Washington – U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter raised nearly $264,000 in his first quarter as a congressman.
Perlmutter, a Golden Democrat elected to his first term in November, took in $152,147 from individuals and $111,750 from political action committees, according to a report covering the first three months of the year.
Perlmutter spent $70,286 and had $226,458 cash on hand at the end of the period.
Eight different political action committees each gave Perlmutter $5,000 – the biggest contribution allowed by law. Three of those came from labor unions representing steel workers, food and commercial workers, and aircraft owners and pilots.
The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the political action committee of CH2M Hill Companies of Englewood and the Federal Express PACs each gave $5,000. AmeriPac, which largely gives to conservative Republicans, gave $5,000. Bridge PAC, a Democratic leadership committee, also gave $5,000.
James Crowe, chief executive of Level 3 Communications, gave $2,300, as did Level 3 executive Donald Gips.
Former Denver Mayor and Clinton Cabinet member Federico Peña gave Perlmutter $500. Attorney Thomas Strickland, who twice ran against Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., also gave $500.
The total from Colorado was $147,450, and $78,053 came from Washington, D.C.
FREDERICK
Spouse sole suspect in wife’s stabbing
Police believe a 25-year-old Frederick woman was fatally stabbed by her husband after they argued, according to a police affidavit released Friday.
The husband, Daniel Bejarano, has been questioned but not charged in the case. But the affidavit, written to obtain a search warrant for the couple’s home, makes clear that he is the only suspect in Jessica Bejarano’s April 6 slaying.
When her brother-in-law stopped by the couple’s home that afternoon, he found their two children, ages 2 and 4, inside, crying. He also discovered Jessica Bejarano lying nude in a shower stall in the home’s bathroom with an apparent stab wound in the chest, police said.
The couple’s 4-year-old daughter first told police that a “black man had shot mommy,” the affidavit said. But later in the interview, she said, “Daddy shot mommy with a knife.” She also drew a picture of her father holding a knife. The girl said her parents had been fighting over a hole in the drywall in the bathroom, police said.
The investigation is ongoing, said Weld County district attorney spokeswoman Jennifer Finch.
LAKEWOOD
Alcohol may be factor in 5-vehicle collision
Alcohol may have been a factor in a five-vehicle collision involving a wrong-way motorist on U.S. 285 that left three people injured and blocked lanes on the route for several hours, the Colorado State Patrol reported Saturday.
The collision occurred at 9:50 p.m. Friday on U.S. 285 at South Pierce Street.
According to the State Patrol, a pickup driven by Jason Osborne, 21, of Littleton crossed the median of U.S. 285 and was heading east in the westbound lanes when the truck crashed head-on into a minivan driven by Gabriel Hernandez, 33, of Denver and also hit a car driven by Stephen Serazio, 46, of Littleton.
Vehicles driven by Robert Pasco, 65, of Evergreen and Brian Birch, 49, of Golden were unable to avoid the crash scene and struck the three other vehicles, the State Patrol said. All drivers were alone in their cars.
Osborne and Serazio sustained serious injuries and Hernandez suffered minor injuries. All were taken to Swedish Medical Center, the State Patrol said. Pasco and Birch were not injured.
A State Patrol statement said Osborne could face charges in the crash. Toxicology test results are pending.
DENVER
Man fatally shot; cops hunt suspects
Denver police searched Saturday for two men in connection with a shooting Friday night in the 3200 block of Olive Street.
Officers responded to a call at 10:30 p.m. and found a male who had been shot. The man died at 11:05 p.m. at Denver Health Medical Center, said Denver police spokeswoman Virginia Quiñones.
Police said they were looking for two black males last seen driving a white, older-model car with four doors that was traveling southbound on Olive Street.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Five cops suing city over wages, OT
Five Colorado Springs police officers are suing the city and its Police Department for allegedly failing to pay them properly. The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, claims that the city failed to pay wages and overtime compensation that officers are entitled to under federal law.
The city government “routinely discourages (police officers) from submitting requests for overtime compensation or overtime slips for compensation for off-the-clock work activities,” the lawsuit said.
Those activities include “donning and doffing” specialized gear such as bulletproof vests and inspecting vehicles.
Denver police officers filed a similar lawsuit earlier this year and police unions nationwide are making similar cases, citing a 2005 Supreme Court case involving meat cutters in which justices ruled time spent putting on safety equipment counts as work.
