A New York man has been convicted in Douglas County for a 2021 bar stabbing that followed a bizarre confrontation involving his girlfriend.

Carlos Vega Jr., 42, was found guilty of second-degree assault and two counts of menacing after attacking Jordan Hyder during an argument at the Clock Tower Grill near Lone Tree on July 11, 2021.

The incident began when Vega’s girlfriend licked another woman in the bar - Jessica Edwards - who recently appeared on reality TV shows “The Bachelor” and “Bachelor in Paradise.” Edwards’ boyfriend, Hyder, punched Vega after an exchange of words. Vega then pulled a knife and stabbed Hyder in the hand, according to court records.

Vega had recently been released from a New York state prison where he served time for manslaughter. Senior Deputy District Attorney Nate Marsh said Vega’s criminal history made the case significant. “Vega had just served time in New York City and obviously didn’t learn his lesson. He now has several years in prison to think about the consequences of his actions,” Marsh added.

Douglas County District Attorney George Brauchler criticized Vega during a court statement, calling him an outsider who brought “broken value systems” to the county after being freed from New York incarceration for killing someone. “Vega celebrated his new freedom by arming himself and attacking an innocent man in one of our local establishments. Vega has proven he cannot be trusted to be free without grave risk to anyone he is near,” he said.

Vega will be sentenced November 12, 2025. He faces up to seven years behind bars.

Editor’s note: Portions of this article have been augmented with the assistance of Large Language Models for analysis, with human review, editing, and original material.