Subject: Robbery

• Good Vibes, Bad Vibes

  March 27, 2007

• Lebanon Bombs on Myspace

  July 19, 2006

• Bandit Fashion Watch

  June 3, 2008

• Can't Buy a Thrill

  Aspen's bizarre crime spree sent some of its favorite sons to prison -- and left the town wondering what went wrong.

  August 17, 2000

• The FBI names another bank robber

  Naming bank robbers is an art, and the boys down at the FBI's Rocky Mountain Safe Streets task force in Denver hold the paintbrushes.   Their latest is the JV Bandit, so named because he was wearing a varsity or letterman-style jacket during one of his robberies. The jacket is described a dark jacket with tan sleeves and has no noticeable markings. For a profile of the unit, which is charged with solving serial bank robberies in Colorado and Wyoming, and one of their recent catches, see J

  December 1, 2008

• Guilty verdict in Ha Noi Pho Case

  Yesterday, a Denver jury convicted Phuong Van Dang of attempted first-degree assault on a peace officer, attempted aggravated robbery and a whole one-from-column-A, one-from-column-B menu of other charges connected to an incident last fall at Ha Noi Pho, at 1036 South Federal Boulevard. Dang was armed with a shotgun and wearing a mask when he walked into the restaurant, our Best Taste of Hanoi in 2007, intending to rob it -- but two Denver police officers happened to be lunching there. A sh

  December 10, 2008

• Follow That Story

  September 7, 2000

• Colorado Crimes: Arrest of two alleged Denver purse snatchers make us feel slighly better about society

  Bryan Ross It takes a special kind of bastard to commit such a crude, poorly planned crime as grabbing a lady's purse on the street and running like hell. At least with a mugging or a carjacking, there's some type of criminal/victim exchange like, Now I am going to rob you; please prepare to be fucked> But with a purse snatching, it's just wham, bam, no-thank you, ma'am. This may be why witnessing a random purse snatching is perhaps the number one scenario in every person's secret quiver of h

  June 2, 2009

• Best Green Service for Greenbacks

  March 27, 2003

• Best Way to Report a Crime

  March 27, 2003

• Best Copy Shop

  March 24, 2005

• Denver Snowboard Bandits lived for excitement, but the FBI got the final thrill

  November 20, 2008

• Nothing to Kill or Die For

  The Killing of John Lennon examines a murderer.

  January 17, 2008

• Play Time

  When recess comes, get ready for a game with the gang babies.

  May 18, 2006

• Strange but True

  Rampaging bears! Rampaging Buffs! Criminals in the buff! It happened here... unfortunately.

  December 30, 2004

• A Question of Intent

  A judge deals a blow to the felony-murder law.

  July 6, 2000

• Marked for Death

  Trapped in a prison race war, Tony Francis had three choices: kill, snitch or run. He found another way out.

  May 25, 2000

• Punch Tickets, Not Crooks

  Should RTD concentrate on running buses--or paying cops to make busts?

  November 5, 1998

• Bad Company

  They had guns. They were after drugs and cash. What they got was trouble.

  July 9, 1998

• The Usual Suspect

  Mt. Gilead churchgoers aren't the only blacks who feel burned by Perkins. First came Devitt Young.

  July 2, 1998

• Con Heir

  Meet a truly dangerous prisoner. Literate. Political. Published. His teacher: the Birdman of Alcatraz.

  July 10, 1997

• Strange but True

  December 26, 1996

• DOUBLE TROUBLEWILL THE REAL DOUGLAS PICHON PLEASE SHOW UP?

  January 31, 1996

• STRANGE BUT TRUE

  THINGS YOU DID IN DENVER WHILE YOU WERE STOPPED DEAD IN TRAFFIC ON THE WAY TO DIA.

  December 27, 1995

• STILL GETTING AWAY WITH IT

  THE STATE IS CATCHING MORE HALFWAY-HOUSE ABSCONDERS THAN EVER. UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S ALSO LETTING MORE CRIMINALS ESCAPE.

