Westminster cop cleared in killing of man with knife
A Westminster police officer, who shot and killed a knife-wielding man in May at an apartment complex, was justified in using deadly force and will not face charges, Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey said Thursday.
Officer John McDonald responded to a call of a man coming to the door nude on May 5. According to the DA’s findings, McDonald, who had been with the department two years, responded alone to a third- floor apartment at Redwood Village Apartments in the 5300 block of West 78th Place. The officer witnessed Jason Michael Rohrback pull a large kitchen knife out of a drawer.
After ordering Rohrback to drop the knife, McDonald fired once, hitting the man in the chest, the report said. After Rohrback came at McDonald again, the officer fired about five shots, the report said.
The report said, Rohrback’s wife, Gina Rohrback, later told investigators that her husband had been acting paranoid and said: “God bring the cops. I just want to die. ”
AURORA
CU regents create new oversight panel
University of Colorado regents created a committee Thursday to oversee accounting practices in reaction to CU’s slow response in past years to internal audit problems.
The new committee is part of president Hank Brown’s reorganization of responsibilities at the university.
Brown has said it was “totally unacceptable” that CU let internal audit recommendations sit for five and six years without action.
CU’s accounting problems were revealed in state audits in November and December.
Brown also has established more specific job duties for chancellors at CU’s three campuses and, at his urging, regents have cut their number of annual meetings by about half.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
College settles case over disabilities law
Colorado College has agreed to a six-year plan to make its campus more accessible to the disabled under an out-of-court settlement announced Thursday by the U.S. Justice Department.
The Justice Department alleged that an inspection of the college had found numerous violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, including doors that were too narrow, inadequate wheelchair maneuvering space, steep ramps, and inaccessible dormitory and toilet rooms.
Federal investigators noted that a majority of the 65 campus buildings were built before to the enactment of the ADA, and many are considered historically significant. The college denied in the settlement that it violated the ADA or any other federal law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
Wan J. Kim, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, praised the school for its decision to improve access.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
U.S. attorney nominee approved by Senate
The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved President Bush’s nomination of Troy Eid, a lawyer and former counsel to Gov. Bill Owens, as U.S. attorney for Colorado.
Earlier in the day, Senate Judiciary Committee members agreed on a voice vote to send Eid’s nomination as the top federal prosecutor for Colorado to the full Senate for approval.
The full Senate approved the nomination Thursday night by a unanimous voice vote.
Eid will fill a post that John Suthers vacated a year and a half ago to become Colorado attorney general.
BAYFIELD
Forest officials release methane impact study
The U.S. Forest Service released a final impact statement Thursday that would authorize 127 coal-bed methane wells in the northern San Juan Basin, including an area environmentalists consider sensitive in the HD Mountains.
The industry had asked for permission for 162 wells.
The report also reduces the number of miles of roads that could be built from the industry’s requested 97 to 72. The number of acres of land that would suffer long-term effects from the drilling was reduced from 487 to 391.
The report says it selected the alternative that “best balances valid existing gas development lease rights with social and environmental issues.”
The proposed development has met resistance from environmental groups, partly because some of it would be in a roadless area in the HD Mountains.
DENVER
Mom pleads guilty to tot’s beating death
A woman accused of beating her 2-year-old daughter to death on July 2, 2005, during a prohibited, unsupervised visit pleaded guilty Thursday to child abuse resulting in death.
A second count of first-degree murder was dismissed against Tiffany Moreno, 21.
The child, Zoey Espinoza, was taken to Denver Health Medical Center with a temperature of 105 and bruises from head to foot. The child died at the hospital.
Moreno, who told police four different versions of what happened, said she shook the girl, spanked her, and finally snapped and took the palm of her hand and hit the child in the head, causing the child to slam into a car door, police said.
Moreno faces up to 32 years in prison when she is sentenced in late September.
DENVER
Predicted rush for IDs remains only a trickle
The Colorado Department of Revenue issued just four waivers Thursday to individuals without proper identification on the third day of Colorado’s get-tough stand against illegal immigration.
One individual who applied for a waiver had proper identification to apply for benefits directly, revenue spokeswoman Diane Reimer said.
People applying for public benefits must present identification to prove they are legally in the United States. Waivers are available to those without identification but who can prove they are here legally.
DENVER
I-25 closures planned for Friday, Saturday
Interstate 25 will be closed between Speer Boulevard and Interstate 70 on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The freeway will be closed from 11 p.m. Friday until 5:30 a.m. Saturday, and again from 11 p.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. Sunday.
Contractors are installing a pedestrian bridge that will connect 16th Street in downtown to the Highland neighborhood.
Detours will be available.
The bridge is scheduled to be completed this fall.
