Governor candidate Bridges hires strategist
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rutt Bridges has hired national political strategist Jim Margolis to consult on his campaign.
“Building a small business, I learned the value of best practices, and Jim Margolis’ win record shows that he is a leader in electing candidates at all levels of government across the nation, especially in the West,” Bridges said in a statement Thursday.
Margolis works with Colorado District 2 Congressman Mark Udall and has advised former Lt. Gov. Gail Schoettler, who was a Democratic nominee for governor.
Nationally, Margolis has helped guide a number of Democrats to victory in campaigns for governor, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, including Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, Montana Sen. Max Baucus, North Dakota Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden.
Military-Style Bandits rob another bank
A team of serial robbers, dubbed the Military-Style Bandits, struck again Wednesday at a Wells Fargo Bank.
The robbers use long automatic weapons, and their discipline, language and clothing are similar to those of military personnel.
However, investigators don’t have any information that the robbers are associated with the military.
The Centennial robbery occurred at 10:50 a.m. at the Wells Fargo at Smoky Hill and Tower roads. Two men, using a machine gun and a handgun, ordered everyone inside the bank to the floor. The robbers escaped in a stolen vehicle that was later found.
Authorities say the same two men committed similar robberies in Highlands Ranch and Colorado Springs. They fired shots at a witness outside a bank after one robbery, authorities said.
Fugitive inmate captured at motel
An inmate who walked away from the minimum-security Camp George West facility was captured Thursday after 20 hours on the lam, corrections officials said.
Authorities said David Banes, 34, was found without incident by Denver police at a motel and was in custody. He was to be transferred to a maximum-security prison.
Banes entered the Camp George West facility Dec. 15 on a three-year sentence for menacing and a one-year sentence for drug abuse out of Jefferson County.
Backyard shooting leaves 1 dead, 1 hurt
Two men were shot, one of them fatally, early Thursday in northeast Denver, police said.
A little after 2 a.m., several people were talking in the backyard of a home in the 2800 block of Columbine Street when someone walked up and fired.
One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene. The other was taken to Denver Health Medical Center with gunshot wounds.
No other details were available.
Officer found guilty of official misconduct
An Arvada police officer who had been assigned to the West Metro Drug Task Force was found guilty Wednesday of official misconduct, a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Derek Charles Smotherman, 34, was sentenced by Jefferson District Court Judge Thomas Woodford to 100 hours of community service.
A Jefferson County jury acquitted Smotherman of felony sexual assault and an additional count of official misconduct, said Pam Russell, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.
Smotherman, who has been with West Metro since 2000, was placed on administrative leave with pay last Aug. 30.
Pair of CU computer servers hacked into
Two University of Colorado computers were accessed without authorization last week, school officials said Thursday.
A computer server at the Wardenburg Health Center and another at the visual resource center of the College of Architecture and Planning contained names, Social Security numbers and other information, but there is no evidence that the data was stolen or used, a news release said.
“We are very concerned about this breach of computer security, and we are working closely with a number of IT and information security professionals to analyze this incident so that we can provide accurate information to our clients,” Wardenburg director Robert Cranny said.
