Monica LaSalle, Nederland.   The afternoon of Saturday, December 1, 2018 seemed like any other busy day over a busy weekend. Town was bustling with locals heading to and from the Community Center for the Holiday Mountain Market, running errands and dodging skiers heading up to ski. The library chittered with children running about sharing new discoveries while adults quietly worked on computers and browsed the aisles for the next enrapturing read.

A man wanders in with a ruck sack of belongings on his shoulder; he seems to have been here before but today he is feeling edgy, so he tells himself to calm down, mumbling so others don’t notice. Trying to focus on this, he tries to settle down, but can’t.

He sees an elderly man sitting at the computer who keeps glancing over at him as he looks around. Suddenly, the man is convinced that the elderly man is staring at him, with a reason that he cannot fathom.

Bewildered, he raises his voice in concern, alerting the front desk staff of his discomfort with the situation while also saying things that illuminate them of his confusion, for they make no sense to them. As his feelings of panic escalate, so does his voice, and the nature of his language takes a more profane turn.

A teenage volunteer gently approaches him in an attempt to calm him down and address his concerns. She speaks calmly and kindly for a time, and somehow begins to develop a rapport with him. Staff inconspicuously watch the situation evolve, and after a time realize there are no signs of improvement.

Library Assistant Cathy Grace makes the decision to call the police for assistance, for it had become unavoidable that the library patron, was becoming too much of a disturbance for the other patrons. Despite the rapport slowly developing with the volunteer, the man continues to escalate in his agitation so that when he sees a Nederland patrol car pull up he immediately heads outside to talk to the officer.

Officer Troy Hendricks responds to the call, along with Officer Erich Gerthe. “The call came in from dispatch with a confusing location, calling for investigating a loitering situation at the Community Center Library in Nederland,” Troy stated. “So, Erich and I split up with him going to the Community Center and me going to the library.”

The officer first on scene, he is the newest member of the Nederland Police Department team and comes from Gilpin County. He is no stranger to dealing with agitated or angry people. As he got out of his patrol car, Troy saw an angry and agitated man approaching from the library entrance. His name is William Patrick Libby, a 32-year-old man who had started showing up at the library two weeks ago and despite talking to himself a lot, had never been a cause for concern.

William immediately began telling Officer Hendricks about the man who was in the library that kept staring at him. He said he just wanted to get his belongings from inside the library and he would leave, but Troy told him not to go back inside due to his agitated state. Libby had other ideas and took off at a run toward the entrance of the library with Officer Hendricks in pursuit. Thus, proceeded a chase around the library shelves and patrons, with Libby at one point hiding behind a man using a computer and turning the nature of the chase into somewhat of a cat and mouse game.

As Officer Hendricks tried to subdue Libby, dodging swinging punches amidst the scuffle, he pulled Libby’s shirt off as he again squirmed out of his grasp. He warned Libby that if he didn’t stop, he was going to have to Taser him, but Libby didn’t listen.

As the prong sprung out to attach to him and he received an electric shock, he managed to run 15 feet more and Hendricks Tased him again. This time, he finally stopped. Officer Gerthe arrived just in time to help cuff him and further subdue him so paramedics could transport William to the hospital for removal of the Taser prongs and eventually, Boulder County Jail. As he was being transported, during treatment at the hospital, and processing at the jail, Libby repeatedly told Officer Hendricks that he would be back up to Nederland to kill everyone but especially Troy.

When District Attorney Michael Dougherty heard of William Patrick Libby’s threats to Officer Hendricks and the community of Nederland as a whole, he decided to charge him for it. In the end, Libby was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of a police officer, 2nd degree assault (a Class 4 Felony), and the DA added retaliation against a witness (which is a Class 3 Felony). Officer Hendricks left the scene with a head wound sustained from Libby punching the top of his head, grazing it and leaving a gash.

“The whole thing happened very fast,” says Cathy. “The police responded so quickly and effectively that it was all over quickly.”

When speaking with Library Director Elektra Greer by email, she explained to me that the Nederland Library Board has for months been working to implement new policies to further ensure the safety and security of the library. As the community grows, additional opportunities and challenges present themselves.

They are adding some additional training and policies for staff and patron security and looking into security cameras to help protect this incredible resource. She wants to reassure library patrons that they will be careful not to violate the rights to privacy all patrons have, and the library will be very diligent about the legalities of the placement of any cameras.

She adds, “As upsetting as the incident was, it was also incredibly heartening to the staff at how much both the patrons in the library at the time, and the patrons who learned of the incident later, rallied and supported their library community, their police force and even expressed concern over the alleged perpetrator’s mental health.”

Further, “The best way to ensure a safe and secure community is neighbors who care about one another, this community has that in spades! And the police response was incredibly timely and supportive.”

Cathy Grace agrees. “The police and paramedics responded, meeting him in kind and treating him as compassionately as he would allow,” she said.

Describing how tricky it can be to maintain the integrity of the library and its purpose or mission, Cathy says they are constantly evaluating if it is working for everyone. The importance of remembering that the library is open to all of the public has not been lost on staff over the years as the nature of Nederland’s population has evolved in its complexity. Having personally witnessed many people being helped to move forward in life by utilizing the resources provided, it is vital to any community to maintain that openness while continuing to strive for a balance with boundaries. It is important that it be a safe part of the community.

For those concerned or with questions about the changes to library policy and procedure, please visit their website at Nederland.colibraries.org for meeting agenda, minutes, and policies as well as meeting times. The meetings are open to the public.

(Originally published in the December 20, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)