Mountain lion invades home in Springs, leaps out window
Colorado Springs – A mountain lion ran into a home Tuesday and escaped through a window about an hour later.
Soon after he arrived home from work, Clifton Sanches said, he heard his dogs barking loudly outside.
“I got up to shut the dogs up and a mountain lion came through my window; it came right through my screen door,” Sanches told KKTV-Channel 11.
He went to a neighbor’s house to call for help. He waited with sheriff’s deputies outside the house, and after about an hour, the big cat butted its head against a screen window before breaking through and running away.
Two mountain lions were spotted in Colorado Springs last month.
Wildlife officials shot and killed one of the cats because it seemed lethargic and ailing.
“To have a mountain lion sighting is one thing. To have a mountain lion actually enter a structure is really rare,” Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Michael Seraphin said.
SNOWMASS VILLAGE
As big projects begin, town manager resigns
The town manager in Snowmass Village announced his resignation just as the ski-resort town begins major construction projects that will change its complexion.
Mike Segrest announced his decision Wednesday, saying he intends to “focus on his personal life and let someone else tackle the challenges ahead” after four years on the job.
Snowmass Village voters recently approved redevelopment of the ski area’s base village. A new town hall and upgrades to the mall also are in the works.
DENVER
Kids’ advocacy center getting more space
To give law enforcement a place to interview abused, neglected or traumatized children, the Denver Children’s Advocacy Center is renovating its next- door neighbor – a Queen Anne- style home – with the help of KB Home.
The renovation kicks off today at Federal Boulevard and West 21st Avenue. It is expected to help the center better handle the hundreds of victimized children and their families who visit the center annually.
LOVELAND
Suspect held in Calif. homicide from 1978
The Santa Clara County, Calif., district attorney’s office announced the arrest in Loveland on Wednesday of a suspect in a 28-year-old California homicide.
For years, the mystery of 17-year-old Los Altos High School student Laura Anne Beyerly’s killing in 1978 perplexed police.
Scott Schultz, reportedly a former boyfriend of the victim, was arrested in Beyerly’s slaying, authorities said. Schultz was taken into custody in conjunction with the Loveland Police Department. Schultz, now 45, was also 17 at the time of the killing, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Beyerly disappeared en route to visit friends March 28, 1978. Her remains were found 16 months later near a remote logging road in Big Basin State Park.
Despite the help of a psychic and a forensic pathologist, police could not crack the case. But after a new year-long investigation, Schultz was arrested, the district attorney’s office said.
SALIDA
Man nabbed by DNA of moose he killed
Authorities used moose DNA to convict a Wisconsin man of illegally killing a moose near St. Elmo.
State Division of Wildlife district manager Ron Dobson began investigating after finding a moose skull that had been dug up by a bear.
“It was obvious to me that whoever killed the moose went to a great deal of trouble to conceal the crime by burying portions of the hide and skull. If it hadn’t been for the bear, the evidence might still be buried,” Dobson said.
A citizen’s tip pointed them to Charles Pedraza of Oshkosh, Wis., and a computer revealed he had an elk license for the period.
A search of a storage unit held by Pedraza turned up a moose pelt and photos that placed him at the scene. A DNA test confirmed they belonged to the moose whose skull was found. Pedraza then pleaded guilty.
“This case is a good example of how a citizen’s tip can be combined with old-fashioned detective work and high-tech DNA evidence to solve a cold case,” Dobson said. “Colorado takes poaching very seriously.”
A Chaffee County judge ordered Pedraza to pay an $11,391 fine.
CHEYENNE
Officer dies when his motorcycle hits truck
A 54-year-old Cheyenne police officer was killed Wednesday morning when his motorcycle struck a pickup while working traffic enforcement.
Dennis Shuck was attempting to catch up with a vehicle when his motorcycle, with emergency lights and siren operating, struck a brush guard on the right front side of a truck driven by Brian Carlson, 39, of Cheyenne, police said. Carlson was not injured.
Shuck was ejected from the motorcycle, said Sgt. Stephen Townsend of the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
DENVER
Man injured in fall into building-site hole
A man was injured Wednesday when he fell into a hole near an alley at a construction site in the 2400 block of South Cook Street.
The Denver Fire Department received a call at 5:45 p.m. about “a fall in an alley.” When officials arrived, they found the man, who had fallen head-first into a hole 8 1/2 feet wide and 10 feet deep.
“This is dangerous,” said Phil Champagne, Denver fire spokesman. “Kids could have fallen in and the walls could have collapsed.”
The name of the man wasn’t released. He was hospitalized, but his injures did not appear to be life-threatening, Champagne said.
SANTA FE
N.M. has its first 2006 human West Nile case
New Mexico has recorded its first human West Nile virus case of the year.
The state Department of Health said Wednesday that it confirmed the infection in a Dona Ana County man, whose name was not released.
The mosquito-borne virus causes flulike symptoms, including fever, nausea, headache and muscle aches.
The virus puts people older than 50 most at risk for serious disease, such as meningitis. However, most people who become infected have either no symptoms or have only mild symptoms, and fewer than 1 percent of all people infected develop the serious illnesses.
Paul Ettestad, the Health Department’s public-health veterinarian, warned that mosquito populations will be increasing with recent rains throughout New Mexico.
States seem to have more cases the first year West Nile is reported in their boundaries, then cases seem to decrease, Ettestad said.
