Tera Johnson-Swartz, a 45-year-old Castle Rock woman who taught at STEM School Highlands Ranch, took a deal and pleaded guilty to child sex exploitation in January. The deal dropped several other charges from her case, including second-degree kidnapping, sexual assault with a 10-year age difference, unlawful electronic sexual communication and sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, court records show.

Douglas County District Court Judge Ryan James Stuart sentenced Johnson-Swartz on March 12 to 14 years in prison, according to a .

“Douglas County has some of the finest teachers in Colorado. I know, because — like many parents in our community — I have entrusted my four kids to be taught by them,” District Attorney George Brauchler stated in the release. “This warning is coming from the DA and a parent: if a teacher in our community exploits their position of trust with our kids for their own lascivious desires, we will seek to change their life forever.”

Johnson-Swartz’s employment at the Highlands Ranch school ended on Feb. 14, 2025, after her relationship with the 16-year-old student was uncovered, sheriff’s officials said.

Johnson-Swartz would buy the student cigarettes and let the student “take a hit” off her marijuana pen, according to the grand jury indictment. Their relationship was discovered when the student¶¶Ňőap phone was confiscated by their parents and the student¶¶Ňőap mother found thousands of texts to and from the former teacher, many containing sexually explicit content, according to the indictment.

The trash truck dropped “a hot load” at an unspecified location south of Franktown, which sparked the 1,081-acre Dahlberg fire, according to an update from the . The update did not specify why the truck dropped the load.

Dry vegetation and up to 20 mph winds allowed the flames to spread quickly, county officials said. The fire was first reported near Dahlberg and Lake Gulch roads at 12:39 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 8 miles south of Franktown and 8 miles east of Larkspur.

More than a dozen homes and the nearby Cherry Valley Elementary School were evacuated, but no property damage was reported and residents were able to safely return home, sheriff’s officials said.

The fire was fully contained Tuesday evening, sheriff’s officials said in a 4:54 p.m. post on social media. Crews remained on scene overnight to mop up hotspots and ensure high winds didn’t rekindle the flames.

Douglas County wildfire chars more than 1,000 acres south of Franktown

But unlike an initial version of the law that was made public in December, the county will levy no fines on retailers for failing to do so — instead leaving any decision about punishment to a local court.

The called for fines of $50, and all the way up to $1,000, for businesses that failed to report a crime. That caused some unease in the business community that Douglas County was overreaching.

Commissioner Abe Laydon said during the business meeting Tuesday that the ordinance was not meant to punish retailers but to keep the community safe.

“This is the most prosperous county in the state of Colorado — we don’t want us to become a target for organized crime,” he said. “When we tolerate organized retail theft, we normalize lawlessness.”

The increased the time — from 24 hours to 96 hours — that businesses will have to report a theft. It also allows a retailer to report a crime via an online form rather than have police called to the scene.

That was enough to allay concerns from Chris Howes, the president of the Colorado Retail Council. In an attempt to make the measure more palatable to local businesses, he said his organization had some “fruitful discussions” with the county after the law was first unveiled.

“We don’t feel it punishes retail,” he said. “The focus on retail crime is overall going to be a benefit to us.”

District Attorney George Brauchler said he wants to get the message across that “we do not tolerate thieves.”

“If you come here to steal from us, plan on staying,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “Business owners and citizens alike should know that we will continue to protect their property rights.”

Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said the ordinance is aimed at combating the recent trend of retail outlets, especially large ones, . The measure holds employers accountable for policies that discourage the reporting of theft and that might result in retaliation against an employee who does report a crime.

“When corporate policies prevent or discourage the reporting of theft, it limits our ability to investigate, identify patterns and hold offenders accountable,” Weekly said in a statement. “(This ordinance) reinforces the importance of timely reporting and evidence preservation while focusing on corporate entities rather than individual employees.”

The new measure takes effect April 4.

Parker Police Department officials on Thursday announced had resigned Feb. 13 while under investigation for an “alleged incident” that agency leaders learned about on Jan. 7. The department would not provide any other information about what Brienzo is accused of doing or which outside agency is investigating him.

But a partial screenshot of an undated letter from the 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office shared on multiple social media sites states Brienzo was placed on administrative leave for allegedly violating town and police department policies related to sexual harassment, the , prohibited activity, disciplinary action, standards of conduct and supervisory roles.

The Denver Post has confirmed the letter’s authenticity. The 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office was required to send the so-called Rule 16 letter, or Brady letter, because Colorado laws require prosecutors to disclose information about officers to defense attorneys when it could affect a criminal case.

Brienzo was an , according to a 2024 social media post by the Parker Police Department.

The program works with teenagers and young adults between 14 and 20 years old to help them “gain insight into law enforcement programs that offer hands-on career activities,” agency officials wrote on the program’s page.

Brienzo also participated in the program when he was younger, the department said in a .

The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the case, and Parker police spokesperson Josh Hans said the department was “unable to share any additional information at this time” in response to questions about the allegations and the agency conducting the investigation.

