Denver – A former clerk who handled checks for the Denver chapter of the National MS Society has been charged with misappropriating money meant for multiple sclerosis victims.
Rebecca Ann Mitchell, 48, who worked for the charity off and on between 2000 and 2006, is charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing $64,314 in donations, according to the arrest affidavit.
Checks mailed to the MS Society were diverted to the bank account of a bogus multiple sclerosis charity set up by Mitchell, the affidavit states.
Mitchell is free on $100,000 bond.
Authorities became aware of Mitchell after a car she was riding in was pulled over by a Colorado State Patrol trooper in Adams County last month. The trooper found numerous checks made out to the MS Society in Mitchell’s purse, the arrest warrant states.
Additional local news briefs:
PEETZ
Boy, 3, who died in cistern accident ID’d
Dalton J. Hunker was identified as the 3-year-old boy who died after being found in an abandoned cistern on his family’s property, according to Logan County coroner David Tennant.
Dalton was first reported missing while playing with other children during a family barbecue on Sunday night.
Authorities found the boy in the uncovered cistern with water inside about 40 yards from the family’s farm.
An autopsy was being conducted Tuesday afternoon, Tennant said.
WHEAT RIDGE
Human smuggling alleged in arrest
A Mexican man was arrested on human-smuggling charges after 10 alleged illegal immigrants were found washing up in a grocery-store restroom, police said.
Abram Calderon-Garcia, 36, is being held in the Jefferson County Jail and has an appearance today in Jefferson County Court.
Police said they were called Friday to the King Soopers store in the 3400 block of Youngfield Street on a report that several suspected illegal immigrants were spending long periods in the restroom.
Officers said they discovered that 10 people plus the driver had been traveling in a six-passenger Ford F-150 pickup.
The six men and four women, ranging from 18 to 36 years old, told police they paid the driver between $500 and $1,000 each to be transported from a Mexican village to Georgia to work on a farm.
LAKEWOOD
Careless driving cited in fatal auto collision
Binti Abdo, 28, has been cited for careless driving resulting in death in connection with a fatal traffic accident early Monday afternoon, police said.
Witnesses said that a Chevrolet van driven by Abdo failed to stop for a red light on westbound West Colfax Avenue at the intersection with Newland Street, according to police.
The van broadsided a Ford Escort driven by Sandra Gibson, 58. Police said Gibson was taken to a hospital, where she died a short time later.
LAKEWOOD
Attempted murder charged in home fire
A woman wanted for allegedly setting a fire in her home in an attempt to kill four people has been arrested, authorities say.
Nancy Jean Jewett, 47, of Lakewood was arrested late Monday night in the parking lot of a Black Hawk casino, said Steve Davis, Lakewood police spokesman.
Lakewood police obtained a warrant for Jewett last week, charging her with four counts of attempted murder, he said.
Jewett is suspected of setting fire to the family residence at 408 S. Balsam St. while members of her family slept inside.
GOLDEN
Woman arrested after husband stabbed
A 53-year-old woman was arrested at a home north of Golden for investigation of attempted murder after a relative reported that she stabbed her husband, police said.
Nancy Bautista had allegedly stabbed her husband in the back with a large kitchen knife and unplugged the residential phone line to prevent him from calling for help, according to Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies.
The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to recover, authorities said.
The victim told investigators that the woman waited almost 90 minutes before reporting the stabbing to other family members, who in turn called authorities.
Bautista faces charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and domestic violence.
