Five nabbed in roundup of unregistered sex offenders
Agents arrested five sex offenders in Colorado during a roundup Wednesday conducted by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies. Four of the arrests were made in the Denver metro area, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
The CBI targeted 40 unregistered and high-risk sex offenders who are suspected of living in the Denver metro area and El Paso and Pueblo counties.
Wednesday’s roundup was one of three operations the CBI plans this year.
More than 580 sex offenders in Colorado are wanted for failing to register. A complete list of the offenders can be viewed online at sor.state.co.us.
Clem labeled Wednesday’s five arrests “a good show” and a reminder to other unregistered sex offenders that “they will be pursued.”
AURORA
New board to review 2003 police shooting
Police Chief Daniel Oates announced Wednesday that the first case a newly formed internal tactical review board will examine is the December 2003 fatal shooting of Jamaal Bonner.
The board – focusing on training, policies, tactics and procedures – is being formed to “ensure that our practices remain among the best in our field,” Oates said in a news release.
In December, police committed to review the Bonner incident and promised to make public the findings of a probe, along with any recommended changes in tactics or procedures. The review is expected to be completed within 60 days.
Sid Heal, an internationally respected expert on police matters, will serve as an independent consultant for the review. He is considered one of the nation’s leading experts on police practices and tactics, Oates said.
Police officials will make up the rest of the board.
GOLDEN
Judge won’t speed up “Denver Three” suit
A U.S. magistrate judge declined Wednesday to speed up the fact-finding process so that three people who were ejected from President Bush’s town-hall meeting last March could attempt to find out who ordered them removed.
In an hour-long motions hearing held by telephone with U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer, lawyers for Leslie Weise and Alex Young – two of the so-called Denver Three – argued that the discovery process should be speeded up. They want to determine the names of the “unknown federal officers” who ordered them removed from a rally on Social Security at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum in Denver, according to court documents.
Weise and Young filed a federal lawsuit in November, alleging their First Amendment rights were violated when they were removed from the meeting.
GOLDEN
Five female students in court for drug case
Five of six female students at Green Mountain High School charged with felony drug counts made their first appearances Wednesday in Jefferson County Court.
The girls – four of them cheerleaders and one a pompom- squad member – are accused of possession and sale of morphine capsules on campus in December. The drugs were taken from one girl’s grandmother and were being sold to buy an iPod, investigators said.
Pretrial conferences were set for the girls, whose names won’t be released because they are juveniles. Dates for the hearings range from Feb. 8 to March 29.
BOULDER
Brown’s popularity may affect CU search
The popularity of University of Colorado interim president Hank Brown might be putting a damper on applications for the permanent job.
About 20 people have shown interest in the position, but most of them do not have the right experience, said Regent Steve Bosley, who heads the search committee.
“Virtually all of them are not qualified,” he said.
Bosley acknowledged that having Brown as a candidate could discourage applicants, but he said he is not worried about finding the best person for the job.
“It’s going to be a reflection of the marketplace,” he said.
CU began advertising nationally for a new president in mid-December. The university has not set a deadline for applications.
DENVER
Man acquitted in fatal shooting at memorial
Emmanuel Antoine Fisher was acquitted Tuesday in the April 2004 shooting death of Jeremy Phillips, 27.
Phillips was shot in the head at Maxwell Place and Atchison Way in Montbello at a makeshift memorial for 16-year-old Carold Peoples.
Peoples had been shot days earlier while attending a combined party for a soldier returning from Iraq and a child having a seventh birthday.
Phillips, as a personal tribute to Peoples, had just poured beer on the ground near where Peoples was gunned down. But as Phillips turned his car around, someone fired several shots, one of the bullets hitting him in the head.
GOLDEN
Buffalo Bill exhibit to focus on New Orleans
A new exhibit at the Buffalo Bill Museum will focus on his Wild West show’s time in New Orleans.
“Out of Disaster … Hope: Buffalo Bill in New Orleans” opens Feb. 26 as part of the museum’s annual Buffalo Bill birthday celebration. William F. Cody was in New Orleans for more than three months during the winter of 1884-85 and faced many hardships. But he met sharpshooter Annie Oakley before he left.
Planning for the exhibit began in 2004 and was interrupted last year by Hurricane Katrina, which heavily damaged much of New Orleans.
After Katrina, the exhibit was nearly canceled, then was revived with the new emphasis on disaster and hope.
GALETON
Worker dies after fall into hopper of sand
A 24-year-old Milliken man died Wednesday after being crushed when he fell into a hopper containing 24 tons of fine sand, the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The man, whose name was not released, was working with others at a U.S. Exploration oil well site. He was employed by Calfrac Well Service, which did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
Foul play is not suspected, officials said.
