JEFFERSON COUNTY
Man stabbed in traffic dispute; another held
A 45-year-old man was stabbed Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of Wal-Mart on West Coal Mine Avenue during a traffic dispute, said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Shires.
Deputies arrested a 47-year-old man after he stabbed the victim with a knife, Shires said. The victim was in surgery Sunday afternoon, and his condition was not known.
Witnesses at the scene told investigators that the dispute was about traffic.
The man suspected of stabbing the victim was taken to the sheriff’s station in Golden for questioning, Shires said.
The names of the men involved were not immediately released.
BOULDER
Man rescued, stable after fall through ice
A man was in stable condition Sunday night at a Boulder hospital after he fell through ice trying to rescue his dog, which died, officials said.
The man, whose name was not released, went out onto ice on a pond in the Lake Valley subdivision a few miles north of Boulder about 4:30 p.m., said Sgt. Pat Haugse, spokesman for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
A woman heard the man yelling for help and called the Sheriff’s Office, Haugse said.
A deputy and an emergency worker threw rope out to the man, who had been in the water about 20 minutes, and pulled him to shore, he said.
“It’s a long time to be in the water,” Haugse said. “There was no doubt he was in trouble.”
LAKEWOOD
Driver killed by cop was on probation
A man shot to death by Lakewood police to prevent another officer from getting run over by a pickup was on probation for a theft conviction, according to state records.
Adam Bernal, 24, of Thornton died after the shooting at 3:25 p.m. Saturday in the 1000 block of South Balsam Street, said Steve Davis, Lakewood police spokesman.
Police also arrested August Alonzo Romero, 23, a passenger in the pickup with Bernal, on investigation of theft, attempted felony theft and first-degree aggravated motor vehicle theft, Davis said.
Officers A.J. Zayatz and Josh Stramel had answered a call of someone stealing a trailer at a construction site when they approached a Ford pickup that was stuck in deep snow on a dead-end street.
Zayatz slipped underneath the truck, and when Bernal ignored Stramel’s orders to stop, Stramel shot him, Davis said.
The Jefferson County Shoot Team, which includes officers from several law enforcement agencies in Jefferson County, is investigating and will report to the district attorney’s office, Davis said.
Bernal was placed on intensive probation in May after a conviction for motor vehicle theft, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
WARD
Tunnel collapse slows Superfund cleanup
A tunnel collapse recently discovered in a mine that is part of a Superfund cleanup effort has slowed the cleanup and has investigators concerned about a possible blowout of contaminated water that could be building up behind the blockage.
The Big 5 Adit Tunnel is at the head of California Gulch, the site of several old gold and silver mines northwest of Boulder.
Much of the gulch also is in the 3-year-old Captain Jack Superfund site because of waste left over from the mining.
Investigators recently discovered a collapse 850 feet back in the Big 5 tunnel, which is the main drainage conduit for acidic water leaving the mine.
It is not known when the collapse occurred or how much pressure has built up behind it. Such collapses have occurred before, and most are safely cleaned up, but blowouts in the past have been lethal.
In 1985, a surge of contaminated water from the Yak Tunnel near Leadville killed aquatic life for 60 miles in the Arkansas River, and a 1943 blowout at the Argo tunnel near Idaho Springs killed four workers.