  September 13, 1995

• A BOTCHED CAPER

  September 7, 1994

• Snowboard Bandit sentenced to prison

  Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task ForceThe Snowboard Bandits during a robbery. Michael Jason Martinez lived for kicking up out-of-bounds powder at A-Basin, Vail and Aspen -- that and robbing banks. Martinez won't be doing much of either for a while, though, since two weeks ago he was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for his role in four Colorado bank robberies in 2007 and 2008 as part of the so-called "Snowboard Bandits" robbery crew. Martinez's sentence, which also required him to pay

  April 14, 2009

• Colorado Crimes: Have you seen a man with a ponytail and a pencil-thin mustache?

  A sketch of a Boulder robbery suspect. "Police are releasing a composite sketch of a suspect who was involved in an armed robbery on Wednesday, May 6, on north Broadway," states a just-issued Boulder Police Department press release. "This man and another suspect are believed to have been involved in two previous robberies in the same vicinity over the past couple of weeks. Investigators are asking for the public's assistance in identifying and locating them." Read the complete release after th

  May 8, 2009

• Colorado Crimes: Does Arthur "Art" Santistevan look like a dangerous suspect to you?

  Arthur "Art" Santistevan. The Denver Police Deparment has issued a so-called "Dangerous Suspect" warning about Arthur "Art" Santistevan, who's wanted in relation to a number of nasty incidents, including stabbing a witness during a robbery on the 300 block of Fillmore earlier this month. Also on the DPD's radar is Matthew Russell Bonner, whose sins include a failure to appear in court plus second-degree assault on a peace officer. He, like Santistevan, should be considered armed and, yes, dange

  May 14, 2009

• Mile High Murder, No. 15: Baltazar Ramirez-Estrada victim of shooting at Bar La Cabana

  View Larger Map Yesterday morning, a man the Aurora Police Department is now identifying as Baltazar Ramirez-Estrada, 25, was killed during a robbery outside the Bar La Cabana, a venue located on the 1100 block of Yosemite Street. (The venue is captured in the graphic above; if you have any problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"). A reward for information about his killer or killers is being offered, and the APD has a description of possible suspects. Read about them in the official

  June 12, 2009

• Men wanted for taking medical marijuana without prescription

  Banana, a strain of marijuana prized for its pain relief. Even as Arapahoe County officials go beyond the call of duty in their efforts to bust Brian Wayne Coplen, who's wanted for allegedly running a marijuana grow-house in Bennett, representatives of the Boulder Police Department are questioning four men in connection with a robbery at a facility where pot is sold legally -- to patients whose medical needs are on record with the state marijuana registry. Confused? So are the marijuana laws in

  June 17, 2009

• Boulder pot robbery could add wrinkle to July medical-marijuana hearing

  Our February 4 story, "Medical Marijuana Has Become a Growth Industry in Colorado," described how the state's medical pot laws have fueled a booming dispensary industry -- an industry that was starting to look like the Wild West, with robberies and rip-off accusations thanks to lax regulations and fly-by-night entrepreneurs. Now, as noted in yesterday's blog "Men Wanted for Taking Medical Marijuana Without Prescription," you can add one more high-profile stick-up job to the list of local marij

  June 18, 2009

• Dude, there's my pot! Boulder police set to return stolen weed to dispensary

  New Options Wellness Clinic, a Boulder marijuana dispensary, had a real buzzkill last week when a group of robbers held up the operation and made off with two large tubs of marijuana. Things are looking up this week, however. Not only have the police identified four suspects in connection with the robbery (David Henderson, 40, of Denver; Justin St. John, 29, of Denver; Walter Carter, 21, of Aurora; and Lamar McGee, 22, of Lakewood), but the cops have also apparently obtained the stolen weed --

