A tow-truck driver from JC Service in Loveland died Thursday when the bucket of a skid loader hit him on the head as he was trying to load the machine onto a flatbed tow truck, police said.
Skid loaders are tractors with lift arms that lie alongside the driver. The bed of the truck was inclined when the driver crawled underneath the bucket to secure the tractor with chains.
The 44-year-old man suffered severe head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, in the 6600 block of Powell Street in Loveland.
Authorities withheld the name of the victim pending family notification.
The Larimer County medical examiner’s office is investigating the accident. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also sent a representative to the scene to investigate the death as an industrial accident.
More local news briefs
BOULDER
Substitute teacher fired after allegations
A substitute music teacher has been arrested after allegedly whacking a 10-year-old student on the head with a viola bow after telling the class members they were “the worst players I’ve ever heard.”
Briggs Gamblin, a spokesman for the school district, confirmed in a telephone interview Thursday night that the substitute had been fired.
Carla Shinners, 63, a teacher for more than 30 years in the district, could face a charge of child abuse resulting in injury, according to news reports cited by The Associated Press.
There was no phone number listed for her in Boulder.
LAFAYETTE
Judge denies release for mother’s funeral
The attorney for a 15-year-old charged with being an accessory to her mother’s killing filed a motion Thursday to allow the girl to leave her juvenile detention center to go to her mother’s funeral.
A judge, however, denied that request, said Boulder district attorney’s spokeswoman Carolyn French.
Tess Damm, 15, is charged as an adult with conspiracy to commit murder, being an accessory to a crime and tampering with evidence in the death of her mother, Linda Damm, 52.
BENNETT
It’s safe to drink the water, residents told
The tap water in Bennett is safe to drink, officials told residents Thursday.
Residents have been drinking bottled water and had been warned to boil their water for the past few days after raw sewage backed up into several homes and the town’s water main was damaged Tuesday.
The ban was lifted Thursday after the water was tested and revealed no significant bacteria.
LITTLETON
Youth minister gets 60 months for porn
William Francis, who was a youth minister at Columbine United Church in Littleton, was sentenced Thursday to 60 months in federal prison for receiving and distributing child pornography.
Francis, who is free on bond, was ordered to report April 2 to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
Francis pleaded guilty in December to two charges of receiving and distributing pornographic photos of children, according to the plea agreement.
GOLDEN
Ex-teacher gets 20 years in sex assaults
A former Edgewater Elementary School teacher received a sentence Thursday of a minimum of 20 years and up to a lifetime in prison.
John Dios Saiz, 42, was convicted in January of four counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust; two counts of sexual assault on a child with coercion; and one count of aggravated sexual assault on a child.
Saiz sexually assaulted two children, ages 7 and 9, over two to three years. The children were not his students.
COLORADO SPRINGS
One more AFA cadet added to investigation
One more freshman cadet is under investigation for cheating, bringing the total number under investigation to 37.
The cheating was reported by cadets in early February after answers to a military “Knowledge Test” were posted in personal space on a social networking site and forwarded to freshmen on a “buddy list.”
One cadet has resigned in the wake of the investigation; eight have been found in violation of the honor code by panels of their peers. Those cadets may be placed on probation or expelled.
DENVER
Flammable liquid started warehouse fire
Investigators determined that arson was the cause of the fire that broke out at the Colo-Mex Food Products warehouse Wednesday night.
A flammable liquid was used to start the blaze at 29th Street and Arkins Court, said Denver Fire Division Chief Jim Hunsaker. No arrests have been made.
Nearly 50 firefighters responded to the 9:06 p.m. fire and had it out in under an hour, Hunsaker said. No one was injured.
BOULDER
CU regents choose chair for search panel
The University of Colorado’s Board of Regents on Thursday chose Steven K. Bosley to lead the search committee for a new president to replace outgoing university president Hank Brown, who is retiring.
Bosley, a 1968 graduate of the university’s School of Business, is retired from the banking industry.
BOULDER
Street-sweeper ride results in charges
A Boulder man is facing multiple charges including drunken driving and careless driving after allegedly stealing a street sweeper and taking it on a joy ride, police said.
Twenty-nine-year-old Jeffrey Strom is also accused of aggravated motor-vehicle theft following Monday’s incident, police said. Strom allegedly told police he drove the street sweeper but wasn’t stealing it.
Street cleaner Callie Hayden told police she parked at a Boulder intersection and started walking away when she turned around and found the machine gone.
