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Boulder Baseball Bat Attack Suspect Said He Just 'Stood Watch'

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - Two teenagers have been arrested, accused of using a baseball bat to beat a man in his apartment in Boulder.

The attack occurred Monday night in Aaron Matthew Tuneberg's apartment located near 55th Street and Arapahoe Avenue.

Austin Holford, 18, and Luke Jonah Pelham, 18, appeared in court Wednesday while Tuneberg remains hospitalized in critical condition.

BOULDER BAT ATTACK MAP
(credit: CBS)

"He's like one of the most generous people I've ever met in my life ... will open his doors to anybody … maybe it's not the smartest thing," Tuneberg's friend Katie Whiteman said.

Court documents show Tuneberg suffered multiple skull fractures after being beaten with a bat.

According to Holford's arrest affidavit, he suspected Tuneberg had assaulted a female friend. Holford and Pelham went to the victim's apartment to confront him. Hours later neighbors say police had taken over the building.

"I heard walking up and down the stairs. I just figured it was neighbors just being noisy and when I looked outside my door it was a lot of police and some paramedics," a neighbor said.

According to Pelham's arrest affidavit, he told police he had no idea what Holford was capable of and only stood watch with a golf club. He said when they left the apartment the two ditched the bat and golf club in a bush and he walked to a friend's house to use a phone.

"His phone was dead and he asked me if I would charge it for him while he used my phone to call police," Whiteman said.

Court documents show that police were able to recover both the baseball bat and the golf club.

Both suspects remain in custody.

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