Nikos Hecht in a Pitkin County Jail mugshot from his domestic violence arrest in July 2015. A booking mugshot from his latest arrest was not available Friday.
Clad only in his underwear and high on drugs, a local developer and hedge fund manager held a gun to his head Thursday night outside a relative’s home near Aspen and threatened to kill himself, according to police reports.
Nikos Hecht, 50, admitted to police he’d consumed alcohol, marijuana and cocaine half-an-hour before driving his Range Rover to the home and crashing it into another car parked in the driveway. He then allegedly began banging on a front window with a bloody hand while holding the black Beretta handgun to his head and demanding to speak to a person inside, the reports state.
Courtesy of Valley View Hospital
The first batch of coronavirus vaccines has arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley, heralded by many as the beginning of an end to the global pandemic that has infected thousands in the area, and created nearly a year of frustration and hardship for local businesses and their employees.
Healthcare workers at Aspen Valley Hospital and Valley View Hospital received doses of the hotly-anticipated Pfizer vaccine this week. A multi-phase plan from the state puts healthcare workers working directly with COVID-19 patients and workers at long-term care facilities at the front of the line to receive vaccines.
Dan Bayer / Courtesy Aspen Valley Hospital
Though he was the first person in Pitkin County to receive the COVID-19 vaccine Thursday, Dr. Greg Balko wasn’t feeling the weight of history when the needle entered his arm.
Instead, the Aspen Valley Hospital emergency room physician said he felt a great tonnage of accumulated fear and anxiety finally lift after 10 months on Pitkin County’s COVID-19 frontlines.
“It’s the anxiety of every time you walk into a (hospital) room and you wonder if today is the day you’re going to get it,” Balko said Thursday. “(The vaccination) definitely provides a sense of security and hope.
Vail Health photo.
Amid cameras and applause, Vail Health Hospital administered its first COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday to Lead Respiratory Therapist Julie Scales.
Scales’ personal experience with COVID-19 made her the ideal recipient for the ceremonial first shot, said Vail Health Director of Public Relations Sally Welsh.
Scales tested positive for COVID-19 on March 14, a few days before nearby Vail Mountain shut down due to the virus.
“It was very scary,” she said. “It was just so new.”
Scales visited the Vail ER and was transferred to a Denver area hospital the following day, where she was placed on a ventilator for seven days. Her daughter, who also lives in Eagle County, was with her emotionally through the process, and upon receiving the vaccine on Wednesday, Scales’ first reaction was to embrace her daughter.
COVID-19 tester Sawyer Shook, 19, assists people with their tests Monday at the cell phone lot at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport. There were 130 appointments scheduled before the testing site closed at 2 p.m. Starting Monday, all visitors coming into the county had to complete an online affidavit saying they have been symptom free for 10 days and have received a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Aspen Valley Hospital is expecting to receive the upper Roaring Fork Valley’s first 100 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for its staff Wednesday afternoon, hospital officials said Monday.