Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

Darn Shootin'

Rockin' with the Browns

Back to School

The bullet in the backpack and other Columbine mysteries.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Are Columbine's remaining secrets too dangerous for the public to know -- or too embarrassing for officials to reveal?

Book Them

Pen and stink in the Jeffco jail.

Anatomy of a Cover-up

Days after the Columbine shootings, Jeffco officials were already lying about what they knew. What about now?

Quagmire Without End, Amen

Truth is the first casualty of war -- and Columbine.

Unhappy Returns

Understating the obvious about Columbine.

Killing Time

It may take years to sort out what happened during the “missing” minutes at Columbine.

Hey, drunk drivers: Get busted here tonight

The "100 Days of Heat" campaign, in which local police agencies step up their efforts to put drunk drivers behind bars before they can kill anyone, is in full force this weekend in at least a couple of local municipalities. Lakewood is announcing a handful of sobriety checkpoints to be put in plac ... More >>

July 4: What you can blow up and where

A Flickr photo So you want to set some shit off this weekend? Because different jurisdictions have different rules, fireworks that may be perfectly lawful on one block may be illegal on the next. Most items that neither explode nor leave the ground are permissible in Colorado. But in Wheat Ridge, a ... More >>

Slideshow: Say goodbye to $2.5 million worth of Sugarloaf Mountain marijuana

"Another tough day clearing the weed...."​Joel Warner's blog "Colorado's Marijuana Growing Pains Continue" focuses on attempts to regulate the medical-marijuana industry. This item is about weed of another kind -- and a lot of it. Last month, the West Metro Drug Task Force found and eradicate ... More >>

Jefferson County wants to give you a jackass

Courtesy of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office"My name is Sonar. Can I move in?"​Want a horse? How about sixteen of them -- plus a donkey? If so, representatives of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office would like to bend your ear. The JCSO has been awarded ownership of the animals, which w ... More >>

Colorado Crimes: Try banging someone your age, teacher Linda Trabucco!

Linda Trabucco.​Why on earth would a female high-school teacher want to boink a male student? After all, teenage boys are typically terrible conversationalists, are prone to doing stupid things (and then doing them again), and have terrible skin. And who cares if a stiff breeze can give them a ... More >>

Inconsistencies in Chatfield High mystery smell story

An image from 9News' coverage of the Chatfield High School evacuation on Friday.​It's always fascinating for members of the media to get a glimpse of reporting from inside a story -- and that's what I've experienced in recent days regarding the evacuation of Chatfield High School on Friday; an ... More >>

Mile High Murder, No. 35: Likely murder-suicide on 23000 block of Kiowa Road in Indian Hills

View Larger Map According to Jefferson County Sheriff's Office PIO Jacki Kelly, a likely murder-suicide was discovered yesterday on the 23000 block of Kiowa Road in Indian Hills, near the area captured in the graphic above (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"). Kelly says ... More >>

Pike National Forest: Can't see the trees for the weed

A July weed haul in Pike National Forest.​A fire in Pike National Forest would bake the entire region. Fed and local law enforcement types located more than 14,000 marijuana plants in Pike National Forest near Deckers last week, and it's hardly the first time such a discovery has been made in ... More >>

Another marijuana-grow operation is uprooted in Pike National Forest

Assorted agencies took down a marijuana-grow operation on Sugarloaf Mountain in July.​As smoke continues to gather over medical-marijuana operations in Colorado, local law-enforcement agencies continue to find weed-growing operations in remote locations -- and Pike National Forest appears to b ... More >>

Mile High Murder, No. 45: Likely murder-suicide at 11100 block of West Oregon Place in Jeffco

View Larger Map At this point, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office hasn't officially declared a couple found dead yesterday in unincorporated Jefferson County to have perished amid a murder-suicide. But given the scene on the 11100 block of West Oregon Place, an area captured in the graphic above ... More >>

Top 10 Colorado feuds of the decade

​Most people just go along to get along. But every once in a while a hellacious disagreement -- about principle, turf, money, or who cut the cheese -- makes for an old-fashioned Western display of rootin'-tootin' feudin' and cussedness. The most memorable Colorado showdowns of the past ten ... More >>

Mile High Murder No. 63: Woman slain in Sixth Avenue West subdivision

View Larger Map There are more questions than answers thus far in the death of a woman found dead on December 30 in a Sixth Avenue West subdivision -- an area captured in the graphic above (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"). Contacted this morning, Jefferson County She ... More >>

ACLU wins settlement with Jeffco sheriff's office over Nobama shirt student

Blake Benson rocks his Nobama duds.​Conservatives like to portray the American Civil Liberties Union as a bunch of dangerous lefties with a decidedly progressive agenda rather than principles that transcend the politics of the moment. But that argument was dinged today, when the ACLU's Colora ... More >>

Joseph Trujillo, Mile High Murder No. 71: Man booked on first-degree murder charge after infant dies while he was out drinking

There's not enough booze in the world to make Joseph Trujillo forget what happened this morning.​Stories of alleged neglect don't get much more horrific than the one related by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in relation to Joseph Trujillo, 23. Shortly after midnight, according to the J ... More >>

How big are the fish netted by Project Big Freeze?

