Elevators at the Denver Police Department Smell Like Weed

The February 1 press conference about the arrest of Joshua Cummings in the execution-style killing of RTD security officer Scott Von Lanken took place on an upper level of the Denver Police Department administration building. Afterward, I rode an elevator toward the ground floor with DPD public-information officer Doug Schepman and another man. As we descended, the man asked, “Do the elevators here always smell like weed?” Schepman laughed. “Some days, it’s worse than others,” he said.

Trying to Protect Stalking and Sex-Assault Victims From Landlord Abuse

Stalking or sexual assault victims living in a rental apartment where the crime took place aren’t legally allowed to break their lease even if they live dangerously close to the perpetrator in question. Individuals in this situation are forced to choose between financial ruin and being traumatized again and again in a residence where their physical safety and mental well-being are at risk.

Will Joe Tumpkin Domestic Abuse Case Become Next CU Football Scandal?

On February 9, former University of Colorado Boulder defensive coach Joe Tumpkin is scheduled to appear in Adams County court for a preliminary hearing related to multiple counts of assault related to domestic violence accusations. But thanks to an exposé in Sports Illustrated, CU Boulder is already on trial in the court of public opinion over its handling of the Tumpkin matter, and the fallout is capable of undermining a program that took more than a decade to recover from a recruiting scandal whose ripples recently revealed a past sex assault investigation targeting new Broncos head football coach (and former CU Boulder assistant) Vance Joseph.

Joshua Cummings: Was Alleged Killer of RTD Officer Committing Terrorism?

Much more information has emerged about Joshua Cummings, the 37-year-old man who is suspected in the execution-style murder of RTD security officer Scott Von Lanken late on Tuesday, January 31. The former head of a Texas Jiu-Jitsuka academy who had recently moved to Colorado, Cummings expressed antipathy for police in multiple posts that remained online even as reports surfaced that he reportedly had “Muslim documents” on his person when he was taken into custody and spoke in what sources described as “an Arabic language.”

Holly Moore: Family Suspects Murder in Teen’s Death Ruled Suicide

The mystery surrounding the death of Holly Lynn Moore, a 19-year-old college student found hanging in a closet in her Castle Rock apartment in 2015, just keeps getting deeper. Family members have spent months and thousands of dollars uncovering evidence that suggests Moore’s death wasn’t the suicide that it appears to be.

No Discipline for Jessie Hernandez-Killing Cops: Lawyer on Respect, Possible Suit

Just shy of two years after a pair of Denver police officers shot and killed seventeen-year-old Jessie Hernandez while she was behind the wheel of a stolen car, the department for which they work has announced that they will face no discipline in the controversial case, since their actions didn’t violate policy about firing into a moving vehicle in place at the time of the incident.

Courtney Plante Admits to Role in Bizarre Murder Try Against Former Teacher

Courtney Plante has taken a plea agreement in regard to attempted murder allegations against her significant other Sean Overstreet dating back to January 2016, when she was nineteen and he was 37. The deal trims time off her possible sentence but doesn’t let her off the hook for a crime against her former teacher that was as violent as it was bizarre.

RTD: Buses, Trains Are Safer Than Ever Despite Recent Stabbing, Assault

Over recent weeks, there have been a series of high-profile crimes on Regional Transportation District buses in the Denver metro area, including a stabbing, an assault and a case of indecent exposure. Yet an RTD spokesman argues that despite such regrettable incidents, the district’s buses, trains and assorted properties are safe — and getting safer all the time.

Watch Denver Cop Tase Surrendering Homeless Man in Video Inspiring Lawsuit

A lawsuit inspired by a video in which Greg Heard, a homeless man, is tased while giving himself up to a Denver police officer is currently in the works. But Heard’s attorney, John Holland, is releasing the video prior to the suit’s filing (see it below) because “it’s a matter of public concern. It should be out there, so people can understand that they should be very, very careful when confronting police officers armed with tasers. Because they will be tased — and many people have died from tasing. It can be deadly.”

Strange but True Crime News of 2016

Even the best skier or snowboarder has been on a chairlift and had this fleeting thought: “I could fall off this thing.” That nightmare scenario became a reality for Seth Beckton in January, when Thomas Proesel pushed the snowboarder off an Aspen Highlands chairlift after Beckton made a casual comment…