Parker Police Chief Jim Tsurapas said in a statement the allegations run “counter to this department’s mission and values and tarnish the very badge we wear.”

Tsurapas added the case is being taken seriously and is under active investigation.

“It will continue through the appropriate processes to ensure transparency, accountability and to maintain the community’s trust,” he said.

Officials from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Lone Tree, Castle Rock and Aurora police departments said their agencies are not involved in the investigation.

Brienzo was featured frequently on the department’s social media, including when the CCV Rotary Club of Parker named Brienzo the officer of the year in 2025. In a Facebook post about the award, the Parker Police Department wrote that Brienzo is “a force of positivity, resilience and unwavering dedication.”

Brienzo is still certified as a police officer on Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training database, though his profile notes he is not employed and resigned while under investigation.

Andrew Sanders, 40, is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, assault and obstructing a peace officer, all misdemeanors, as well as careless driving and failing to stay in one lane, both traffic infractions. He has since been fired.

Sanders was arrested Feb. 7 after a Parker Police Department sergeant saw his truck weaving between lanes on southbound Jordan Road, north of Mainstreet, at around 7:52 p.m.

After the sergeant pulled him over, a Parker police officer took over the case and reported Sanders stumbled as he walked to the sidewalk and had glassy eyes and slurred, slow speech, police wrote in the report.

Sanders refused to do a roadside sobriety test and repeatedly told an officer he didn’t understand a statement about Colorado’s expressed consent laws regarding blood and breath tests.

Police obtained a warrant to get a blood sample from Sanders, who repeatedly said he didn’t consent and had to be restrained by police so HCA HealthOne South Parker ER staff could take his blood, according to the affidavit.

When an officer looked at her watch while waiting for a jail transport, Sanders told her, “Yeah, look at your watch, (expletive)” and spit at her, police wrote.

The fired Sanders on Friday. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

He was released from jail on a $1,000 bail and is set to appear in court Tuesday.

Andrew Charles Sanders, 40, was arrested by Parker police officers near the intersection of Jordan Road and Bradbury Parkway the night of Feb. 7.

“I am deeply disappointed and disturbed by the arrest of one of our employees and the serious charges he is now facing,” Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said in a statement. “The alleged conduct is disgraceful and stands in direct opposition to the values, integrity and professionalism we demand of every member of this agency.”

Sanders’ arrest is noted on his profile in the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training database, state records show.

He was released from jail on $1,000 bail and is set to return to court  Feb. 24.

Jalin Seabron, 23, died after shot at him nine times while responding to reports of an active shooter at Main Event, striking him with seven bullets in the back and side. Seabron was not the shooter, but he was armed.

Seabron had pulled the gun out to defend his friends and family, who were celebrating his birthday with him at the arcade, 64 Centennial Blvd., according to the lawsuit.

Moore “unreasonably and recklessly charged into the scene, … without adequately evaluating the situation, utilizing a position of cover, or waiting for backup,” the lawsuit alleges. The deputy fired all nine shots within 15 seconds of arriving in the Main Event parking lot, his body camera video showed.

“H±đ˛â!” . “Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Now! Drop it!”

A woman can also be heard in the video, crying out for Moore not to shoot.

The warnings to drop the weapon happened over roughly three seconds. When Seabron didn’t immediately respond and turned his head toward Moore, not appearing to raise his weapon from his side, the deputy started shooting.

“At the time Moore opened fire, Mr. Seabron still had his back to the deputy and had just barely started to turn his head in reaction to the yelled commands,” the lawsuit stated.

Moore “wrongly assumed” Seabron was the shooter and shot him without “verifying whether Mr. Seabron actually posed a threat, or providing Mr. Seabron a reasonable opportunity to comply with commands,” the lawsuit alleges. Seabron didn’t have time to process the orders, let alone obey them, the document claims.

George Brauchler, the 23rd Judicial District Attorney, declined to file criminal charges against Moore in April 2025, after a month-long investigation into the police shooting by the district¶¶Ňőap critical incident response team, according to a he sent to Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly.

The deputy gave Seabron several commands to drop his gun, but the commands all happened within three seconds, according to the decision letter. Moore did not verbally identify himself as law enforcement, and did not use his sirens while responding to the scene, the letter confirms.

State law allows a police officer to forgo that announcement if they believe doing so “would unduly place peace officers at risk or would create a risk of death or injury to other persons,” Brauchler said during an April news conference.

The shooting inside the Highlands Ranch arcade started as a fight in the bathroom between Seabron’s stepsister, 23-year-old Nevaeha Crowley-Sanders, and a friend she had known since high school. Authorities said Crowley-Sanders pulled out a handgun and shot at the 22-year-old victim, her friend, eight times.

Crowley-Sanders was assaulted by a group of women in the restroom and fired her gun in self-defense, ending the altercation, according to the lawsuit. The woman shot by Crowley-Sanders survived her injuries, and Crowley-Sanders was charged with attempted murder.

The first calls to 911 about the shooting came in just before midnight on Feb. 8, 2025.

