AURORA | A man accused of shooting an Aurora auto shop worker in the face following a dispute in September 2017 is on trial this week in Arapahoe County District Court.
Michael Christopher Taylor, 35, is facing 16 counts, including attempted first-degree murder, for his role in the shooting, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records. Several of the charges are sentence enhancers.
Investigators believe Taylor entered Shaus Motorsports near East Sixth Avenue and Chambers Road around 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2017, and demanded that mechanics service his car.
But workers at the auto repair shop refused to do any work for Taylor “because of his past demeanor in the business,” according to an arrest affidavit filed against him.
Employees later told police Taylor had frequented the business, and often “demanded immediate service and became verbally belligerent when advised he would have to pre-schedule any appointments,” according to the arrest document.
Taylor had called the shop earlier in the day on Sept. 5 and asked Shaus mechanics to work on his car’s spark plugs. Workers denied him service, citing his previously aggressive behavior. Taylor then told workers over the phone that he planned to go to Shaus in person.
Upon arriving at the shop later in the afternoon, Taylor reportedly shouted obscenities at several employees, slammed his fists on the counter and threw pamphlets and business cards into a window.
He also “leaned his body into the service window and stated, ‘what you got, what you got?’” according to the affidavit.
Workers called the co-owner of the business, 41-year-old Chase McMinn, to the service counter to speak with Taylor.
Upon walking to the counter, McMinn stabbed a large, fixed-blade knife into the counter.
Taylor then stepped behind the counter, brandished a handgun and shot McMinn in the face from about 2 feet away, according to the affidavit. Taylor then fled the area on foot in an unknown direction.
McMinn had stated “he would protect his employees if he needed to,” and raised his arms to keep his employees behind him as Taylor approached, according to the affidavit. He was not holding the knife he had previously stabbed into the counter when he was shot, according to witness reports outlined in the affidavit.
McMinn was treated for gunshot wounds at University of Colorado Hospital, but survived the shooting.
An unidentified woman described as “extremely pregnant” left shortly after Taylor, according to the affidavit. The woman appeared to enter the shop with Taylor, according to what witnesses told police.
Aurora police arrested Taylor a day after the shooting, according to CBI records.
Taylor has a lengthy criminal record in Aurora and Denver dating back to 2001, according to CBI records.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2006 for robbery charges from 2002.
Taylor’s trial for his charges tied to the auto shop shooting began Tuesday. It’s scheduled to run through the end of the week, and conclude by March 5, according to Vikki Migoya, spokeswoman for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
If convicted of at least the attempted first-degree murder charge, Taylor could face up to 48 years in prison, according to the Colorado Legal Defense Group.
Guilty verdicts on the additional charges, combined with the sentence enhancers, could result in a significantly longer sentence.