The man typically targeted closed businesses between midnight and 6 a.m. and broke into the shops either by cutting through lockboxes to access spare keys or breaking through the stores’ windows and doors, according to an April indictment. He then typically grabbed what cash was available in cash registers or safes and left, the indictment alleged.

The targeted businesses included retail stores, restaurants, coffee shops and food trucks in Westminster, Broomfield, Arvada, Thornton and other areas around Denver, according to the indictment. The targeted locations included a Taco Bell, Jersey Mike’s Sub, Jack in the Box and Ziggi’s Coffee, among others.

Investigators believe the man stole about $42,000 from the 75 businesses between February and November 2024 and caused about $77,000 in property damage, according to the indictment. He is also accused of stealing a license plate and attempting burglaries at five other businesses. It appeared no one was hurt in the burglaries.

The man, who is already in prison after he was sentenced in February to a six-year term for a series of business burglaries in Lafayette, is next due in court in August. He is represented by a public defender, who as a matter of policy do not comment on ongoing cases.

Northglenn police officers first noticed a driver “having difficulty maintaining their lane” headed southbound on Washington Street at about 11:50 p.m. on May 28, according to an arrest affidavit. The vehicle repeatedly swerved between lanes, and officers “became concerned the driver could collide with another vehicle if not stopped.”

The driver, later identified as Angelo Arias, stopped for officers in the 10500 block of Clarkson Street, but sped off as the officer approached his car, according to the affidavit.

“I heard the engine rev and the tires squealed as it drove quickly away from me,” an officer wrote in the arrest affidavit. That officer estimated Arias reached roughly 60 mph as he drove away in the 25 mph zone.

While walking back to his patrol vehicle, the officer heard tires screeching and a loud bang, according to the affidavit.

Arias had left the road where it turned and had driven straight into a house in the 10400 block of Clarkson Street, police said in the affidavit. Investigators found “no sign of braking” at the crash site.

The vehicle was sideways in the driveway and pinned to the brick wall of the home, where it had collided with a gas meter, according to the affidavit. The front of the car was heavily damaged, and the airbags had deployed.

Arias was found on the ground, roughly 5 feet from the driver’s side door, by the officer from the traffic stop, the affidavit stated. The officer noticed “a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from his breath,” and Arias later admitted to taking several shots of liquor and smoking marijuana before the crash, according to the affidavit. He told police that he had been driving for roughly one hour before he was pulled over.

After a witness reported hearing a girl scream before the crash, Arias told police that his girlfriend may have been in the car, but he “could not remember,” the affidavit stated.

The girl — identified in the affidavit as 18-year-old Paige Mahone — was found breathing but unconscious on the passenger floor, below the glovebox, according to the affidavit. Paramedics took Mahone to the hospital, where she later died.

A search of Arias’ car revealed several items of “marijuana paraphernalia” and an empty shooter bottle, police said in the affidavit.

Arias faces two vehicular homicide charges in the May 28 crash — one for DUI and one for reckless driving, according to Adams County court records. He will next appear in court on June 23 for a preliminary hearing.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Northglenn investigators at 303-450-8857 or dbrummel@northglenn.org.

Angelo Arias faces two vehicular homicide charges in the May 28 crash — one for DUI and one for reckless driving, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

A Northglenn police officer attempted to stop Arias near Washington Street and East 112th Avenue at about 11:50 p.m. on May 28, “after observing erratic driving behavior,” according to a .

Arias initially stopped, but then fled, police said. Moments later, he crashed into a home in the 10400 block of Clarkson Street. That block is roughly a mile south of the traffic stop.

Paramedics took Arias’ passenger, an 18-year-old woman who has not been publicly identified, to the hospital, where she died from her injuries.

The crash ruptured a natural gas line and temporarily evacuated several homes, but no other injuries were reported, police said.

Arias will next appear in Adams County District Court on June 23 for a preliminary hearing, according to court records.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Northglenn investigators at 303-450-8857 or dbrummel@northglenn.org.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Josh Lucero, 29, was arrested in March 2025 after Thornton police said he assaulted “at least one child” while he was the youth pastor at World Alive Church, where he oversaw teenagers between 13 and 18.

