staging.rockymountainvoice.com

Menu

Tag: Crime & Safety

Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang linked to brutal jewel heist in Denver
No Comments
kdvr.com, Local

Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang linked to brutal jewel heist in Denver

By Julian Resendiz | Fox 31 News Federal officials in El Paso have relinquished custody of an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member they say is linked to a violent June 24 jewelry store robbery in Denver. Homeland Security Investigations special agents in Las Cruces, New Mexico, last week turned over the suspect to Denver County Sheriff’s Department staff for transfer to Colorado. HSI said the man is a Venezuelan national, a member of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organization and a “suspect in the June 24 Denver jewelry heist.” The brutal robbery caught on video shows several young men posing as clients suddenly turn on the all-female staff and clients. The robbers are seen pulling out guns, pushing open an office door and pistol whipping two women who fall onto on the f...
Read More
Council gives unanimous support to Denver’s plan to spend $3M on youth job program
No Comments
denvergazette.com, Local

Council gives unanimous support to Denver’s plan to spend $3M on youth job program

By Alexander Edwards | Denver Gazette The Denver City Council on Monday agreed to spend $4 million in an attempt to curb youth violence and support the struggling city center. A $1.5 million contract with Denver Public Schools was doubled, and $1 million will be spent to hire a planning firm to update an area plan for downtown. The city has approved spending almost $5 million this year to keep Denver’s kids occupied during the summer months, and away from crime. The city will now spend $3 million on the Denver Youth Employment Program on top of Mayor Mike Johnston’s own YouthWorks effort which, broadly speaking, has the same goals. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE DENVER GAZETTE
Read More
A year after exchange student hit and killed near school, Colorado Springs adding speed zones, crosswalks
No Comments
CBS 11 KKTV, Local

A year after exchange student hit and killed near school, Colorado Springs adding speed zones, crosswalks

By Cameron Dean | CBS 11 News Before the start of the next school year, five more schools will have crosswalks installed to increase the safety of students and pedestrians. Coronado, Pine Creek, and Sand Creek High Schools as well as Holmes and Sand Creek Middle School will all have a crosswalk and slow speed zone before students have their first day of school. City officials said they had specific parameters for choosing the next schools to add crosswalks to. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS 11 NEWS
Read More
Police: Man pulls knife, another a hammer while one was collecting ballot signatures in west Colorado Springs
No Comments
CBS 11 KKTV, Local

Police: Man pulls knife, another a hammer while one was collecting ballot signatures in west Colorado Springs

By Lindsey Grewe | KKTV CBS 11 A fight between a person collecting ballot signatures and a citizen landed both men in jail. According to police, the men got in an argument while the first suspect was gathering signatures in a business parking lot near Uintah and 19th Street Monday afternoon. Things quickly escalated from there. “The person gathering signatures pulled a knife and menaced the citizen. The citizen walked to his vehicle and retrieved a hammer, returned to confront the person gathering signatures,” a CSPD lieutenant said. READ THE FULL STORY AT KKTV CBS 11
Read More
Fentanyl, weapons, other drug seizures at northern border setting records
No Comments
National, The Center Square

Fentanyl, weapons, other drug seizures at northern border setting records

By  Bethany Blankley | The Center Square Federal agents working at ports of entry in northern U.S. cities and in small towns along the U.S.-Canadian border are continuing to thwart illegal activity. Federal agents working in Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati and in a small border town of North Dakota continue to interdict fentanyl, weapons, fake e-cigarettes and illegal prescription drugs stemming from the border crisis. In Detroit, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations agents seized nearly six pounds of fentanyl in one enforcement action at the Fort Street Cargo Facility. It was the largest seizure of its kind for the Port of Detroit, and one of the largest inbound fentanyl seizures at the northern border in the last five years, CBP says. READ THE FULL ...
Read More
Semi driver arrested in fatal Highway 285 crash had been removed from U.S. multiple times, ICE says
No Comments
9News, Local

