Police ID suspect in crash that killed fetus
Aurora police used fingerprints to determine the identity of the man they believe caused a traffic wreck on Wednesday that resulted in a pregnant woman losing her child.
Police now are accusing Tiawan M. Nelson, 22, of several felony traffic-related charges as well as felony criminal impersonation.
Police say Nelson assumed the identity of his friend Bradford Mantell Parker, the name of the person initially charged with the crash.
Police accuse Nelson of driving a stolen car down East Colfax Avenue, which resulted in a brief police chase.
Authorities say the officer followed the stolen Honda for 1 1/2 blocks before halting his pursuit when he saw the car run through stop signs. The Honda then smashed into a Nissan being driven by Monica Elita Ortiz.
Driver pleads guilty in fatal April crash
A man who ran a stoplight at East 10th Avenue and Lincoln Street in April and hit a vehicle driven by longtime Colorado Department of Natural Resources employee Richard Cooper pleaded guilty Friday to vehicular homicide. Chase Miller, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in March.
Vehicular homicide normally carries a potential sentence range of 4 to 12 years, but prosecutors agreed to a cap of 10 years in return for Miller’s guilty plea.
Miller was driving drunk at the time he hit the 58-year-old Cooper, who died from his injuries.
The accident was witnessed by several employees of a local television station near the intersection.
Miller cried during Friday’s hearing. Cooper turned 58 the day before his death. Cooper’s former wife, Rita Reid, was present when Miller entered the plea.
Missing ‘boarder found out of bounds
A snowboarder who failed to show up for work earlier this week was found by searchers in an out-of-bounds area west of the Keystone Resort on Thursday, according to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.
The Keystone Ski Patrol reported Shannon Keeter as possibly being missing on Wednesday, when he missed a shift at the resort’s Outpost restaurant, according to a release.
He was found Thursday in an area known as Jones Gulch. His injuries are unknown, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Keeter was cited for skiing in a closed area, a violation of the state Skier Safety Act.
He is at least the third person to go missing outside the resort boundary this season.
In late December, rescue crews found a 20-year-old Texas snowboarder who had spent a cold night west of Keystone’s Diamond Back ski trail.
In November, a 31-year-old snowboarder from Erie was lost out of bounds for three days before being rescued. He has been issued a summons charging him with violating the Skier Safety Act and carrying a concealed weapon and is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 15.
Resort officials could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Funky Buddha owner charged in shooting
The co-owner of the Funky Buddha bar was charged Friday with first-degree assault for allegedly shooting a man who is accused of breaking into the establishment about 3:15 a.m. Tuesday.
Denver prosecutors allege that the bar owner, Christakes Christou, 60, shot 44-year-old Dwayne Stepp after Stepp broke into the bar. Stepp was charged Friday with second-degree burglary. Christou remains in custody in the Denver County Jail. His bail is set at $50,000. Stepp is on police hold at Denver Health Medical Center.
S. Parker Road snag constricts traffic
A major road-resurfacing project on South Parker Road south of East Lehigh Avenue is stalled because of a dispute over permitting a temporary plant in the area to produce concrete for the job, Colorado transportation officials said last week. In October, the contractor shifted traffic and began digging up the old road surface. But the permitting problem prevented workers from paving the highway with new material last month, as planned. The lane constriction has slowed traffic through the construction zone, angering some motorists.
The paving project includes reconstruction of the South Parker Road/East Quincy Avenue intersection and the contractor has until the end of April to complete the work, said Stacey Stegman, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation. The temporary realignment of South Parker Road “is not an ideal situation and we are working on a solution to get construction underway again,” Stegman said.
Drunk-driving arrests at 370 for holiday eve
There were 370 arrests of suspected drunken drivers over the New Year’s Eve holiday weekend – an increase from 348 a year earlier, state authorities said.
Capt. Eric Rubin, commander of traffic operations for Denver police, said the agency conducted checkpoints throughout the holiday weekend, which covered Friday through Sunday. Officers contacted every second or third driver.
Colorado dropped the blood-alcohol level for a DUI from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent in 2004. Drivers can also be arrested for levels between 0.05 percent and 0.07 percent.
