Golden – The Denver undercover police officer who hit a schoolteacher’s car Aug. 22 while chasing a suspected gang member has been cited on a misdemeanor traffic violation.
Clement Bourgeois was issued a citation Wednesday by Lakewood police for careless driving resulting in serious bodily injury. Bourgeois has a Nov. 19 appearance in Jefferson County Court.
The charge was lodged after Lakewood police consulted with the Jefferson County district attorney’s office, said Lakewood spokesman Steve Davis.
Bourgeois was driving an unmarked Dodge pickup with no lights or siren as he chased suspected gang member Manuelito Gabriel Santistevan and hit a car driven by Edith Mack.
Mack’s car flipped, and she was hospitalized with a broken hip. Mack is a tutor in English as a second language at Molholm Elementary School, which is about two blocks from the crash site.
DENVER
Alleged light-rail masher arrested
Denver police arrested a man Thursday night who is accused of groping women on light-rail trains.
The incidents started Thursday afternoon when a man grabbed a woman around the waist at the RTD Auraria light-rail station, touched her inappropriately and then kissed her, police said.
The woman reported the attack about 2 p.m. to the campus police who, in turn, notified the Denver Police Department.
A search of the area by Denver and campus police failed to locate the man, said Sonny Jackson, Denver police spokesman.
But Thursday evening, police received reports of a man doing similar things on a light-rail train in southeast Denver. Jackson said the man exited at a light-rail station in the Denver Tech Center about 9 p.m., and a citizen followed the man to a nearby hotel. Police went to the hotel and arrested the man, Jackson said.
The suspect’s name was not released.
DENVER
SkyWest flight held on baggage question
A SkyWest aircraft from Oregon was detained by federal authorities Thursday morning after it landed at Denver International Airport.
DIA spokesman Steve Snyder said TSA screeners in Eugene, Ore., searched baggage for SkyWest Flight 6649 before it left at 6 a.m., for Denver. They found something but cleared it, and the plane took off.
Later, the screeners notified Denver they had more questions about the items. After it landed in Denver, the aircraft was sent to an isolated area at DIA, the 63 passengers and four crew members were taken off and FBI agents searched the plane.
The FBI detained two passengers for questioning, according to Snyder.
The FBI determined the item was not a threat.
DENVER
DPS contract talks to resume this morning
Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association are expected to reconvene contract negotiations this morning, according to union president Kim Ursetta.
The two sides have been at odds over a contract for this school year. And the negotiations have been at an impasse since a federal mediator pulled out of the discussion.
The district has tendered a 3.6 percent cost-of-living increase, and the union wants a 4.47 percent raise.
District officials say their offer, plus yearly step increases and an extra day of teaching, is an average increase of 6.8 percent.
FORT COLLINS
Area ruled safe after chlorine-gas leak
Hazmat crews in Fort Collins were dispatched to a water-treatment facility Thursday morning after workers discovered a leaking 100-pound barrel of chlorine gas.
Employees with the Eastern Larimer County water-treatment facility at County Roads 11 and 58 reported the leaking barrel about 9 a.m., Poudre Valley Fire Authority spokesman Patrick Love said.
The leak had stopped by the time crews reached the barrel. The area was deemed safe, Love said.
DENVER
Driver in double fatality competent
A mental-health evaluation of a motorist charged with killing two teens found her competent to stand trial Thursday.
Sandra Maul is charged with vehicular homicide for the Nov. 17, 2006, accident that killed 14-year-olds Jesse Aguirre and Nhan Nguyen.
The accident happened at South Federal Boulevard near West Colorado Avenue, and prosecutors allege Maul was driving impaired by prescription drugs.
Maul will have a hearing Dec. 7 to determine if there is a plea, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney’s office.
DENVER
Petroleum Club fetes 50th anniversary
Today’s celebration of the 50th birthday of Denver’s Petroleum Club Building, 16th Street and Broadway, will be done in style, with a live band, a huge birthday cake, a vintage-car show and the opening of the structure’s 1957 time capsule at 4 p.m.
The public is invited.
ADAMS COUNTY
Pedestrian killed crossing Federal
A pedestrian crossing Federal Boulevard north of Denver Thursday night was hit and killed.
The accident happened about 8:20 p.m. The pedestrian, a woman who has not been identified, was attempting to cross Federal from east to west at West 56th Avenue.
The pedestrian was struck by a Chevrolet Blazer sport utility vehicle, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The driver of the Blazer, 40-year-old Ronald Pacheco of Denver, was not hurt.