Semi driver arrested in fatal Highway 285 crash had been removed from U.S. multiple times, ICE says

By Kelly Reinke, Angela Case | Denver Gazette (via 9News) The semi-truck driver who was arrested after a fatal crash on Highway 285 last week was in the United States without proper documentation and had previously been removed from the country multiple times, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Colorado State Patrol said Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza, 47, was arrested on vehicular homicide and vehicular assault charges after the crash Tuesday afternoon on Highway 285 near Conifer. CSP said Cruz-Mendoza's semi went off the edge of the road, rolled onto its side and dumped its load of pipe and angle iron on top of five other vehicles. The driver of one of those vehicles, 64-year-old Scott Miller of Bailey, died on the scene. Another driver suffered serious injuries. ...
Read More
Frederick police officer charged, accused of pistol-whipping suspect during arrest in Colorado
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Local

Frederick police officer charged, accused of pistol-whipping suspect during arrest in Colorado

By Jennifer McRae | CBS Colorado A Frederick police officer is facing several charges after allegedly pistol-whipping a suspect during an arrest in Colorado. The arrest and alleged assault happened on April 28. The Weld County District Attorney's Office filed criminal charges against Frederick Police Officer Trevor McCourt on Tuesday. Those charges include second-degree assault, first-degree official misconduct and reckless endangerment.  The Frederick Police Department terminated McCourt on June 6 following an internal investigation into the incident for violations of the department policy related to the use of force standards of conduct.  According to the Weld County District Attorney's Office, McCourt is accused of "striking a suspect with the muzzle of his firearm duri...
Read More
Colorado is charting a rise in potential money laundering. Could stopping it slow the fentanyl trade?
No Comments
State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado is charting a rise in potential money laundering. Could stopping it slow the fentanyl trade?

By Ernesto Cabral | The Colorado Sun Colorado money service businesses, such as check-cashing businesses and money forwarding services, filed a record number of reports last year of possible money laundering by people using their services, official data shows. In 2023, money services businesses flagged more than 22,000 transactions in Colorado they suspected were intended to convert money from crimes into usable cash, according to data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN. That’s a 40% increase from the previous year and a 1,009% surge since 2014. The increase comes as federal authorities are eyeing the role money services businesses play in allowing fentanyl dealers — many associated with the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico — to...
Read More
What’s behind Wheat Ridge’s 26% crime drop since 2021? Start with police staffing, mayor says.
No Comments
Commentary, Local

What’s behind Wheat Ridge’s 26% crime drop since 2021? Start with police staffing, mayor says.

By Mayor Bud Starker | Wheat Ridge Neighborhood Gazette Wheat Ridge has seen a significant drop in crime rates, returning to levels last observed before the pandemic. The Wheat Ridge Police Department reports a 26% overall decrease in crime since 2021, marking a substantial improvement from the spike experienced during the pandemic. A major factor in this reduction is the department’s success in recruiting high-quality candidates, even as law enforcement agencies nationwide struggle with recruitment and retention. After staffing levels dipped in 2021, WRPD is on track to add a dozen officers this year. Seven rookies graduated from the academy last December and completed over three months of field training before beginning independent patrols. Additionally, five more recruits are curr...
Read More
Under Colorado’s ‘hands-free’ device law, it cannot be primary reason for law enforcement stop
No Comments
coloradopolitics.com, State

Under Colorado’s ‘hands-free’ device law, it cannot be primary reason for law enforcement stop

By Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics Under a new "hands-free" law, Colorado drivers will be prohibited from using cellphones while driving, but it is a secondary offense, meaning it cannot be the primary reason to be pulled over. Next year, Colorado will join 27 other states in adopting a "hands-free" law, prohibiting the use of electronic devices like cellphones while driving.      Under Senate Bill 065, law enforcement officers can't stop a driver solely because they're using a phone while driving. Instead, using an electronic device while driving is classified as a secondary offense, meaning drivers can only be cited for it if they are pulled over for something else, such as reckless driving.  Drivers are permitted to use their phones while opera...
Read More