Aspen police arrested Barroway on Thursday morning at the Limelight Aspen on Monarch Street, after responding to a dispatch report that “a lady was yelling” and the couple were “now fighting again loudly.” Dispatch aired the call at approximately 8:42 a.m, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.
Upon arriving on the scene, police interviewed a hotel manager who visited Barroway’s guest room that morning about a reported disturbance. A male apologized and closed the door, the affidavit said. Soon afterward, Barroway and the wife were screaming at each other, again drawing the manager’s attention.
“(The manager) knocked again and informed them that she is calling the police,” said the affidavit, which was prepared by Aspen Police officer Adriano Minniti. “The male asked them not to call the police and they’ve been quiet since then.” The manager also told Minniti that a housekeeper who spoke with the woman said she was “not OK,” “afraid,” “not well” and “hurt.”
Police then went to the room, where Minniti “knocked several times, and announced myself, but no one answered the door. The hotel called the room and advised the guest to answer the door. Two individuals answer the door, Andrew Barroway and (his wife). (The wife) appeared to be in distress as she was currently heavily crying, seemed to have been crying for a while, had bruising on her ankles, knees, and blood on her hands.”
The arrest warrant affidavit quoted the wife as saying: “I don’t want to ruin my prenup with him, so I didn’t want to say anything bad about him.”
Barroway appeared to be playing down to police what happened, based on the affidavit. Barroway said it was his wife’s birthday, she’d been to rehab twice, and they were going through a divorce but were trying to be together.
“He then said, ‘There’s nothing else,’” the affidavit said, adding the Barroway couple had been arguing over money, Barroway’s will and child support.
The affidavit said the woman’s injuries included a large bruise on her left thigh, a cut on her right thumb, bruises on both knees and both ankles, a red left cheek and two dried blood spots on her throat.
The injuries were from the couple’s violent altercations the Wednesday night before, according to another police officer who interviewed the wife, the affidavit said.
The wife told the officer that the “first altercation started last night (Wednesday) before dinner when her and Andrew were bickering … She went to splash him with a drink and the bottle slipped and flew towards Andrew. He slapped the bottle away and it broke, sending him into a ‘rage.’ After further interviewing, (the wife) clarified that Andrew slapped the bottle out of her hand,” the affidavit said. “He then strangled her with one hand and put her on the ground in the bathroom and a second time in the kitchen. Both the events caused fear and pain, stating that she ‘saw stars.’”
Later in the evening, the couple went out to dinner with some friends, returned to the Limelight and resumed arguing, the affidavit said.
“During the argument, Andrew slapped (the wife) twice (one with each hand) with an open hand on the face while she was in the living room,” the affidavit said.
