Denver – A 42-year-old Kentucky man faces federal charges after several witnesses aboard a flight from Louisville, Ky., to Denver International Airport told an FBI agent that they saw him exposed and touching himself, according to an arrest affidavit.
Alan Michael Froula of Fisherville, Ky., was charged Tuesday in federal court with unlawfully and knowingly making a lewd, obscene and indecent act on an aircraft. The incident allegedly took place Saturday on a Frontier Airlines flight.
Additional local news briefs:
MOUNTAIN VIEW
Hells Angels group sues over 2005 stop
A group of Hells Angels motorcycle riders has sued Denver and the city of Mountain View over a Sept. 2, 2005, traffic stop.
The men were stopped by a Mountain View officer in Denver, and they say they were held at gunpoint and handcuffed before being released an hour later.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court says, “The scope of the searches far exceeded any permissible pat-down for weapons and included taking papers from plaintiffs such as address books and other personal papers which were copied by the police, presumably in order to gain intelligence about the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.”
GOLDEN
Jeffco ex-treasurer weighs venue change
A change in venue may be in the future for former Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall.
Paschall, 52, of Arvada was indicted in January on two felonies in an alleged kickback plan involving a former top aide shortly before he left office late last year.
He has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial Oct. 16 on charges of attempted felony theft and compensation for past official behavior.
On Wednesday, Paschall’s attorney, David Lane, asked to have prospective jurors surveyed in a questionnaire to determine the impact of publicity about the case, saying his request was “a prelude to a venue-change motion.”
District Judge Randall Arp and prosecutor Mark Jackson agreed to the questionnaire.
DENVER
State won’t intervene in teacher dispute
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment told the Denver teachers union Wednesday it will not intervene in the labor dispute between the teachers and Denver Public Schools.
The Denver Classroom Teachers Association last week petitioned the state to take over jurisdiction of the dispute over a contract for the 2007-08 school year that is at an impasse.
The district asked the state not to get involved. State officials say both sides must ask for intervention.
DENVER
DNC hires manager for convention hall
The committee responsible for staging the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver has hired the man who will oversee operations inside the convention hall, officials announced Wednesday.
Travis Dredd will serve as the deputy chief executive managing activities inside the Pepsi Center, which is to serve as the hall Aug. 25-28.
Dredd served as deputy hall manager for the 2004 convention in Boston.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Parents claim abuse in school lawsuit
The parents of four disabled students who attended Will Rogers Elementary School in Colorado Springs filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday that says employees abused the children by placing them in a “timeout” room for hours in their own blood and urine.
District 11 school officials did not return a call seeking comment about the merits of the lawsuit, but in the past have said the allegations were untrue and “inflammatory.”
The children involved are two 11-year-old boys, a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl, all of whom had behavioral issues, the lawsuit says.
The issues came to light after attorneys and staff at the nonprofit organization The Legal Center for People with Disabilities and Older People conducted an investigation of the school in 2006.