According to a civil lawsuit filed in Adams County District Court, Lucero is the son of Word Alive’s lead pastors and started grooming the victim when she was 15 years old and he was in his 20s.

Lucero began assaulting her in 2018 and continued until 2021, all while he was a youth pastor, the lawsuit states. Attorneys for Word Alive denied the allegations in court filings, and the case was put on hold until the outcome of Lucero’s criminal trial.

Lucero’s attorney in the criminal case, Chloe Gleichman with the Colorado Legal Defense Group, said in a statement Tuesday she is disappointed by the outcome of the trial.

“While Mr. Lucero accepts the jury’s verdict, he intends to pursue all avenues on appeal,” Gleichman said.

Word Alive officials did not respond to an email seeking comment about Lucero’s verdict.

The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the outcome of the case because Lucero has yet to be sentenced.

His sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 11.

An Adams County jury in February found Kelynn Lewis, 34, guilty of second-degree murder, attempted murder, child abuse and tampering for the Feb. 9, 2024, shooting at his estranged wife’s apartment in the 1700 block of Paris Street.

According to the district attorney’s office, Lewis’ estranged wife told him via text that he was not the father of one of their children, and he threatened to kill her the next time he saw her. Lewis went to her apartment later that day, forced his way inside and went into her bedroom, where the woman was with her cousin, 35-year-old Vatrice Little.

Lewis opened fire on his estranged wife, and Little stepped in front of her cousin to protect her as Lewis fired five more shots, according to the district attorney’s office. His wife fell to the floor and pretended to be dead, and Little was pronounced dead at a hospital. Four children, ages 9, 5, 4 and 3 were in the apartment during the shooting but were not injured.

Lewis initially was charged with first-degree murder, but the jury convicted him Feb. 13 on the lesser charge of second-degree murder.

“Vatrice Little died while trying to protect a family member from a vicious and violent attack,” District Attorney Brian Mason said in a statement. “Her courage in those final moments was extraordinary, and her loss is devastating.”

Lewis’ attorney could not immediately be reached for comment about the sentencing.

For months, public safety unions in this small suburban Adams County city of 14,000 have clashed with the city manager’s office as Federal Heights’ elected leaders have been paralyzed in trying to find a solution to the dispute.

In January, the city’s police officers and firefighters in City Manager Jacquie Halburnt, claiming there’d been a breakdown in communication over requests for staffing and equipment upgrades for their departments. Three months later, the city sacked the police and fire chiefs, announcing the decision late on a Friday.

And now there have been mounting calls from the community for Halburnt, along with the city attorney, to be put on paid leave. But those have stalled after the City Council was unable to make up its mind on what to do over several meetings last month.

At one of those meetings, which was packed with residents taking to the microphone during a public comment period, Mayor Linda Montoya said she was to be mayor following an executive session that yielded no decision on the city manager’s fate.

All of the drama in this working-class community — wedged between Westminster and Thornton and less than 2 square miles in size — has longtime resident Jim Fenimore, 70, feeling despondent. And he’s not the only one.

“They’re frustrated, they’re completely disheartened about it — they have no confidence in the city,” he said of the dozens of fellow Federal Heights residents who have shown up at council meetings this year. “They’ve lost hope.”

Federal Heights Cmdr. Jason Schlenker, who until recently served as president of the police department’s union, said the trouble started last fall. An officer was injured when a squad car was rammed by a suspect who exchanged gunfire with police.

The late-September confrontation prompted the already-strained police department to request more support from the city manager’s office, Schlenker said. And crime reports in Federal Heights accelerated across several categories from 2024 to 2025, , with a nearly 21% jump in domestic violence cases and a whopping 82% leap in sexual assaults over that time.

“We were just asking for more resources and more officers,” Schlenker said, hoping to pump up the patrol officer headcount from 17 to 22. “She just ignored us.”

