A Colorado Springs man is in critical condition after someone beat him in the head with an unidentified object outside a bar, police said.
The man, whose identity has not been confirmed, got into a fight with several people at the Cantina Studio 719 in the 900 block of North Murray Boulevard.
The fight continued in the bar’s parking lot early Sunday, said Lt. Mark Smith of the Colorado Springs Police Department.
When police arrived, they found the man lying on the ground unconscious, he said.
The man was taken to Memorial Hospital for treatment of life-threatening head injuries, Smith said.
Investigators are trying to identify those involved in the fight as well as locate witnesses who may have seen what happened. No arrests had been made.
Cadet acquitted in rape case
AIR FORCE ACADEMY — A cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy was found not guilty of rape by a military tribunal Friday night, officials reported Sunday.
Cadet 1st Class Edward A. Salazar was also found not guilty of indecent assault, according to an academy news release.
An Air Force lieutenant testified that she was too drunk to remember an alleged sexual assault by an Air Force Academy cadet, but she said she knew it happened because of conversations she had with the cadet afterward.
The woman, who graduated from the academy in May, said she and Salazar, one of her best friends, went to a birthday party in Denver in July 2006. She said she could not remember how much she drank, but it was enough to make her pass out.
“He was supposed to take care of me,” she testified previously.
Salazar did not graduate in May, as scheduled, because of the pending case. He was the fourth cadet accused of rape since a sexual-assault scandal broke at the honor-bound institution in 2003.
Children of deceased man sought
MERCED, CALIF. — Authorities in Merced are searching for the children of a man killed in a train accident this month.
Frederick John Garcia, 47, was struck by an Amtrak train Nov. 5 on the outskirts of Merced, said John Arguelles of the coroner’s office.
Garcia moved to the area from Fresno with his girlfriend about six months ago.
Garcia has two children, including Joshua Garcia, believed to be in his early 20s, Arguelles said. The son’s last known address was in the Denver area.
Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Frederick Garcia’s family is asked to call 209-385-7369.
No bonus for schools chief
Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet failed to earn a $40,000 annual bonus because state assessment scores did not adequately improve for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, according to the school board’s evaluation released last week.
For Bennet to receive the bonus to his $160,000 annual salary, students would have had to show 5 percent improvement above proficient on the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Scores for the 2006-07 CSAP were flat.
It was the second year Bennet did not receive his bonus, and he has eschewed any cost-of-living raises, according to Alex Sanchez, DPS spokesman.
