten them.
What Happened
Delgiudice was already arguing with the maintenance worker when another resident and employee at the Big Horn Motel was notified about the disturbance at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the affidavit says.
When that person went to see what was going on, “Delgiudice began arguing with him and threatening him” as well, Muzquiz wrote. “The resident in the neighboring room … was witnessing what was happening.”
So, the man retreated into that other room to “get away from Delgiudice,” the affidavit says. But, the 61-year-old followed him into the other room, where two other people were living.
Delgiudice then threatened to kill the first man, “left the room and came back with a large knife,” the affidavit says.
He pointed the knife at all three and continued threatening to kill the first man, Muzquiz wrote.
When barging into the room, Delgiudice also allegedly pushed one of the other people in the room into a table, injuring him, according to the affidavit.
In talking with police, “Delgiudice stated after the physical disturbance (that) he believed (the first man) was reaching into his pockets to retrieve a weapon,” the affidavit says. “Delgiudice stated he told (the man) that if he has a weapon, he should pull it out.”
An aggravated assault charge is justified, Muzquiz wrote, because “Delgiudice chose to leave the initial confrontation, to the safety of his own apartment, but then returned to the confrontation with a knife.”
Not The Big Horn’s First Rodeo
Tuesday’s alleged violent confrontation isn’t the first for the Big Horn Motel.
It was the site of a four-hour standoff Jan. 9 with a now-70-year-old former resident that began with an argument with a homeless man over a $30 debt.
Harold Wayne Sarvis was charged at the time with attempted second-degree murder for reportedly telling the homeless man to “die, bitch,” then shooting him in the chest.
Sarvis then allegedly stood over the other man as he lay on the ground, retreated back into Room 120 at the Big Horn Motel, and held police at bay for four hours before being removed by a SWAT team.
That’s the basic narrative of how the homeless man wound up at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center with a bullet wound to the chest and Sarvis facing an attempted second-degree murder charge, Cheyenne Police Department Detective Michael Webster wrote in an affidavit of probable cause at the time.
At some point in the past, Sarvis loaned the other man $30, and they argued about the money leading up to the shooting, the alleged victim told investigators, according to the affidavit.
Surveillance video at the motel shows their interaction — except the actual shooting — the affidavit says, adding that at one point, the homeless man said he had already paid the money back.
Then he said he was trying to put the $30 on the steps outside Sarvis’ door when he was shot.
During the four-hour standoff with Sarvis in his room, the SWAT team “made several announcements commanding Sarvis to exit the room, but he refused,” the CPD reported. “Crisis negotiators were able to briefly communicate with him by phone, but he was not cooperative.”
Finally, the SWAT team breached Sarvis’ room and sent in an unmanned drone to locate him.
He eventually surrendered.
As for Delgiudice, his next day in court is a Sept. 17 preliminary hearing, where a judge will determine if there’s enough evidence to support the felony charge against him.
If convicted of aggravated assault and battery by threatening with a weapon, he could get a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