In January’s no-confidence vote, the unions for both the fire and police departments wrote in a statement that communication between first responders and the council “was strictly prohibited by the city manager.” Requests to boost staff or update safety equipment “were intentionally prolonged or simply never communicated to the City Council,” the joint statement said.

Attempts to communicate with the council or mayor about the requests, the statement read, were “met with the threat of retaliation.”

Manager disputes underfunding claims

Halburnt has been , working as the city’s top administrative official. She declined to grant an interview to The Denver Post for this story.

In a written response to emailed questions, she said she was “unaware of requested resources that haven’t been provided to the Police and Fire Departments.”

She cited in the police department’s budget recent funding to pay for four new police officers, at a cost of $560,000; the purchase of three new Chevy Tahoe police vehicles, for $300,000; and improved lighting and additional carports at the police building, also for $300,000.

On the fire side, Halburnt wrote that this year’s budget calls for a new fire marshal and two new fire trucks at a cost of more than $2.5 million total. The budget also sets aside $375,000 for a new ambulance, she said.

“The additional police and fire personnel were budgeted out of the city’s reserve fund,” Halburnt wrote. That will work for a few years, she added, but isn’t sustainable in the long run without “offsetting revenue.”

Overall, she wrote, “things are stable and we continue to operate and grow.”

“I, and the mayor and City Council, have always been supportive of the police and fire departments,” she wrote. “They play a vital role in the safety and well-being of the city, providing essential emergency response and protecting lives and property.”

Halburnt wouldn’t comment on why Police Chief Robert Grado and Fire Chief Marc Mahoney were let go early last month. Attempts last week to reach several members of the council, including the mayor, were unsuccessful.

Adams County District Attorney Brian Mason says he doesn’t see the stability in the city’s emergency services departments that Halburnt insists is there.

“I’m concerned about public safety in Federal Heights,” he said in an interview with The Post. “I’m concerned about stability in the police department in Federal Heights.”

Grado, who was chief for nearly 2 ½ years, showed “exceptional leadership,” Mason said, especially in the wake of a failure by the Federal Heights Police Department to investigate serious felony cases over a four-year period, including sexual assaults on children, shootings and suspicious deaths.

Mason’s office produced a 30-page report on the shortcomings at the police department in late 2023.

“He helped to turn that department around,” Mason said of Grado’s efforts over the last couple of years to address the backlog. “My concern now is that there’s going to be backtracking. I don’t understand why (Grado) is not there anymore.”

Former police chief files complaint over firing

Deputy Chief Karl Ballard was appointed as interim police chief following Grado’s departure, while Finance Director Tim Weitzman was tasked with overseeing operations at the Federal Heights Fire Department, according to an internal email obtained by The Post.

The former police chief told The Post that he filed a complaint letter over his termination, which he described as “unfair.”

“It has been devastating to my family financially,” Grado said of his dismissal. “I have had a lot of success in Federal Heights. It was a very troubled department when I arrived.”

Grado served for 12 years on the Regional Transportation District’s police force, five of those years as chief, before . Earlier, he was an officer with the Monument Police Department for 20 years.

Ken Murphy, who served on the Federal Heights council for nine years, said fortifying employment at the police department is critical to maintaining public safety in the city.

“The more presence of police you see, crime will go down,” he said. “If we had the right staffing and the right equipment, these guys could do their job.”

Murphy, who is married to the mayor, said he was on the council when Halburnt joined the city 14 years ago.

“Which was a big mistake,” he said of her hiring by the council.

Murphy, 67, speculated that much of the council was “afraid” of the city manager, explaining its unwillingness to place her on administrative leave. In the meantime, he said, he worries about what is happening to the civic soul of Federal Heights as the controversy drags on.

“From the outside looking in, it looks like a dictatorship,” he said. “No city should ever be ruled by one person.”

The business of Federal Heights will continue as usual on Tuesday, with the gaveling in of the next council meeting. , as of Friday, was a fiber-optic agreement, a sewer manhole lining project, and the appointment of a planning and zoning commissioner.

There was no mention of the city manager and her employment status.

