Crime
Mother of Club Q Suspect Charged With Disorderly Conduct
Image via Facebook
Police detained Laura Voepel, 45, just hours after the Club Q attack.
November 29 2022 1:34 PM EST
May 31 2023 3:06 PM EST
trudestress
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Police detained Laura Voepel, 45, just hours after the Club Q attack.
The mother of the accused Club Q shooter was detained by police the day after the attack, according to court records released Monday.
Laura Voepel, 45, was detained about 3:30 a.m. November 20 at a Colorado Springs apartment complex, The Denver Post reports. She was charged with resisting arrest, which is a misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, a petty offense. Police said she was yelling and refused to stop, and she then "became combative."
"Subject continued to make unreasonable noise directly next to multiple apartments," says a police record quoted by TV station KUSA. "While I attempted to place subject into custody, she became combative by physically resisting officers control by force."
Voepel is the mother of Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, who is accused of killing five people and causing injury to more than 20 others at the LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs shortly before midnight November 19. Police have recently raised the count of the injured to 22. Voepel had posted on Facebook that night that she couldn't locate Aldrich, with whom she had plans, The Independent reports.
She is the daughter of California Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Republican who is at the end of his term after losing his latest reelection bid. Voepel has been a major supporter of Donald Trump and once likened the U.S. Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021, to the American Revolution. He later condemned the violence of the insurrection.
Laura Voepel's ex-husband, Aaron Brink, is a former adult film star and mixed martial arts fighter who wondered why Aldrich was at an LGBTQ+ club and expressed relief upon hearing that Aldrich isn't gay. Aldrich, who is nonbinary, changed their name a few years ago to establish distance from Brink.
Laura Voepel was not jailed and is scheduled to appear in court January 25. She has a record of various criminal charges, including an arson charge that was reduced to criminal mischief, to which she pleaded no contest in 2013. She also has a history of mental health challenges.
In 1999, Brink pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge, and court records show Voepel was the victim, according to CNN. Brink received a suspended sentence.