When Moore arrived, roughly 90 seconds later, “no one was running, as the shooting itself was over,” the lawsuit stated. Seabron had his gun in his hand to defend himself and his group against a woman involved in the bathroom fight who had come outside after, also armed with a gun that she pointed at Seabron.

“It was clear there was no active or ongoing threat,” the lawsuit alleges. “It was apparent that the person Deputy Moore killed was not the shooter.”

The civil lawsuit filed Monday in Douglas County District Court is seeking compensation for Moore’s use of excessive force and battery causing wrongful death. Moore is listed as the sole defendant in the complaint.

Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly joined with 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler to argue that the state law unduly limits law enforcement officers’ discretion to block applications for , a visa set aside for non-citizen victims of crime who cooperate with law enforcement and meet other conditions.

Crime victims seeking U visas must have their — that is, local officials must state that the applicants were victims of qualifying crimes and that they are helping in the investigation or prosecution of those crimes.

Federal immigration officials make the final decisions on whether or not visa applications are granted. Under federal law, victims seeking U visas must show that they have suffered physical or mental abuse due to a qualifying crime that happened in the U.S., they possess information about that crime, and they have been helpful or will be helpful to the prosecution.

No more than 10,000 U visas can be issued in any given year nationwide.

In 2021, to require that state officials consider only a victim’s helpfulness and whether they were subject to a qualifying crime when deciding whether to certify a victim’s application for a U visa. The state law also requires that officials consider a victim to be helpful unless there is documentation that the victim refused to cooperate with the case.

The that local officials are not responsible for determining whether victims meet all of the qualifications for a U visa, and instead are only responsible for certifying the applications.

Brauchler and Weekly claim in the lawsuit — filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver — that the state law conflicts with federal law and violates their First Amendment rights.

“I don’t think the state has the authority to order me to sign federal documents attesting to certain facts,” Brauchler said.

Brauchler declined to certify a U visa application in June because the victim’s claim of domestic violence fell outside the statute of limitations and could not be prosecuted, according to the lawsuit. Under state law, he should have passed that application on to federal immigration authorities, he claimed, because there was no documentation that the victim had not cooperated with authorities.

“What the state has done is to interpret for me what cooperation means,” he said. “So instead of me being able to suggest, ‘You can’t be helpful for me because you waited too long to bring this crime forward,’ they say, ‘You don’t get to consider this, George. You have to consider them helpful.'”

Brauchler argued that the law strips him of the discretion allowed under federal law and regulations.

“It has converted this very scarce, very valuable resource for fighting crime into a golden ticket to stay in America if you suggest you are a victim of crime,” he said.

He acknowledged that a law enforcement certification does not mean a victim’s visa application will be approved by federal authorities, but said the state law forces him to certify applications for people whom he believes should not receive U visas.

“We now flood ICE with a whole bunch of applications for them to sift through and to try to figure out how to prioritize, instead of calling our shot and saying, ‘This application actually matters to us,'” he said. referring to .

Legislators also set deadlines in the 2021 law within which Colorado officials must act on certification requests and required agencies to report data on certifications and denials to the state.

Between 2019 and 2025, 55 Colorado law enforcement agencies and district attorneys’ offices reported receiving 1,368 requests for U-visa certifications, according to records kept by the . The agencies signed off on 1,118 of those requests — approving about 82%.

Local officials most frequently denied requests because the applicant was not a victim of a qualifying criminal activity, the records show, and also denied requests because victims did not demonstrate helpfulness with the prosecution or investigation.

Neither the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office nor the 23rd Judicial District has submitted data on their offices’ certifications and denials to the state, the records show.

The 23rd Judicial District, which includes Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties, was created in January 2025 and so could not have reported the prior year’s data, Brauchler noted. He said the office will meet this year’s March 1 deadline for doing so.

A spokeswoman with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the agency’s lack of data.

James “Jim” Christopher Thomure, 57, of Centennial was arrested in June 2024 after a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigation found he sexually assaulted a student while the two were alone in a classroom together.

Thomure, who began working at the Douglas County School District in 1999, was put on administrative leave after his arrest and resigned in July 2024.

Thomure pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child, a felony, and misdemeanor child abuse during a court hearing Wednesday. One count of child sex assault was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Thomure is free on a $20,000 bail, according to court records. His sentencing is set for April 3.

Harvey Jacobs, 54, was found unresponsive in his bunk shortly after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, as a deputy made routine medical rounds at the jail in Golden, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

The deputy, jail medical staff and paramedics attempted CPR and “other life-saving efforts” for nearly 40 minutes, but they were unable to resuscitate Jacobs, according to the sheriff’s office. He was declared dead at 9:18 a.m. Tuesday.

Jacobs was arrested by Douglas County sheriff’s deputies and booked into the Jefferson County jail on Dec. 1 for a contempt of court charge related to a driving while ability impaired case, according to the news release. He was being treated for preexisting medical issues while in custody, sheriff’s officials said.

Jefferson County officials did not specify what medical conditions Jacobs was being treated for.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office will determine the man’s cause of death.