Lab experiment blows up, but CU students not hurt
Boulder – A mistake during a chemistry experiment caused a fire at the University of Colorado’s Cristol Chemistry and Biochemistry Building on Thursday afternoon, police said.
There were no injuries, but it is the second lab fire in a week.
In Thursday’s incident, five undergraduates were experimenting with hydrogen gas when too much gas gathered under the hood and ignited about 2 p.m., police said.
On July 20, a fire at the school’s engineering center sent three CU police officers to the hospital for smoke inhalation, according a university spokeswoman.
The earlier incident was probably caused by fumes gathered in a fume hood, CU authorities said.
AURORA
Police find boy, 10, who was shot in head
A 10-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his head was in serious condition at The Children’s Hospital on Thursday, and Aurora police were investigating how the boy and his 13-year-old brother obtained two handguns.
Police said they were called by the older boy Thursday afternoon to the 4700 block of South Salida Street, where the older boy told them his brother had tried to commit suicide.
Investigators said the two boys live with their 40-year-old aunt and 57-year-old grandmother, neither of whom are suspected of having any knowledge that two guns were in their house. The boys were home alone when the shooting occurred, police said.
BOULDER
Online scam defrauds credit union clients
A scam in Boulder has police looking into complaints that nearly 40 people have had money fraudulently taken from their credit union accounts, 9News reported Thursday.
Many of the victims said they had responded to online “phishing” requests to update their account information by e-mail. The requests were made in the name of Elevations Credit Union but were actually made by fraudulent operators, who withdrew nearly $50,000 from the accounts.
FORT COLLINS
CSU prof wins award, $500,000 in grants
The White House awarded a Colorado State University assistant professor the highest government prize for promising scientists and engineers Wednesday.
Randy Bartels, assistant professor of electrical engineering, was given the Presidential Early Career Award, according to a CSU news release.
Bartels, 31, conducts research on using laser pulses to control the positions of atoms in a molecule.
President Bush presented the award to 56 scientists from across the country, but Bartels was the only one this year from a Colorado university, the news release said.
WINTER PARK
Sketch released of sex-assault suspect
Police have released a description and composite sketch of a man they are looking for in connection with an abduction and sexual assault of a 24-year-old Littleton woman.
The woman told police the man had abducted her near Winter Park and sexually assaulted her twice before dropping her off in Morrison on Tuesday, police said.
The suspect is described as a bald, tanned white man in his late 40s or early 50s.
He is reported to be between 5 foot 10 inches and 6 feet tall, with a thin build. He was wearing a black shirt, tan pants and sandals.
Police said the suspect’s vehicle is a gray, 1980s model GMC cargo van with no rear license plate and a “Rocky Mountain Arsenal” sticker on the windshield.
DENVER
2 indicted in evasion of health firm’s taxes
Two men were indicted on tax evasion charges in connection with a health care business they owned, U.S. Attorney Bill Leone announced Thursday.
William C. Crabbe, 56, of Kersey and James S. Rowan, 54, of Greeley were indicted by a federal grand jury on counts of failure to pay federal payroll taxes, failure to pay taxes and tax evasion, according to a news release.
Each man is alleged to have failed to pay more than $4 million in taxes, making the case one of the biggest in Colorado history, the news release said.
WELD COUNTY
Driver sought in fatal hit-and-run accident
A Carr woman was killed in a hit-and-run accident early Thursday. The Colorado State Patrol is looking for the driver, who police say left the scene.
Makayla L. Belew, 18, was walking on Weld County Road 126 just before 4 a.m. when she was hit by an eastbound vehicle less than a mile west of U.S. 85, according to a news release.
Belew was killed and the driver left the scene of the accident, police said.
NEW CASTLE
Truck veers into path of train; driver killed
A 54-year-old man was killed early Thursday when a train hit his pickup after his vehicle veered off U.S. 6 and onto nearby railroad tracks.
The man, who was not identified , is believed to be from Wyoming. The crash occurred at 3:25 a.m. about 2 miles west of New Castle in Garfield County.
Trooper Gilbert Mares said the truck was traveling west on U.S. 6, which is parallel to the railroad tracks. The truck went off the left side of the road down a steep embankment and landed on the tracks, where it was hit by the train. The train was pulling 104 empty coal cars.
The locomotive sustained minor damage. No crew members were injured.
DENVER
Ritter, Beauprez tout DAs’ endorsements
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter on Thursday won the endorsement of 26 law enforcement officials – including some Republicans – from across the state.
Two Republican district attorneys from the Western Slope lined up with other Ritter supporters, including Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman, on the steps of the Denver City and County Building.
Bonnie Roesink, district attorney for Grand, Moffat and Routt counties and Tom Raynes, the Republican district attorney for Delta, Gunnison, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties, said they back Ritter.
The Trailhead Group, a political committee formed by Gov. Bill Owens and other prominent Republicans, has run radio ads this summer claiming that Ritter was a weak prosecutor.
Ritter’s opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, announced Wednesday that seven Republican district attorneys are supporting his campaign.
