BOZEMAN — Court documents say a fight last Saturday between a group of men ended up involving a box cutter, a hammer, and a wooden chisel—an eventful night that days later led to a standoff in a Bozeman neighborhood.
“Anybody who would see these injuries would be taken aback by the damage an edged weapon can do,” said Bozeman Police Detective Captain Dana McNeil.
25-year-old Andres Gonzalez and 21-year-old Santiago Echeverri were arrested on Wednesday in connection with two stabbings that happened early Saturday morning.
According to court documents, a man was walking home from downtown when two Hispanic men jumped out of their vehicle and began attacking him with knives and hammers at the corner of Bozeman and Olive, leaving him with cuts to most of his body and a deep laceration on his face.
Court documents say eventually, the men stopped attacking him to chase another person. That victim told police he and some friends were involved in a fight with the attackers earlier outside a downtown bar.
After the fight, the second victim and his friends allegedly left the scene while the two suspects began driving after them.
According to court documents, the suspects caught up with them and cut the second victim several times. The attackers then left the scene.
Early Wednesday morning, an officer on patrol spotted the suspect vehicle, a Nissan Armada near East Story Street in Bozeman.
A woman living nearby watched it all go down from her window. In a video she took, you can see Bozeman Police and Gallatin County's Special Response Team surrounding a home where 17 people were detained. According to Captain McNeil, Gonzalez and Echeverri were the only two men arrested.
“The rest of them were released,” said Captain McNeil.
According to the charging documents, Gonzales told police he and Echeverri used a box cutter and chisel in the attacks.
In court Thursday, Gonzalez and Echeverri each had their bail set at $300,000.
Gallatin County arrest records also indicate that both men are subject to an immigration detainer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as an ICE hold.
“I think that as we grow as a city, we’re going to see more violent crime,” said Captain McNeil. “And we’re going to have more issues like this.”
