Rollover kills 1-year-old girl; father could face charges
A 1-year-old Deer Trail girl was killed when the vehicle she was traveling in crashed and rolled in Elbert County, Colorado State Patrol officials said Monday.
The girl’s father, Austin Ray Jr., 39, could face charges of careless driving resulting in death and bodily injury, State Patrol officials said in a news release.
Ray was southbound on Elbert County Road 101 about 9:35 p.m. Sunday, about eight miles south of Deer Trail, when he lost control of his Ford Excursion sport utility vehicle and ran off the left side of the road, officials said.
Passenger Annie Rasamee, 22, of Deer Trail was rushed to an Aurora-area hospital with moderate injuries, officials said. Ivory Ray, 4, and Avery Ray, 3, also of Deer Trail, were transported to Children’s Hospital with minor injuries. Killed was Austina Ray.
The crash remains under investigation.
DENVER
Guilty pleas entered in “date rape” case
Santino “Sonny” Rando, 43, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of sexual assault and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Charges were filed against Rando, who operated Santino’s restaurant, in August 2004 after investigators alleged that Rando used a “date-rape drug” on a young woman he took out on Aug. 10, 2004.
According to a court affidavit, the woman told detectives she thought she was going to learn about wine, eat and then go home. But she said that after going to a Lakewood restaurant and drinking wine, they went to Rando’s house, where she began to feel sick and lost consciousness. She woke up to find Rando assaulting her, according to the affidavit. Rando will be sentenced in early September by Denver District Judge Shelley Gilman. Both offenses are felonies.
WESTMINSTER
Driver injured when garbage truck rolls
A garbage truck rolled over on U.S. 36 Monday injuring the driver and tying up traffic during the morning rush.
The truck driver, Eduardo Ramirez Morales, 39, was taken to a hospital with injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening, according to Westminster police.
About 7 a.m., Morales lost control of the BFI Waste Management truck he was driving eastbound in the right lane, police said. The single-vehicle accident shut down all but one lane of the highway’s eastbound lanes near Federal Boulevard for almost two hours.
Morales, who holds a Colorado commercial driver’s license, was cited for careless driving, police said.
DENVER
Two arrested in death outside Funky Buddha
Two men have been arrested as suspects in the death of a man outside a popular Denver nightclub, police said Monday.
Kevin Swider, 25, died early Saturday morning in a parking lot outside the Funky Buddha Lounge in the 700 block of Lincoln Street, Denver police said.
Swider got into a confrontation about 1:45 a.m. and hit his head on the pavement after being punched in the face, police said.
He was pronounced dead at Denver Health Medical Center. Police identified the two suspects as Quang Tony Than, 26, and Duong John Chuong, 31.
DENVER
Owner critically hurt in theft of his pickup
A man was in critical condition Monday after trying to stop a thief from stealing his pickup truck.
Gerardo Chavez, 56, spotted an individual driving away with his blue 1977 raised-suspension truck at 17th and Welton streets around 5 p.m. Sunday, Denver police said. When Chavez approached the truck and grabbed the driver, the thief drove off, dragging Chavez, police said.
Chavez let go of the truck, and was run over by the vehicle in what police are calling a hit and run.
Denver police are searching for the truck.
Chavez is being treated at the Denver Health Medical Center.
LOVELAND
Lake search continues for body of boy, 2
The underwater search for the body of Shay Smith, 2, who fell from the back of a boat on Carter Lake continued Monday night.
Tom Greenhalgh of Merrimack Valley Dive Rescue Team in Billerica, Mass., is using a Marine Sonic sonar system in the search that will continue tonight if necessary, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Gil Smith, the boy’s father, was piloting his 17-foot Bayliner July 15 near the lake dam when Shay fell out.
Greenhalgh, a police lieutenant, is a member of the International Association of Dive Rescue Specialists. He’s been on five deep-water searches in the past 12 months.
Carter Lake is southwest of Loveland. More than 35 divers have assisted with the recovery effort.
DENVER
Senator blasts closure of two DMV offices
Democratic state Sen. Jim Isgar on Monday blasted a plan to close two Division of Motor Vehicles offices in his district July 31.
The plan calls for the shuttering of the Nucla and Pagosa Springs offices. In fiscal year 2006, Nucla served 227 customers and Pagosa Springs served 1,238, a Democratic press release said.
“I want to know why the citizens of southwest Colorado are being forced to travel all across the state to obtain driving identification,” Isgar said in the statement.
DENVER
Court backs dismissal of land-sale lawsuit
An appellate court Monday refused to revive a lawsuit challenging the sale of public land to a private mining company on the 12,392-foot Mount Emmons that looms over the ski resort town of Crested Butte.
In its ruling, a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court that dismissed the lawsuit, saying the law prevents third parties from challenging mining patents – essentially deeds – on public land.
Crested Butte, Gunnison County and the conservation group High Country Citizens Alliance claimed in their lawsuit that the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the mining patents violated federal law.
