Even under the best of circumstances, the act of robbing a convenience store for the sake of a handful of singles in ready cash has to be one of the dumbest crimes imaginable, just on a simple risk-to-benefit scale. But for absolute desperation, nothing beats jacking a 7-Eleven at three…
Between the two days of Denver’s most recent 4/20 celebration, the Denver Police Department cited or arrested a total of 92 people. And while the event’s organizer, Miguel Lopez, is not on that roster, he was detained on 4/21 and faces investigation for allegedly assaulting an at-risk adult. The bizarre…
At her parole hearing last summer, Jennifer Reali insisted that she’s a different person from the 29-year-old, ninja-clad assassin who ambushed and killed her lover’s wife, Dianne Hood, outside Hood’s lupus support meeting in 1990. The parole board didn’t entirely agree, but there’s no question that the soundtrack to Reali’s…
Update: Aurora Police have now identified the man who killed Josephine Echols outside a church service officiated by her son as Kiarron Parker, 29 — and the off-duty Denver Police officer who put him down as six-year vet Antonio Milow, Echols’s nephew. And the more info that comes out, the…
Each anniversary of the April 20, 1999 Columbine High massacre seems to bring disturbing new events — like Earl Moore’s attempted bombing of a nearby mall. This year’s shocking tie-in: An announcement that a Basalt High student had been busted for an alleged plan to kidnap, beat and starve another…
Talk about the circle of life. Charles McNew is currently cooling his heels in a jail cell after being accused of stealing a jail cell — a vintage one from the 1800s that was believed to be the last of its kind in existence. It’s not anymore, though…
The Connie Liphford case offers a strong counterargument to those who see the routine collection of DNA from arrestees as a potential violation of privacy. After all, Liphford had apparently evaded responsibility for a 2008 rape, until a DNA hit three years later…
Controversies abound in the case of Jesus Cornelio. Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck has charged the seventeen year old as an adult in the death of his toddler cousin, who allegedly sustained a fatal injury after Cornelio shoved him while Facebooking on his phone. Meanwhile, his family is protesting…
Israeli-born Yaron Segal was a Yale-educated researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology doing highly technical work in the area of solar cells. But his final chapter deals not with the development of clean energy but a lonely death at the end of a homemade noose. He killed himself after…
The Denver coroner’s office has identified the clerk who died amid a robbery attempt at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store late Monday as Pablo Del Rio Jr. And the cause of death is no doubt further fueling the search for his killer. Why? Del Rio was shot in the back…
Update: “For all those who are worried…. I’m ok. Just dealing with some shit but I will be fine.” That’s a Facebook message posted a short time ago by John Severe, a Colorado Springs resident who’s worked for the military. And he is indeed dealing with some shit: He’s one…
We don’t know with metaphysical certitude that the Christopher Lites who was arrested in Boulder over the weekend on a charge of pedaling his bicycle under the influence is the same Chris Lites whose Facebook profile photo depicts a bizarre version of the Gary Busey family (it’s on view below)…
“The Landlord,” Will Ferrell’s classic Funny Or Die skit, pivots on the hilarity of a toddler knocking at a front door. But there was nothing amusing about the tiny tap, tap, tap and ringing doorbell that awoke Colorado Springs’ Traci Gilbert early Sunday morning. That’s because the youngster standing before…
Released yesterday, the list of finalists for the open Independent Monitor position features three natives of the Golden State. The finalists bring experience at the Offices of Independent Review in their current homes of Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange County. From here, the finalists will be whittled down to the…
In the past month, the Denver Police Department has institutionalized numerous changes aimed at increasing the efficiency of its internal reviews and encouraging the public to put faith in the results. According to Police Chief Robert White and Manager of Safety Alex Martinez, this is a very, very good thing…
Denver Police Chief Robert White has appointed Michael Battista to the post of Conduct Review Commander; he will head all reviews of police misconduct. In announcing the appointment, White said he hoped the new structure would cut down review time by at least 50 percent. With the new addition, the…
Just past 1:30 a.m. on July 31, according to the arrest affidavit on view below, Arvada Police were investigating a DUI accident at the intersection of Colorado State Highway 121 and West 58th Avenue. As we first reported last summer, a number of police and fire district vehicles, lights flashing,…
Last week, when we noted that the number of Denver homicides during the first quarter of 2012 was up from 2010 and 2011. But the nine Denver victims through the end of last month hardly encompass all the violence that’s gone on in these parts of late — including the…
This week, the Denver District Attorney’s Office announced that it had charged Merhawi Ocbamichael as an adult for a series of aggravated robberies that took place when he was seventeen. It’s the sort of decision that won’t be made in quite the same way should legislation to reform the system…
Even as proponents push Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, law enforcers continue to place a high priority on arresting and prosecuting people for pot-related offenses. Case in point: The Jeffco DA’s office announcement regarding the sentences imposed on seventeen people so far (including Conrado Arellano-Casa, seen here)…
Eric Janusz is both a former police officer and a former firefighter in Grand Junction. Now, however, he has a new designation: sex-crime suspect. Janusz has been formally accused of sexually assaulting a child during his decade-plus working as a GJ cop…
Angela Moser, 44, was able to dial 911 after being brutally stabbed, but the wounds ultimately proved fatal. Who inflicted them? Police point the finger at husband Bobby Harris, who was Moser’s junior by thirteen years — and who a former girlfriend accuses of past violent behavior…
