Aurora – An oversight board that looks at police incidents in which people are killed or seriously injured got initial approval by a City Council subcommittee Tuesday.
The Public Safety Committee also heard a proposal to beef up licensing requirements for massage therapists and rejected a plan to add a public safety manager.
The committee liked the new proposal for the use-of-force board, which would have four members from the community and four police officials who would meet after a violent incident.
The board would determine whether an officer followed department policy and if changes should be made because of the incident.
The public would be told about the panel’s vote and its determinations.
Tuesday was the second time the proposal was brought before the subcommittee, which is made up of three council members. The subcommittee approves the plan before it is brought to the entire council for final acceptance.
ADAMS COUNTY
Hit-run driver injures flagger on Federal
A highway flagger was struck and injured by a hit-and-run driver Tuesday evening.
Colorado State Patrol officers are looking for the driver of a gray Honda who was southbound on Federal Boulevard near Interstate 76 when he or she struck the flagger, who was not identified.
The car was last seen heading westbound on I-76. The Honda is missing its right side mirror.
LITTLETON
Police seek suspect in kidnapping attempt
A 15-year-old girl was nearly kidnapped at knife point Tuesday by a man using the ruse of being locked out of his truck, Littleton police said.
The girl was pet-sitting at a neighbor’s house in the 5900 block of South Elati Street when the man knocked at the door at 8:45 a.m.
The man asked the girl if she would help him get into his truck. He told her that her arm would fit through a window that was slightly open, police said.
When the girl reached into the passenger door to unlock it, her arm got stuck briefly. She felt the man’s hand on her left hip and an object pressed against her lower back, authorities said.
The man told the girl he had a knife and ordered her to get into the truck. The girl screamed as loudly as she could and apparently startled the man, who got into his truck and drove away.
Police said the man was in his 40s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall with a thin build and blond hair turning gray. He was wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.
He was driving an older, full-size pickup with a standard cab and two doors. It might have been a gold Chevrolet.
FORT COLLINS
Kin offer reward in slaying of CSU grads
Families of two slain Colorado State University graduates are offering a $15,000 reward for information that would lead to an arrest and conviction in the June 20 double homicide.
Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe were killed while driving on an Aurora street. Marshall-Fields was the key witness in a murder case involving Robert Keith Ray, who authorities say is a gang member and who allegedly drove the getaway car in a 2004 homicide.
Ray is being held in Arapahoe County jail on more than $250,000 bail.
Anyone with information regarding the killing of Marshall- Fields and Wolfe should call Aurora police at 303-739-6013 or CrimeStoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).
ROCKY MTN. NATIONAL PARK
Park resident to speak before Senate panel
An 83-year-old Colorado woman fighting to remain at her house in Rocky Mountain National Park is expected to testify before a Senate subcommittee Thursday.
Cody Wertz, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar’s office, said Betty Dick is making travel plans to testify before a Senate subcommittee on national parks.
Last week, she rejected a deal brokered with the National Park Service by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., that would have allowed her to remain in her summer home on the west side of the park for at least two years.
DENVER
Parks and rec staff propose fee increases
Denver Parks and Recreation staff proposed fee increases Tuesday for activities such as boating, swimming and recreation center annual memberships.
Staff presented their proposal to the Denver City Council Public Amenities Committee.
Recreation centers recover 15 percent of their cost through fees and the proposed increases will raise that to 18 percent, according to Fred Weiss, director of finance and administration.
Outdoor pool daily fees would double for youngsters and seniors to $2, while indoor fees would remain the same. Limited-access cards would be eliminated and replaced with annual cards costing $35 for kids and $150 for adults, up from $30 and $125. Resident seniors would pay $65, an increase of $5. Nonresident seniors, however, would be charged $90, a decrease of $50 from current prices.
The proposal moved out of committee and will come before the full council in its meeting Aug. 1.
LOVELAND
Man admits robbing three credit unions
The Front Range Bandit, responsible for several robberies in Western states, was caught in Las Vegas on June 29, authorities said.
Albert Lawrence Vaughn, 36, confessed to three robberies in Loveland, authorities said.
Vaughan told the FBI that he has committed so many robberies, he can’t remember them all. Authorities suspect he robbed banks in Cheyenne, Longmont, Boulder, Las Vegas and Kingman, Ariz.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Arizona extradites suspect in slaying
A homicide suspect has been extradited from Arizona and is being held in the Jefferson County Jail.
Matthew Goddard, 44, is a suspect in the death of 58-year-old Sigrid Matthews and is being held without bail.
Matthews’ body was found June 5 in the home of her sister in the 4600 block of Balsam Street in Wheat Ridge.
BOULDER
Last frat members plead guilty in death
All 12 University of Colorado fraternity members charged in the drinking death of a pledge last fall have been prosecuted.
Daniel Rosenberg, 21, and William Percy, 20, pleaded guilty Monday to providing alcohol to a minor – the same Class 2 misdemeanor the others faced, according to court records.
Lynn “Gordie” Bailey died of alcohol poisoning after he and 26 other pledges were taken for a night of drinking as an initiation ritual by the Chi Psi fraternity.