Lumumba Sayers Sr., 47, was found guilty of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and attempted tampering with evidence. He was acquitted of menacing.

Prosecutors had charged Sayers with first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life prison sentence. But the jury convicted him of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, which is typically punished with between 16 and 48 years in prison.

His sentencing is set for July 24 in Adams County District Court.

Jurors found Sayers Sr. shot and killed 28-year-old Malcolm Watson at a pool party for Watson’s son in Commerce City’s Pioneer Park on Aug. 10, 2024. Prosecutors alleged Sayers Sr. killed Watson to avenge the death of his son, Lumumba Sayers Jr. — who was killed in a shootout in Five Points in 2023 — because Sayers Sr. believed Watson was connected to his son’s death.

Jurors received the case late Thursday after a nearly two-week trial and began Friday’s deliberations at 9 a.m. They reached a verdict around 12:40 p.m. Monday. In court Monday, Sayers Sr. sat with his hands folded in front of his face, palms together, after the verdict was read.

Sayers Sr., who ran the , an anti-violence organization in Aurora, attended an event sponsored by Denver nonprofit immediately before the killing. He drove from the anti-violence rally in Montbello to Pioneer Park, where surveillance video showed him park and walk toward Watson. The man was shot and killed seconds later, just out of the video’s frame.

Multiple witnesses said Sayers Sr. walked up to Watson, greeted him and then shot him at close range. Sayers Sr. said he greeted Watson, heard a second person greet Watson, and then heard gunshots. His defense at trial was that another man who was present that day killed Watson.

Sayers Sr. was armed with an unregistered handgun, which he is seen on video brandishing immediately after the killing. He told jurors that he carried the gun in his pocket for protection — despite not having a concealed carry permit — and that he pulled the weapon after he heard the shots. His gun was not the weapon used to kill Watson.

Prosecutors alleged the murder weapon was an untraceable 3-D printed or kit-built “ghost gun” that was never found. They theorized that Sayers Sr. gave the gun to the other man, who then left the scene. Surveillance video shows the man running up to Sayers Sr. after the shooting, having a brief conversation with Sayers Sr. at his vehicle and then running away carrying what appears to be a covered-up object, testimony revealed.

During the trial, Sayer Sr.’s defense attorney, Megan Downing, focused on differences in the witnesses’ accounts and sought to show the physical evidence in the case did not line up with their descriptions. She suggested that the witnesses subconsciously decided Sayers Sr. must have shot Watson in an attempt to make sense of the situation, but suggested they did not actually see what they testified they saw.

The trial brought some surprise testimony, with both prosecution and defense witnesses offering information for the first time on the stand and denying that they made earlier statements to investigators.

The supposed connection between Watson and the murder of Lumumba Sayers Jr. was explored several times in testimony but was consistently poorly defined, with witnesses suggesting that talk on the streets tied another man to the killing, and that Watson was that man’s cousin. Prosecutors said that Sayers Sr. was interested in revenge on the entire “East Side” and had been obsessed with his son’s killing.

Sayers Jr., 23, was killed in 2023 in a shootout in Denver’s Five Points that involved at least eight shooters. The exchange of gunfire at 28th and Welton streets on Aug. 19, 2023, killed both Sayers Jr. and 25-year-old Gulian Musiwa. Two women — Sayer Sr.’s daughter and the mother of Watson’s children — were also wounded in the 2023 attack. Both women witnessed Watson’s killing a year later.

Lumumba Sayers Sr., 47, testified that he did not kill 28-year-old Malcolm Watson at a pool party for Watson’s son in Commerce City’s Pioneer Park on Aug. 10, 2024. Sayers Sr. is charged with first-degree murder, menacing and two counts of tampering with evidence in the slaying.

Prosecutors alleged that Sayers Sr. shot and killed Watson to avenge the death of his son, Lumumba Sayers Jr. — who was killed in a shootout in Five Points in 2023 — because Sayers Sr. believed Watson was connected to his son’s death.

Sayers Sr. testified Wednesday that he had no problem with Watson and that he did not shoot him.

