Two undercover cops cleared in shooting
The actions of two Denver undercover narcotics detectives were justified when they shot a man in a Denver alley in the early evening hours of Jan. 2, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey ruled Friday.
The two officers, Todd Gentry and Randy Parsons, were part of a team of officers engaged in a “buy-bust” operation in which an undercover officer attempts to buy drugs from a dealer. The two officers drove to the 1400 block Pennsylvania-Pearl Street alley where they encountered two men, Frankie Brabo, 36, and Rudy Gallegos, 27. As they passed the men, Brabo yelled a challenge or a curse at the officers and one of the two hit or slapped his hand on the trunk or back of the police car, Morrissey said.
After the police car stopped, Gallegos admitted, he reached into his waistband and pulled out a cellphone and used it to simulate a handgun – something he told investigators he had done in the past with some success. He also said he didn’t realize Gentry and Parsons were police officers. The officers opened fire, hitting Brabo but not Gallegos, who was arrested almost immediately. Brabo returned to the scene later and said he had been shot.
Morrissey said that under the circumstances, the officers perceived an imminent threat. Although the individual struck was not the person who presented the threat, the two were together and, in light of how quickly the incident occurred, Morrissey said he couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either detective acted recklessly or with criminal negligence.
Gallegos was charged with two counts of felony menacing; no criminal charges were filed against Brabo.
Last minutes “agony” for returning soldiers
Fort Carson – They spent almost a year in Iraq before the 80 soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment returned to Fort Carson south of Colorado Springs.
But it was the final moments before they reunited with friends and family late Thursday that seemed to take the longest.
After marching into a gym, decorated with red, white and blue bunting, signs and a large American flag, the soldiers stood at parade rest as they faced their loved ones – many with tears of joy streaming down their face – during a short ceremony.
It was understandable then that some couldn’t help smiling or nodding as they listened to the national anthem, a short speech, and the Army anthem, “The Caissons Go Rolling Along.”
“It was agony,” Spec. Leslie Brown, 23, said. “It was hard to maintain my composure. I almost even broke my salute to wave.”‘
It only lasted a few minutes and then a flood of people raced to meet their returning soldiers.
The 5,200-soldier regiment’s latest mission, which began with their deployment in March, was counterinsurgency and security in southern Baghdad and northwestern Iraq. The soldiers arriving Thursday are the first of thousands who are returning home by next month.
Hearing set in attack on two missionaries
Chesapeake, Va. – A man accused of killing one Mormon missionary and wounding another from Colorado will have a preliminary hearing in April.
James R. Boughton Jr., 19, briefly appeared Friday in General District Court via videoconference from jail. He did not enter a plea during the arraignment. He informed the judge that his attorney is Kenneth Melvin.
A preliminary hearing was set for April 21 for a judge to hear evidence and decide whether to send first-degree murder, malicious wounding and other charges against Boughton to a grand jury.
Boughton is accused of killing Morgan W. Young, 21, of Bountiful, Utah, and wounding Joshua D. Heidbrink, 19, of Greeley.
Police have said the two men, who had been going door-to-door discussing their religion, witnessed a crime shortly before they were shot Jan. 2.
