The father of a 14-year-old Centennial boy beaten up by a bully after school has decided not to sue, averting what had been expected to be Colorado’s first civil suit against a teen-ager for a hate crime.
Heinz Ulm said the insurance company for the family of the boy who pummeled his son, Adrian, paid all the medical and legal bills, so he decided to let it go.
“Adrian moves on with his life and keeps going his way,” Heinz Ulm said in a statement.
Ulm said the medical and legal bills amounted to about $7,500.
Adrian Ulm was badly beaten by a classmate in eighth grade at West Middle School in November, after he had had called Ulm a “Nazi,” among other slurs because of his German citizenship. The boy was suspended and never returned to West.
The assailant did not face criminal charges, because Adrian voluntarily took part in the fight.
The Ulms hired a lawyer who considered suing under a 2-year-old amendment to Colorado’s hate-crime laws, which makes attackers liable for punitive damages.
Heinz Ulm started a nonprofit called , “reaching out to a broader audience and for the benefit of many seems to me more effective and more rewarding,” than a lawsuit, he said.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