“Me and Malcolm was cool,” he said. “He had nothing to do with my son.”

Sayers Sr. arrived at the park where Watson was killed at 4:55 p.m., then parked and walked toward Watson seconds before the man was shot five times. Surveillance video showed Sayers Sr. approach Watson, but did not capture the attack, which was just out of frame.

Multiple witnesses testified earlier in the trial that Sayers Sr. walked up to Watson and said, “What’s up, homie?”  Watson responded, “What’s up?” and then Sayers Sr. shot Watson multiple times from a close distance, witnesses said.

Sayers Sr. testified Wednesday that he addressed Watson with a nickname, saying, “What’s up, little PM?” and that Watson responded, “What’s up?” and then Sayers Sr. heard a third voice say, “What’s up (racial slur)?” immediately before the shots were fired.

“I heard the shots and I stumbled back, and he fell, and then I pulled my protection out of my pocket,” Sayers Sr. said, referring to his gun.

Sayers Sr. was unable to identify the third voice and said he did not see where the shots came from.

On cross-examination, Sayers Sr. admitted that he had not told any detectives about the third voice during the initial investigation, even though he had described greeting Watson, Watson’s response, and the sound of gunshots.

“You never mentioned there was a third person,” prosecutor Laura Anderson said.

“I just told them what was on my mind right then,” Sayers Sr. testified.

“And this third party was not on your mind right then?” Anderson asked.

“It was so — I just watched Malcolm get shot. I literally just watched this kid get shot. I literally had to live through that. I’m still processing the fact that this happened,” Sayers Sr. said.

Sayers Sr. testified he began carrying a gun after his son’s death because he was concerned for his own safety as he carried out anti-violence work through his Aurora organization, the . He was illegally carrying the gun in his pocket on the day of the killing without a concealed carry license, he acknowledged on the stand.

Sayers Sr.’s gun was never fired that day. Investigators believe Watson’s killer used an untraceable 3-D-printed or kit-built “ghost gun” to carry out the attack. That weapon has never been found.

Prosecutors allege Sayers Sr. shot Watson, then passed the gun to another man who left the crime scene with the weapon. Surveillance video shows the man running up to Sayers Sr. after the shooting, having a brief conversation with Sayers Sr. at his vehicle and then running away carrying what appears to be a covered-up object, testimony revealed.

Sayers Sr.’s defense attorney, Megan Downing, alleged that the other man shot Watson and ran away with the weapon. Earlier in the trial, she pointed to a bystander who, according to a police report, heard that other man shout, “I got you, (expletive)!” after the shooting.

On the stand, the bystander, who did not know anyone involved in the shooting, said she actually heard the man shout, “We got you, (expletive)!”

The other man was never charged with a crime in connection with the homicide. Detectives investigated him for potential charges related to tampering with evidence, but could not develop enough evidence to support charges, testimony at trial revealed.

On the stand Wednesday, Sayers Sr. also explained to jurors his actions after the killing.

Two witnesses testified that they saw Sayers Sr. attempt to rub an ammunition magazine on Watson’s hand after the shooting. Audell Thomas, who had two children with Watson and was standing beside him when he was killed, recorded Sayers Sr. kneeling over Watson’s body and rifling through his clothing moments after the attack.

Thomas got into a scuffle with Sayers Sr. when he tried to take the phone from her, she testified.

Sayers Sr. testified Wednesday that he rifled over Watson’s body because he was looking for a $15,000 gold necklace that Thomas grabbed from his neck during that scuffle. He testified he found the necklace under Watson’s hand and believed Thomas had planted it there.

Sayers Sr. also testified that he had no idea Thomas was recording him, even though she stood feet away and told him he was on video and that he was going to go to jail. He said he tried to take the phone from her because he mistakenly believed it was his own phone.

Earlier in the trial, Thomas offered surprise testimony that Sayers Sr. invoked his son’s name after the killing.

“I said, ‘You killed my baby dad,’ and he responded and said, ‘What about Lumumba?'” she testified during her cross-examination.

