Durango – A 10-year-old girl who was driving a four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle tumbled about 150 feet down an embankment Sunday in La Plata Canyon and was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries.
The girl was on an outing with her family at the time of the accident, authorities said.
Her name and the nature and extent of her injuries were not released.
“The best we could tell, the family was driving along the road, and she apparently just drove off the road and down the embankment,” said Doug Zalesky, an assistant chief for the Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Protection District.
The Durango Fire and Rescue Authority high-angle rescue team assisted with the rescue. Zalesky said about 20 responders from the Fort Lewis Mesa Fire and Durango Fire and Rescue assisted at the scene.
LOVELAND
Police standoff ends peacefully; 3 arrested
SWAT officers used gas to remove a woman who holed up in a house in the 2300 block of Firstview Drive on Monday morning after she threatened to set off an explosion using a match and a propane bottle.
Police responded to a call of criminal mischief after Jennifer Owens, 21, had allegedly broken the windows of her father’s truck.
Owens refused to comply with officers’ orders to come out of the house and police set up a perimeter around the property.
Eventually, a chemical gas was used to make her leave the home and she was arrested without further incident, police said.
People in the area were evacuated from their residences because of the bomb threat.
Two women, Cynthia Leann Novotny, 19, and Kaylene Kristine Lasart, 23, allegedly violated orders to stay away from the house during the standoff and were arrested on misdemeanor obstruction charges.
Police shot Lasart with a non-lethal bullet in the leg when she refused to comply with orders to stop approaching the house.
She was treated for the injury and along with Novotny transported to Larimer County’s detention center, police said.
GOLDEN
Man guilty of more exploitation charges
A former day-care operator already sentenced for child-sexual-assault convictions pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
Joseph Keith Renander, 30, was scheduled to go to trial Monday when he entered the plea on charges of possessing child pornography and a sexually explicit photograph of a child he knew.
He will be sentenced Sept. 20 in Jefferson County.
Renander was sentenced last year to 78 years to life in prison in a related case in which he was convicted of 19 counts of sexual assault on a child and enticement of a child. The case involved girls 3 to 8 years old.
FORT COLLINS
Death on train tracks ruled accidental
The death of an 85-year-old Fort Collins man killed when his car was hit by a train Sunday has been ruled an accident by the Larimer County Coroner’s Office.
William J. Lofink died of multiple trauma, Diane Fairman, chief deputy coroner, reported Monday.
The accident occurred at Horsetooth Road and McClelland Drive just after 3 p.m.
FAIRPLAY
Suspect in slaying wants to be executed
A man charged with killing a 24-year-old woman in a remote part of Park County says he wants to be executed.
Robert Amos, also known as Dennis Lee Cook, appeared in court Monday.
He is charged with first-degree murder in the June 26 death of Alyssa Heberton-Morimoto in an isolated part of the San Isabel National Forest southwest of Denver.
She was an intern with the Colorado Geological Survey.
The judge gave Amos permission to act as his own attorney. He is scheduled to enter a plea Oct. 5.
FRISCO
Camper stabbed; girlfriend found dead
A man who was stabbed in an apparent domestic dispute at a mountain campsite says he awoke the next morning to find his girlfriend dead.
Summit County sheriff’s officials say it appears the girlfriend stabbed the man Friday evening. Authorities say she bandaged his wound before he fell asleep. The man awoke Saturday to find his partner dead and decided to seek help.
Sheriff’s deputies responded after a hiker called 911 Saturday morning and reported a semiconscious, incoherent man lying near a trailhead.
Sheriff’s officials say there were no obvious signs of injury to the woman. An autopsy is planned.
No names have been released.
DENVER
Suspect arrested in July 14 killing
A man has been arrested in a July 14 homicide, police said Monday.
Blas Romero, 60, was shot at a home in the 1200 block of Kalamath Street.
He was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Sonny Jackson, Denver Police spokesman, said at the time.
Monday, police announced that an investigation by the homicide unit had identified Michael Angelo Cordova, 20, of Denver as a suspect. He was arrested Saturday.
Formal charges have not been filed.
GRAND JUNCTION
128-year term given in child-sex assaults
A Grand Junction man was sentenced Monday to 128 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting children at his wife’s home day-care center.
Ed Morfin, 59, was convicted in June on 33 felony counts involving five children.
Authorities said 12 victims had come forward alleging abuse between 1960 and 2003, but not all of the cases fell within the state’s statute of limitations.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Tammy Eret said Morfin’s victims included a close friend’s daughter, children in foster care and children whose parents shunned other day-care centers before choosing his wife’s.