Vicente Solorzano joined the Project Big Freeze club.​On Friday, we told you about the nineteen locals caught up in Project Big Freeze, a nationwide sweep by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, aka ICE, that targeted "transnational gangs with ties to drug-trafficking organizations" in 83 ... More >>

Alisha Brown, Mile High Murder No. 63: Daryll Glenn Brown arrested for killing ex-wife

Daryll Glenn Brown, allegedly a terrible former spouse.​On December 30, a woman was found dead in her home at 14192 W. 4th Avenue in Jefferson County, an area captured in the graphic on view below (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"). The victim was subsequently id ... More >>

Zachariah Thomas Santaguida, Mile High Murder No. 82: Man arrested in murder of his 24-year-old sister in Evergreen

Zachariah Thomas Santaguida.​Update, 5:29 p.m.: A mug shot of suspect Zachariah Thomas Santaguida has just been released. We've added it to this blog, first published at 10:22 a.m. Here's the original item. Late last night, Jefferson County Sheriff's officers responded to an address on the 30 ... More >>

Elizabeth "Libby" Santaguida, Mile High Murder No. 82: Bizarre affidavit, Facebook tributes to woman whose brother, Zachariah, has been charged with killing her

Elizabeth "Libby" Santaguida's Facebook profile photo.​On Friday, we told you about the arrest of Zachariah Thomas Santaguida, eighteen, in the death of his 24-year-old sister, subsequently identified as Elizabeth "Libby" Santaguida. Libby's Facebook page has turned into a de facto memorial s ... More >>

Trevor Stewart, No. 87: Did he stab his dad in Saddle Creek Golf Course neighborhood?

The scene of the alleged crime, from Channel 7 coverage.​At this point, Aurora Police Department reps haven't released the identity of the man found stabbed to death at a home near the Saddle Creek Golf Course. But they've revealed the name of a suspect arrested for investigation of homicide ... More >>

Two dead animals and nine injured not enough to stop this weekend's Coleadero Rodeo

From Channel 31 coverage.​The Coleadero Rodeo, a popular Mexican rodeo, is slated to bring its form of rough and tumble entertainment to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds this Sunday -- the first of several dates at the venue over the coming weeks. This despite an array of charges against the ... More >>

Tiny Town train crash: No evidence of criminal behavior found, says Jeffco Sheriff's Office

From 9News coverage.​Yesterday's train derailment at Tiny Town was hardly kids stuff, with well over a dozen injuries reported, ranging from scratches and scrapes to broken bones. But while personnel at the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office can't say precisely what happened to spur the accide ... More >>

Tiny Town train crash: Up to $30,000 fine possible for derailment caused by operator error

Engine No. 10.​After Wednesday's Tiny Town train crash, which injured more than twenty people, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office found no criminal negligence -- and now, the state agency tasked with looking into the derailment confirms the cause as operator error. This gaffe could prove c ... More >>

Walmart worker face planted into shopping cart: Joe Lucero, Jose Cruz busted, 2 more sought

Joe David Lucero.​A Walmart employee definitely deserves a raise today (and every day -- but that's another story). Last week, he allegedly tried to stop three men with a load of stolen merch who triggered a garden-center alarm at a Jefferson County store. For his trouble, he was hit in the he ... More >>

Marijuana grow bust in Boulder County: 3,000 plants worth estimated $500,000 seized

2009 Sugarloaf Mountain bust.​Breaking news: Boulder is recognized the world over as a marijuana-friendly town. But apparently the weed smoked by thousands of attendees at the annual 4/20 orgasm of cannabis consumption at CU is largely grown elsewhere. As evidence, note that this week's bust ... More >>

Joseph Trujillo gets twelve years in case of child who died alone while he was out drinking

Large photo below.​In January, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office announced that Joseph Trujillo faced a first-degree murder charge in the death of his five-month old, who died alone while he was out drinking. A week later, the charge against Trujillo was lessened to child abuse resulting i ... More >>

Ron Rocha, Regis coach, part of 20-kilos-a-week cocaine-ring bust: See mug shots & drug photos

