Suspected home wrecker charged with two felonies
Arapahoe County – A 16-year-old with a police record has been charged with two felonies for allegedly crashing a stolen car into a woman’s house in Aurora just over a week ago.
Joel Calderon was on parole from the Division of Youth Corrections when police say he drove into the corner of a house at East 11th Avenue and Vaughn Street on April 23.
The crash occurred shortly after Calderon was stopped for a traffic offense. As officers approached the Chevy Blazer that Calderon was driving, he sped away. Police followed him a short distance but dropped the chase shortly before the crash.
On Monday in Arapahoe County Court, Calderon was charged with the felonies of aggravated motor-vehicle theft and leaving the scene of an accident after causing serious bodily injury; and five traffic offenses of careless driving causing injury, eluding a police officer, leaving the scene of an accident after causing damage, no driver’s license and no insurance.
Calderon is being held on $6,000 bond and is scheduled for another court appearance May 12.
The owner of the home that was damaged, Irene Espinoza, 55, was asleep in her bed when the car crashed into her home just before midnight. She suffered a broken arm and a cut on her head.
AURORA
CU to dedicate oral surgery center today
A six-room oral surgery center will be dedicated today at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center’s new school of dentistry.
The Morris S. Clark Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic will be devoted to the surgical treatment of dental disease, trauma repair and other oral surgeries, said Dr. Denise Kassebaum, dean of the school of dentistry.
The center is located within the Lazzara Center for Oral-Facial Health at the health sciences center on the former Fitzsimons Army hospital campus in Aurora.
The center is named for Dr. Morris Clark, an oral surgeon and longtime professor at the school of dentistry. Clark gave $100,000 for establishment of the center.
“We certainly very much appreciate his generosity and wanted to honor him,” Kassebaum said.
PUEBLO
Fire, smoking curbs cover 3 million acres
Fire and smoking restrictions were imposed Monday in the Pike & San Isabel National Forests and Comanche National Grasslands, nearly 3 million acres that stretch into 14 counties along the Front Range and southeast of Pueblo.
Among the prohibitions, due to dry conditions, are fires outside of developed campgrounds and picnic areas and smoking, except within a closed vehicle or building.
GOLDEN
Grand jury weighs claims against official
A Jefferson County grand jury is looking into criminal allegations made last year by a county critic against Commissioner Jim Congrove.
Mike Zinna filed a complaint last fall with the Arvada Police Department accusing Congrove of using Zinna’s name on real-estate loan documents and forging his name on a truck bill of sale in 2004.
The issue was referred by Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey to a special prosecutor because his office has a close working relationship with the Board of Commissioners.
“We are not naming any names, but we have presented information to a Jefferson County grand jury that was referred to us as a special prosecutor,” said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney’s office.
The information was first presented Thursday.
Congrove, who denied the allegations, said Monday he has not been called to testify.
Zinna is angry, he said, over a failed deal to develop 125 acres of land at the Jefferson County Airport. He filed suit in 2002, with three courts ruling in favor of the county.
“It’s the same old thing,” Congrove said. “He lost that lawsuit … and now it’s revenge time. He has cost the county a lot of time and money, and for what?”
Zinna scoffed at Congrove’s comments, saying, “You just don’t get a grand jury because you lost a lawsuit.”
He added that a grand jury investigation “lends a lot of credibility to the allegations.”
ARAPAHOE COUNTY
Vandals leave slur, swastikas on building
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating the painting of swastikas, white power symbols and a slur demeaning to blacks on a remote building that had been broken into and vandalized with several bullet holes and broken windows, Sheriff Grayson Robinson said.
Deputies were called to the Cross Winds RC Club for remote-controlled airplanes at 32901 E. County Road 50 on Saturday and found about 150 shell casings from 7.62 mm, 9 mm and .38-caliber cartridges scattered around the clubhouse, Robinson said.
Also, papers had been stacked in a corner and set on fire. The fire apparently went out on its own, he said. Two microwave ovens were taken from the clubhouse.
“I don’t think this has anything to do with the ethnicity of anybody at the club,” Robinson said. It was, he said, more likely a general statement based on an opportunity for vandalism in a remote location.
The swastikas, symbols and slur were painted on the side of the building that couldn’t be seen from the road, he added.
Bruce DeBoskey, director of the Mountain States Region of the Anti-Defamation League, condemned the anti-Semitic and racist vandalism.
DENVER
20-year PSC pact gets initial council OK
The Denver City Council on Monday gave initial approval to a 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel Energy subsidiary Public Service Company of Colorado.
Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz was the only one of 10 council members present who did not approve the agreement. Faatz abstained, saying she was concerned about the agreement raising energy bills for residents.
The council scheduled a public hearing on the agreement for May 22. Voters will have the final say during an Aug. 8 election.
BOULDER
Crash with ambulance kills driver of car
A woman was killed Monday night when she made a left turn in front of an ambulance on an emergency run, said Boulder police spokeswoman Julie Brooks.
The Pridemark Paramedic Services ambulance was on its way to a call about 6:50 p.m. and was southbound on 30th Street in Boulder with its red lights and siren operating. The car, which was eastbound on Euclid Avenue, pulled out in front of it, making a left turn, and collided with the ambulance, Brooks said.
The woman driving the car was taken to Boulder Community Hospital where she died, Brooks said. The driver of the ambulance as taken to the hospital for treatment. The other paramedic wasn’t injured.
