Typically, traffic jams on Interstate 25 are caused by accidents or high volume. But that wasn’t the case yesterday afternoon in the Colorado Springs area. What was initially thought to have been a crash is now being investigated as a suspected kidnapping of a woman that didn’t end until a…
Earlier this year, we told you about the death of James Damon and arrest of Georgie Hand after the couple took a pair of hostages — a deputy and a Colorado Parks and Wildlife official. Now, the Moffat County District Attorney has reportedly deemed Damon’s killing justified — and new information offers more insight…
Last night’s news brought horrifying flashbacks of the Aurora theater shooting. A man in Lafayette, Louisiana opened fire in a crowded movie theater showing the Amy Schumer comedy Trainwreck. Two people were killed and nine others were injured before the thus-far-unidentified gunman took his own life. Most reports immediately made…
A state inmate who was left a quadraplegic by police bullets during a bungled car-theft sting operation — and who subsequently filed a lawsuit against the officer who shot him — was quietly released from prison earlier this month on a special medical parole, after serving roughly one third of…
The Denver District Attorney’s Office has charged Anthony Dennis, Michael Francis and Amber Groessel in separate incidents involving assaults on peace officers or first responders. But if this description makes the matters seem simple, police reports reveal oddities about each of them. The alleged weapons include scratching and spit —…
The mother of five who was reportedly murdered in the Castle Rock home of her brother this past weekend hasn’t been officially identified yet. Neither has her estranged husband, who’s suspected of committing the crime and then attempting, unsuccessfully, to kill himself. However, 7News maintains that the victim was Kirsten…
We all know that designating someone as a Facebook friend doesn’t necessarily denote friendship in real life. The story of Desmond Smith makes that abundantly clear. The fourteen-year-old was shot dead over the weekend in Colorado Springs — and now, one of his Facebook friends, eighteen-year-old Raymond Rogan, is among…
The story of a pit bull now known as Beefcakes is a crime — one for which Russell Middleton has been arrested. However, the tale has a happy ending that reveals the compassion of the folks at the Longmont Humane Society, not to mention the generosity of plenty of folks…
More than 48 hours after bullets flew, there are still more questions than answers about a drive-by shooting that killed one person and injured two others. At this writing, the Denver coroner’s office has yet to publicly identify the homicide victim. Moreover, no suspect information has been released, even though…
On June 21, Stephanie Romo Santoyo posted on Facebook about her father, William Romo-Rodriguez. “Happy father’s day to the best dad in the world! We love you so much! Thank you for everything and for all your support!” she wrote. Less than two weeks later, the messages were infinitely sadder. One…
Last month, we reported that Gary Ridgway, widely regarded to be America’s most prolific serial killer, is now living in Colorado — in one of the state’s Supermax facilities. Upon his arrival, he joined some disturbing company. In 2012, we published our choices for the ten most notorious Colorado Supermax prisoners,…
It was only a few minutes. But in the hushed courtroom, where nearly all eyes were on the judge Thursday afternoon, the wait for the verdicts seemed like it lasted many more. The jury had entered moments before with an armful of manila envelopes. Inside were 165 verdict forms, one…
It’s a truism among criminal justice scholars that crime doesn’t pay — or, as the Denver Post used to sneer in big black type back in the heyday of Bonfils and Tammen, “Crime Never Pays.” Offenders who wind up with a prison record are less likely to find gainful employment…
Did James Holmes know right from wrong when he walked into a sold-out Aurora movie theater nearly three years ago and began shooting? Or was he so mentally ill that he can’t be held responsible for murdering twelve people and injuring seventy others? That’s what a jury will have to decide…
It’s difficult to imagine a more severe form of long-term isolation than the past seven years of solitary confinement experienced by former Colombian rebel commander Simon Trinidad, the subject of this week’s Westword cover story, “Gone Guerrilla.” Serving sixty years for his (much-disputed) role in the kidnapping of three American…
On Monday night, while a lame-duck Denver City Council debated spending $400,000 to bus the homeless to a shelter on the outskirts of town, a dozen demonstrators and homeless advocates gathered in the rain in front of a locked public restroom on Welton Street by Sonny Lawson Field. A year ago,…
“You do not want to be a victim in this country.” — Tom Teves, father of Aurora theater shooting victim Alex Teves More than seventy victims of mass killings from the last twenty years and their families — many connected to the Aurora theater shooting and the Columbine massacre — have come…
Forsooth, the festivities of ye olde Colorado Renaissance Festival were greatly upset this Satyr-Daye by the young scallywag Connor Ward, aged 22, when the knave allegedly disturbe’d a jousting match, seize’d a sword from a nearbye haystack & absconde’d therefrom, with various citizenry in close pursuite, finally to be tackle’d…
Another shocking act of violence has shaken the Denver metro area. Two men were shot to death yesterday evening outside an apartment complex in Thornton. Right now, representatives of the Thornton Police Department stress that there’s no danger to the public at large and add that they’re talking to three…
In the world of Internet shorthand, “OMG” is a benign expression of surprise. But to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the initials stand for “Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.” And a report entitled “OMGs and the Military 2014,” on view below, argues that such groups are actively recruiting current…
The video onetime Coloradan Nathaniel Scheiern posted on his Facebook page circa May 4 comes with an all-caps warning/message: “GRAPHIC FOOTAGE. ADULTS ONLY. LESSONS WITH LIFE’S TESTS MAKES EASY A`s! The clip appears to be an ISIS terror video — and we’re not sharing it here because invective is followed by scenes…
Right now, the biggest story in Denver involves the sad death of a 23-month-old toddler. Javion Johnson is portrayed by family and friends as an adorable, friendly and lovable child. But the boy died yesterday morning…