Large photos below.​Last month, Ron Rocha, a volunteer baseball coach for Regis University, was on the losing end of an intra-squad matchup dubbed the Fall World Series. But he suffered an even greater defeat yesterday, when he was among 35 people named by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the bus ... More >>

Tiffany Nicole Weaver, 7 others, indicted for alleged meth-fueled auto-theft ring (PHOTOS)

Big pics below.​Meth makes people do some desperate things -- like, according to a grand jury indictment aimed at Tiffany Nicole Weaver and seven others, steal vehicles from seventy different victims. Of the 103 counts, Weaver is named in 83 of them. Page down below to see mug shots of the sus ... More >>

Daryll Brown gets life for hitting ex-wife Alisha Brown with wine bottle, strangling her to death

Big pics below.​On December 30, 2009, Alisha Brown was found murdered in the Sixth Avenue West subdivision. The following February, her ex-husband, Daryll Glenn Brown was arrested for her death. Now, Brown has been convicted and sentenced to life without parole for a crime involving a sneak a ... More >>

Gage Walker Lopez accused of being Evergreen Lutheran Church masturbator & groper

Big pic below.​Update: It would be an exaggeration to say that accused public masturbator and groper Gage Walker Lopez was caught red-handed. Instead, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, an anonymous bust led to his arrest on charges of unlawful sexual contact and second-degree ... More >>

Indian Gulch fire near Golden: Burned acreage increases to 1,502 (VIDEOS)

​Update: The Indian Gulch fire near Golden is a top wildfire priority nationally; at this writing, it's in the number one slot on the feds' Inciweb.org website. And while the winds that were helping to fuel the blaze have died down to a significant degree, they did significant damage, increas ... More >>

Top 25 most violent fugitives in Denver: A mug shot and offense gallery (PHOTOS)

"I'm only No. 20?"​The Denver Police Department has trimmed its fifty most wanted fugitives list by half but multiplied the mayhem via its roster of the city's 25 most violent fugitives. The mug shots of those who follow first target Robert Juan Gee stand out thanks to the best neck tattoo (No ... More >>

William Lornes: Cherry Creek mall kidnapping suspect now accused of 1st degree murder

Big pic below.​Update: Earlier, we noted that William Lornes, 24, was being held for car theft but wondered if accusations related to a Cherry Creek Shopping Center kidnapping were on the way. Instead, such charges have been preceded by a first-degree murder beef linked to the homicide of Gera ... More >>

Stony Creek Elementary evacuation: Man's backpack, off-center ceiling tile lead to 911 call

Stony Creek.​Update: The evacuation of Stony Creek Elementary yesterday hot on the heels of a bomb threat at nearby Southwest Plaza mall on the twelfth anniversary of the Columbine shootings rattled plenty of nerves among residents and locked-down students at area schools -- yet the Jeffco She ... More >>

TCF Bank robbery suspects caught near C-470 & Bowles after another Jeffco schools lockdown

​Chatfield High and other southwest Jeffco schools were locked down on April 20 after Earl Moore's alleged attempt to bomb Southwest Plaza, on April 21 after a bomb scare at Stony Creek Elementary that turned out to be nothing -- and again today. Why?

Bump-and-run robberies in Denver: Suspect in 3 ripoffs matches description from Jeffco crime

Big sketch below.​Update: Earlier this month, we told you about a Jefferson County bump-and-run robbery, in which a thief hit a car in front of him, then stole a purse after the driver got out to check the damage. At the time, Jeffco authorities said this wasn't an isolated incident -- and now ... More >>

There is No Poop Fairy pitch named Best New Thing in the World by Rachel Maddow (VIDEO)

Video below.​Last night, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow named a press release the Best New Thing in the World -- but not just any press release. An amazing press release. There's nothing ordinary about "There is No Poop Fairy," a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office campaign to get people to clean up aft ... More >>

Charles Belter gun incident at Edge Ice Arena causes gazillionth S. Jeffco lockdown (VIDEO)

Big pic below.​Update: We're getting more information about yesterday's arrest of Charles Belter, who allegedly prompted a lockdown and a series of reverse-911 calls in the vicinity of the Edge Ice Arena. Why? According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Belter threatened his ex-wife w ... More >>

Death of 69-year-old Denver-area man found off Lariat Loop Road investigated as homicide

Video below.​At this writing, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has not officially defined the death of a 69-year-old Denver-area man found off Lariat Loop Road as a homicide. But even before the final coroner's report is in, investigators see it as suspicious enough to investigate it tha ... More >>

Jefferson County's most wanted criminals: A mug shot gallery

Big photos below.​Many law enforcement agencies across the state compile and update their own most-wanted-criminals list -- and the one maintained by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office demonstrates the distressingly widespread and commonplace nature of domestic violence. All twelve people o ... More >>