Alleged Washington Park shooter faces new charges after jail incident, Denver victim finally back to eating solid foods
Ryan Egelston, who is charged with shooting at two people in Denver's Washington Park and wounding one of them on Feb. 2, is facing two new criminal charges stemming from a jailhouse altercation.
According to court and jail records, Egelston, 28, was involved in the altercation on April 6 at the Van-Cise Simonet Detention Center, and as a result was charged with assault and disturbing the peace.
He was already facing charges of attempted murder and a slew of other counts related to the Washington Park incident. In that case, he is alleged to have pulled a gun and fired at a man who he argued with.
A bullet struck bystander Ben Varga, who was in the park to meet friends for a picnic. The bullet hit Varga in the back of the head and came out through his chin.
He suffered fractured vertebrae and is recovering.
Bystander who was struck continues recovery
Since the incident, Varga had not been able to eat solid food but was finally cleared to eat solids earlier this month. He met with a CBS News Colorado crew for a sushi lunch -- one of his favorite foods.
He said he lost as much as 40 pounds, but has put some weight back on.
"Overall, I feel really good," said Varga, as he enjoyed sushi.
"This is definitely better than my liquid diet that I was on before this," he said.
Now out of the hospital and living downtown, Varga is regularly walking and preparing to return to work and start doing some of his favorite things -- going to concerts, the gym and eating good food.
Victim preparing for another surgery
He says he is occasionally reminded of what happened at Wash Park.
"I get a little bit of a trigger, per se. Sometimes when I walk downtown and when I hear sirens ... can trigger me a little bit."
He said at some point he will return to Wash Park "to get the bad taste out of my mouth."
Varga said he will have another surgery in May but is hoping to get his neck brace off in the next few weeks.
