Aurora – A tip helped Aurora police find a stolen Red Cross vehicle late Monday night.
The SUV was found abandoned behind a shopping center in the 13600 block of East Mississippi Avenue, said Aurora police spokeswoman Kathleen Walsh.
The thieves “parted” the 1986 white Chevrolet Suburban, taking everything of value before trashing the interior and exterior, Walsh said. There are no suspects.
The driver’s seat was damaged, a window was broken and the steering column and rear door lock were broken, Walsh said.
Red Cross spokesman Robert Thompson said the vehicle is a “total loss,” and the organization estimates its losses of supplies and the SUV at $25,000.
“This really puts a cramp in what we do,” Thompson said. He added that the agency depends solely on donations.
AURORA
Woman out on bond in alleged slavery case
An Aurora woman accused of keeping an Indonesian woman as a virtual slave bonded out of federal detention Tuesday.
Sarah Khonaizan was released on a $25,000 signature bond, which means she promised to make scheduled court appearances but put up no money to guarantee it.
Khonaizan, 35, and her husband, Homaidan Al-Turki, 36, both Saudi Arabia nationals, are accused of holding an Indonesian woman against her will as a low-paid servant. In addition, the husband is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting the woman.
Khonaizan was ordered to serve in-home detention and agreed to have her movements electronically monitored. Her husband remains in custody, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Colorado.
ROCKY FLATS
Panel OKs final funds for cleanup work
A Senate subcommittee Tuesday appropriated $580 million to complete the U.S. Department of Energy’s cleanup of the former nuclear weapons plant at Rocky Flats.
The award, which still needs congressional approval, will fund the completion of the $6.8 billion cleanup and closure, said John Corsi, a spokesman for remediation contractor Kaiser- Hill Co.
The appropriation was made by the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Wayne Allard, R-Loveland, is a member.
“I am proud to say that with this final piece of the financial puzzle in place, the cleanup of Rocky Flats will be completed on budget and ahead of schedule,” Allard said.
Rocky Flats manufactured plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs until 1989. Plans call for most of the 6,240-acre site to be converted into a national wildlife refuge around 2007.
About 385 acres will remain off-limits and under the control of the Department of Energy.
WHEAT RIDGE
Police identify victim of homicide
A homicide victim found June 5 at her sister’s home in the 4600 block of Balsam Street has been identified as Sigrid Matthews, 58, police announced Tuesday.
Matthews had recently moved to Wheat Ridge from the Virgin Islands and had been staying with her sister.
Matthew Arthur Goddard, 44, was arrested June 8 in Tucson on a first-degree murder warrant. Police said Goddard had lived across the street and had done plumbing work at the house where the victim was found.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.
Edwards couple hurt in plane crash
An Edwards couple were seriously injured Monday in the crash of their twin-engine plane near the Grand Canyon.
The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as Ronald Davis, 58, and his wife, Lucinda Davis, 45. The couple were flying from Thermal, Calif., to Marble Canyon when their King Air C-90B crashed.
The victims were airlifted to Flagstaff Medical Center. Both were badly injured but in stable condition on Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The cause of the crash was being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
THORNTON
Colorful crash as nude driver flips van
A woman was driving nude in a stolen painting contractor’s van when she drove off the road and the vehicle flipped onto its top, splashing paint all over the inside of the van.
Sabrina Tennell, 35, of Aurora was being treated Tuesday at a local hospital for minor injuries and is under investigation for car theft, Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes.
“When you get there and you find someone naked, you wonder how and why,” Barnes said. “Paint cans were spilled all over.”
The vehicle was stolen early Tuesday morning from the 1400 block of Joplin Street in Aurora, he said.
Officers believe the suspect, driving west on East 160th Avenue, was intoxicated. She crossed the eastbound lane near Washington Street, struck a concrete foundation and went airborne, Barnes said.
