LAKEWOOD — Police responding to a melee last week involving as many as 35 teens did take precautions to protect students at O’Connell Middle School while a search for suspects was underway, authorities reviewing the incident said Saturday.
Although an officer drove onto grass near the school during a chase Tuesday, he was going less than 10 mph and no middle-school students were on the grass at the time, said Stacie Oulton, Lakewood police spokeswoman.
In addition, two officers were posted west of the school to push four fleeing suspects who initiated the huge brawl away from the school, Oulton said. A resource officer also notified school officials by radio about the fight so precautions could be taken, she said.
School officials had said they wished to speak with police about safety concerns regarding the chase.
A police sergeant will speak with school officials, Oulton said.
Woman, 20, killed, two injured in U.S. 36 rollover
BENNETT — A 20-year-old woman was killed and two other people were seriously injured when a car rolled early Saturday morning on U.S. 36 near View Ridge Drive in Bennett, authorities said.
The identities of the three victims, believed to be from the Byers area, have not been released pending notification of family members, said Sgt. Candi Baker, spokeswoman for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
A 19-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man were taken by helicopter to local hospitals, Baker said. The extent of their injuries was not known, she said.
Two of the people inside the car were thrown out when the car rolled at 12:57 a.m., Baker said.
It does not appear that anyone was wearing a seat belt, Baker said.
Judge: Frankstown decision can proceed
DENVER — A Denver judge denied a motion Friday to block the secretary of state from deciding whether Frankstown in Douglas County should be considered abandoned.
But John M. Evans, an attorney for residents seeking to keep the town alive, said he admonished state officials that they might not have jurisdiction to decide whether the town should be ruled abandoned.
Douglas County has asked Secretary of State Mike Coffman to rule 10 towns, including Frankstown, abandoned because they have not had an election in at least five years.
Frankstown is trying to have an election and residents are appealing a Douglas County judge’s ruling that they can’t have an election because the town is abandoned, Evans said.
Big Thompson land for sale
FORT COLLINS — Larimer County is auctioning two parcels of land it acquired after the deadly Big Thompson flood of 1976.
The land is among 153 parcels the county got after the flood that killed 145 people and caused $41 million in damage.
The county puts the properties up for auction only if adjacent property owners or direct descendants of the original owners aren’t interested in it.
Both parcels now up for sale measure about eight-tenths of an acre. They’re on the north side of the Big Thompson near Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch west of Loveland.
Minimum bid is $5,200. The deadline for submitting sealed bids is 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
