The latter theory has won the day. Meints has been busted on suspicion of false reporting and more -- and law enforcers now say there was actually a third incident of alleged fakery.
Back in 2011 and 2012, we reported that Meints, a volunteer coach for the Rocky Mountain RoughRiders, a hockey team composed of players age fifteen and under, had been busted for highly dubious texts -- like challenging his charges to "masturbation races" and then asking his fellow competitors to send him photos proving that they'd completed the course.
Later that year, Meints was sentenced to a decade's worth of sex offender intensive supervised probation, with another ten years of registration as a sex offender scheduled to kick in after that.
Then, on March 31 of this year, Meints reported that he'd been stabbed by a mysterious, black-clad man as he arrived home at his parents' place in Lafayette, where he's been living.This crime was still under investigation when, just over a week later, Meints told authorities he'd been stabbed again.
On that occasion, according to the Boulder Police Department, Meints said the attack took place on the 2100 block of Pine Street. As you'll notice in the following interactive graphic (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"), the location is a residential section of Boulder within view of Whittier International Elementary School.
View Larger Map
Meints told the BPD that he was walking in the neighborhood around 3 p.m. yesterday, April 8, when an unknown man stabbed him in the stomach with a folding knife and then fled -- and if anyone else saw the attack, a department rep didn't make note of it. Afterward, Meints, who said he tried to pepper spray the assailant but thought he missed, drove himself to a local hospital.
The description of the suspect shared by the BPD was vague: a five-feet-ten-inch, 175-pound white male of medium build and unknown age wearing a black-and-white bandanna over his face and a long-sleeve black shirt.
Now, however, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office is offering a more complete portrait of the knife-wielder. He's thought to look exactly like Meints.
Yesterday, Meints was arrested for an attempt to influence a public servant, a class 4 felony, and four misdemeanor counts of false reporting to authorities, with the BCSO detailing another incident in which Meints portrayed himself as a victim. On the evening of March 23, a little over a week before the first stabbing, he called about a supposed burglary at his parents' home in which a window in the back door was shattered with a brick and profanities were spray painted on the kitchen floor.
Meints is out on bail but expected back in court early next month. Look below to see his full size mug shot, a 7News report about the latest developments, and a 9News package from the time of his sex-offender bust.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Kyle Kvasnicka, Concordia volleyball coach, busted for Internet child luring in Colorado."
