PINECLIFFE
Teen missing after fall while scrambling
A 17-year-old is missing after he fell into South Boulder Creek while climbing a nearby rock face Thursday.
The boy and friends were scrambling – climbing without any gear – in Pinecliffe when he fell about 6 p.m., according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials said the boys did not have cellphone service at the site and had to hike out of the area to call 911.
“They saw him fall and were able to show where he went in, but obviously the water swept him away,” said Cherokee Blake, spokeswoman for the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s a tragic incident; it’s a rough area with water running high and fast with all the runoff.”
Boulder Creek empties into Gross Reservoir.
Twelve agencies, including the Boulder and Gilpin counties sheriff’s offices, looked for the boy after he was reported missing about 6 p.m.
Divers were in the water until 9 p.m., and searchers and dogs continued to look for the boy until 10 p.m. Thursday. The search is scheduled to resume at 6 a.m. today.
Officials are withholding the identity of the teen until he is found.
DILLON
Longest ski season in state ends Sunday
Arapahoe Basin Resort will close for the summer at the end of the day Sunday, ending the longest ski season in the state.
The ski area, which became the earliest in the nation to open Oct. 13, will have offered a total of 234 ski days and still has ample top-to-bottom snow coverage.
“It’s time. We have things to do this summer,” said ski-area spokeswoman Leigh Hierholzer, alluding to a terrain expansion slated for Montezuma Bowl. “It was a great season. It was a very successful season.”
ARVADA
Shot cabbie still in critical condition
A cabdriver shot in Arvada remained in critical condition Thursday as police continued to search for his attacker.
Police found Janusz Kondracki, 45, with a gunshot wound when they were called to a condominium complex in the 6000 block of Yarrow Street.
It is unclear what connection, if any, the victim had to the suspect, police spokeswoman Susan Medina said.
An ambulance rushed him to St. Anthony Central Hospital after the 2 a.m. Wednesday shooting, and he was conscious when he left the scene, Medina said. The victim is a Metro Transportation employee in Denver.
DENVER
Chilean charged with first-degree murder
Chilean immigrant Freddy Aguilera-Zamora was charged Thursday with killing Britt Mackay, his 26-year-old ex- girlfriend. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey charged the 31-year-old Aguilera-Zamora with first-degree murder.
On May 23, Denver police went to an apartment near East Warren Avenue and South Marion Street on a report of a suicidal person.
They located Aguilera- Zamora, who was injured. After finding the suspect, officers obtained additional information that resulted in their searching Mackay’s apartment in the 2200 block of South Josephine Street, where they found her body.
The charge alleges that Aguilera-Zamora murdered Mackay after learning that she wanted to end their relationship.
DENVER
Search nets firearm, bombmaking material
A search of the Denver apartment of a man accused of firebombing seven sport utility vehicles in Cherry Creek resulted in the recovery of a gun, firebombmaking material, four laptop computers, and books and pamphlets, Denver fire investigators said in a search warrant filed Thursday.
Investigator Leif Skulborstad said the home of Grant Barnes was searched after one of his friends told police Barnes had called her from jail and asked her to clean out his apartment, including “seemingly insignificant items.”
She also told investigators that Barnes, 24, is into radical belief systems and possibly the Earth Liberation Front, which has a history of torching SUVs.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
2005 home-invasion suspect is convicted
The last of six men involved in a 2005 home-invasion robbery in Littleton was convicted Thursday.
A jury found Man Loa Luong, 26, guilty of two counts of second-degree kidnapping, one count of first-degree burglary, six counts of aggravated robbery, second-degree assault, theft of more than $15,000 and 12 violent-crime counts.
Early on March 15, 2005, six men from California and Hawaii burst into the south Jefferson County home, duct-taped the hands of the homeowners and their daughter and pistol- whipped the father.
The six made off with more than $100,000 in money and jewelry. Luong was stopped at the airport with co-conspirator Charles Slater when a Transportation Security Administration agent found money, jewelry and black ski masks during a random search, prompting suspicion.
Luong will be sentenced July 16. He faces 77 to 240 years in prison. Four of the six men are already serving their sentences.
DENVER
Supervisor for city, county workers quits
The man in charge of Denver city and county employees abruptly resigned this week.
Career Service Authority director Don Cordova is pursuing a career in the private sector, spokeswoman Kathy Maloney said.
“We are going to miss him at CSA and throughout the city – as a leader, as a colleague and as a friend,” she said.
In an e-mail, Cordova called his time as director “a labor of love.”
“I am proud of the efforts of my staff, and hope the employees of the city will benefit from our efforts for years to come,” he said.