  June 25, 2009

• Man fatally shot during robbery attempt at 9400 East Colfax in Aurora

  View Larger Map More gunplay and, at this point, more questions than answers revolving around a robbery on the 9400 block of East Colfax, an area captured in the graphic above (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"). According to the Aurora Police Department, officers responded to the call after a suspect had split -- and they subsequently learned that a man shot during the incident died at a thus-far-unidentified hospital. At this point, the release doesn't make it cle

  July 6, 2009

• Brian Lamont Lane identified as dead man, two men arrested in robbery at 9445 E. Colfax

  View Larger Map Information has been dribbling out about a robbery attempt at a cigarette and check-cashing store at 9445 E. Colfax that resulted in one man being fatally shot; the area is captured in the graphic above (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"). Now, the Aurora Police Department is offering a lot more details. Brian Lamont Lane has been ID'd as the man capped by a store employee, while two of his compatriots, Anthony Dean Daniels and Kathleen Yvonne Jones,

  July 8, 2009

• Crime on the rise in Broomfield

  An image from the Broomfield Police Department website. Crime of all stripes tends to ratchet upward during difficult economic conditions -- and that's proven to be the case in Broomfield according to statistics assembled by the community's police department. During the first six months of this year, crime in general is up 3 percent. Even more worrisome, the most violent violations have risen by almost 30 percent, and burglaries are up 44 percent. Given Broomfield's size (estimated at just over

  July 16, 2009

• Kelsey Grammer: About to give the most impassioned parole-board speech ever

  ​ UPDATE: He missed his flight. Assuming they don't postpone the hearing, this is all kinds of suck. ORIGINAL ITEM: Here's a story I sort of wish I didn't read this morning: Actor Kelsey Grammer is in Colorado Springs today to tell a parole board why it shouldn't release from prison the man who raped and killed his kid sister almost 35 years ago. If you've ever wanted your anti-death-penalty stance challenged, give the Post's story a gander: Kelsey Grammer, 54, was only 20 when Glenn, wh

  July 27, 2009

• Affleck movie sounds a lot like Skills Like This

  Look out, buddy -- the dude from Good Will Hunting is stealing your movie!​The entertainment broadsheets have been a-twitter this week with news about The Town, the new crime thriller to be directed by and starring Ben Affleck. The film, based on Chuck Hogan's 2004 novel Prince of Thieves and also starring Mad Men's Jon Hamm and Frost/Nixon's Rebecca Hall, is all about a Boston bank robber, played by Affleck, who falls in love with the teller of a bank he held up. Hey, wait a minute -- ha

  July 29, 2009

• Video: "I found a human skull" in Cheeseman Park

  Cheeseman Park: It's not just for weddings and Frisbee. As the onetime Mount Prospect Cemetery, it's also apparently a good place to pick up bones of Denver's former "villains, robbers and those that had a lot of malfeasance in their character," according to this presentation by a guy who says he found half a human skull near the pavilion. He put it on his mantel. Some people have all the luck.

  July 29, 2009

• Somebody stop that cleverly named bandit!

  The Shaggy Bandit, presumably asking for more than just Scooby Snacks​It's been a big week for local robbers with snazzy names. On Tuesday, the FBI announced it was looking for a scofflaw they'd named the $83 Bandit, since the bank notes he's used to rob eight Denver area banks since March often included odd numbers that have the numeral 3 in them. On that same day, a twelfth bank was hit by a local serial robber dubbed the Shaggy Bandit, since he resembles Shaggy from Scooby Doo. As Scoob

  August 20, 2009

• Here's something those new CU cops can do with their time

  ​With students returning to the University of Colorado at Boulder campus for the fall semester, the Boulder Police Department is stepping up DUI patrols -- and the CU cops will be out in greater force, too. The university department has added six more officers as part of an overall plan to reduce crime on campus. Meanwhile, the BPD is ballyhooing a bust not far from the school, during which a cop riding a bike on the Boulder Creek path stumbled on a robbery in progress, leading to the arre