Thomas testified that she’d told investigators about that detail before the trial. But the lead detective on the case later testified that her statements in court were the first time she’d made that claim.

Sayers Sr.’s testimony will continue at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Adams County District Court.

Ricky Roybal-Smith, 38, pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree murder and DUI in the Denver case, a deal that dismissed the original first-degree murder charge, according to court records. Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen sentenced Roybal-Smith to 56 years in prison during the disposition hearing, which will run concurrently with his other prison sentence, court records show.

“In just over two days in metro Denver, Ricky Roybal-Smith murdered three men in cold blood,” . “Today’s sentence, alongside severe sentences in Adams County, ensures that Roybal-Smith will spend the rest of his life in prison, which is where he belongs given his horrific and senseless crimes.”

Roybal-Smith strangled his cellmate, Vincent Chacon, in Denver’s Downtown Detention Center after being arrested in connection with a hit-and-run on June 30, 2025, police said. He was already in custody there when Aurora police linked him to the two fatal stabbings that happened on June 29, 2025.

The Aurora victims, 27‑year‑old Jesse Shafer and 61‑year‑old Scott Davenport, were both found dead with dozens of stab wounds, police said.

Roybal-Smith took a deal and pleaded guilty in March to two counts of second-degree murder in the stabbings, which dropped two charges of first-degree murder from his case, according to court records. Adams County District Court Judge Brett Martin sentenced Roybal-Smith to 40 years in prison for each of the men’s deaths, court records show.

Ricky Roybal‑Smith, 38, was accused last summer of murder in three separate deaths. One victim was Roybal-Smith’s strangled cellmate in Denver’s Downtown Detention Center — where he was being held on suspicion of careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident — and two others who were stabbed to death in northwest Aurora, police said.

Roybal‑Smith was arrested in Denver for the hit-and-run on June 30, 2025, and Aurora police later linked him to two stabbings that happened on June 29, 2025.

The man took a deal and pleaded guilty to two charges of second-degree murder in the Aurora stabbings, which dropped two counts of first-degree murder, according to Adams County court records.

Adams County District Court Judge Brett Martin sentenced Roybal-Smith to 40 years in prison for each of the men’s deaths during a Monday morning arraignment hearing, court records show. The victims, 27‑year‑old Jesse Shafer and 61‑year‑old Scott Davenport, were both found dead with dozens of stab wounds on June 29, 2025.

Police used surveillance footage and witness interviews to piece together the timeline and identify Roybal‑Smith as the suspect who attacked and killed both men before fleeing the area, according to a news release from the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. He was already in custody at Denver’s Downtown Detention Center when Aurora police sent out a “be on the lookout alert” to other law enforcement agencies.

Investigators first connected the two stabbings because they were similar and happened near each other on the same morning, Aurora police said. Both victims were homeless at the time of their deaths, police said.

“These were horrific, senseless murders and the defendant will now spend the rest of his life behind bars,” 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason said in a statement. “Jesse Shafer and Scott Davenport were killed in acts of extreme violence carried out within a short time of each other. Today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable for the lives he took and for the fear and trauma he inflicted on our community.”

Roybal-Smith is scheduled to appear in Denver District Court on April 9 for a disposition hearing in the case of his cellmate’s death. The man alerted jail deputies that his cellmate, 35-year-old Vincent Chacon, was choking and needed help in the early morning of June 30, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Chacon died before paramedics arrived, and detectives found marks on the inmate’s neck that indicated it was more likely he had been strangled to death than that he choked to death on food.

Roybal-Smith previously pleaded guilty to vehicular assault charges in 2016 after leading Littleton police on a high-speed chase that ended with the man crashing into a parked SUV, according to previous reporting. Royal-Smith was sentenced to 12 years in prison for seriously injuring a person and avoiding arrest, but was released on parole in 2022.

He was arrested while still on parole for swinging a filet knife at a fellow customer in a Walmart store in Englewood and sentenced to four years in prison for felony menacing, police said. Roybal-Smith was released early on parole in January 2025.