  August 21, 2009

• Ruh-roh! The Shaggy Bandit caught without Mystery Machine

  A surveillance shot of the Shaggy bandit.​In an August 20 blog, our own Joel Warner told us about the Shaggy Bandit, a scofflaw wanted for numerous bank heists. Shaggy's memorable name came courtesy of the FBI's Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force, whose members understand that reporters tends to pay more attention to thieves with catchy monikers -- because we're shallow that way The approach certainly seemed to have worked in this case. Yesterday, Shaggy, whose real handle is (yawn) M

  August 28, 2009

• Shaggy Bandit spills all about bank-robbing spree

  Shaggy in action.​Michael A. Kincade, dubbed the Shaggy Bandit, must not take that whole you-have-the-right-to-remain-silent thing very seriously. Shortly after he and an accomplice, the nickname-challenged Christopher Lee Richardson, were captured last week, Kincade gave a jailhouse interview to 9News. And the criminal complaint written out against him by the U.S. Attorney's Office makes it clear that his lips remained unzipped during conversations with authorities. He provides all kinds

  September 1, 2009

• The tale of the "S Bandit": A crime spree of alphabetical proportions

  Ernie Lee Calbert, the alleged "S" Bandit, sitting in the slammer.​This sordid story is brought to you by the letter "S." Today, the Denver District Attorney's office charged Ernie Lee Calbert with nine counts of aggravated robbery and one count of second-degree kidnapping. Authorities believe Calbert to be the so-called "'S' Bandit," so named because most of the seven Denver-area operations he's accused of robbing between July and September start with the letter "S." That list includes

  September 16, 2009

• Lottery winners: Beware of that scumbag in line behind you

  Leonard Bedon.​Yay! You've just won some money playing the lottery -- and being as you're a 75-year-old woman, you can definitely use it. So you head to the nearest grocery store to cash out, feeling mighty fine about life in general. If only Leonard Bedon wasn't watching the whole thing over your shoulder. That's the story told by the folks at the Denver District Attorney's Office, who believe Bedon followed the unnamed woman into the parking lot, snatched her purse and sped off, thinkin

  October 14, 2009

• Flick Pick

  October 29, 2009

• Bronson

  October 29, 2009

• Here's why they say "cover your tracks" -- especially in the snow

  A Flickr photoYou don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to track these prints...​Congratulations, Patrick Moat, Ryan Spear and Brian Coshnitzke. You've just put your marks in the History of Stupid Criminals -- marks shaped like the footprints in the snow police were able to follow to your door. Greenwood Village Police Lieutenant Randy Corbitt tells the story, which gets dumber, and funnier, each step of the way.

  October 30, 2009

• Bank-robbery suspect's biggest mistake: Using a bicycle as a getaway car

  If only Dion Morgan had a set of wheels like these, he might've made it...​I thought everyone had seen Hollywood movies in which an armed criminal brazenly sticks up a bank, then races his bags of cash outside and hops into a souped-up vehicle capable of outrunning any cop car that dares to follow. But apparently Dion K. Morgan was movie-deprived, because after allegedly knocking over Liberty Savings Bank, at 7575 W. Jewell Avenue, he tried to get away on... a bicycle. Morgan made it abo

  November 18, 2009

• Ol' Westminster gunfight: Two bank robbers killed, two cops shot

  Deputy Chief Tim Carlson and Senior Police Officer Sean Chandler were both shot in the melee.​The explosion of violence that took place in Westminster yesterday harks back to the days when the law rode horses and gunmen died young 'n' purty. As the Westminster Police Department tells it, a thus-far-unidentified man and woman stuck up the First Bank on 120th Avenue, then tried to make their getaway in a Subaru -- a vehicle slightly more impressive than the bicycle a bank robber in Lakewood

  November 20, 2009