Author: Colleen Slevin
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Jury convicts 3 Denver homeless of violating camping ban
DENVER — Three advocates for the homeless were convicted Wednesday of violating Denver’s camping ban, one of many that have been enacted in rapidly gentrifying cities across the country. Jurors deliberated for about three hours before convicting Randy Russell, Jerry Burton and Terese Howard, who were sentenced to probation and community service. The three, who…
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Colorado strip club operator accused of exploiting dancers
DENVER — A Colorado company that owns over a dozen strip clubs around the country is facing a federal lawsuit over allegations that it exploited its dancers by requiring them to pay fees in order to work. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Denver, alleges that the clubs, including PT’s Showclubs in Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana…
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Denver slaying suspect supports Islamic State
DENVER — A former U.S. soldier accused of shooting and killing a transit guard in downtown Denver last month says he is a supporter of the Islamic State group, but investigators say they have not found evidence the terror group had anything to do with the killing. In a telephone interview Thursday from Denver’s jail,…
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Colorado mother of 4 takes refuge in church to avoid deportation
CENTENNIAL — A Mexican woman trying to avoid deportation took refuge in a Denver church Wednesday after U.S. immigration authorities denied her request to remain in the country, the latest case to rattle the immigrant community as the White House promises to boost enforcement. Jeanette Vizguerra skipped her scheduled check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement…
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Police: Motorist killed drove in front of Denver train
DENVER — Authorities are investigating whether the motorist hit and killed by Denver’s airport train before dawn Tuesday intentionally pulled his van front of it, police said. The unidentified man drove past a police officer guarding a rail crossing in suburban Aurora about 3:50 a.m. and onto the first of two sets of tracks before…
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Guilty plea entered in Colorado pot-candy killing case
DENVER — A Denver man who claimed that eating marijuana-infused candy led him to kill his wife pleaded guilty in her death on Friday. Richard Kirk, 50, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the April 2014 shooting death of Kristine Kirk under a plea deal with prosecutors, who dropped a first-degree murder charge against him.…
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Man charged with murder in Denver transit guard killing
DENVER — A man accused of walking up behind a Denver transit guard and shooting him on a street corner was charged with first-degree murder on Friday as authorities said they continued to investigate the slaying. Joshua Cummings, 37, was advised of the charge filed against him in the death of Scott Von Lanken during…
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Judge asks US to reconsider passport for intersex Colorado resident
DENVER — A federal judge on Tuesday asked the U.S. State Department to reconsider its decision to deny a passport to a Colorado resident who does not identify as either male or female and refused to check a box for one of the genders on the passport application form. U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson…
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Report: Cities, including Denver, passing more laws making homelessness a crime
HONOLULU — Cities across the country are enacting more bans on living in vehicles, camping in public and panhandling, despite federal efforts to discourage such laws amid a shortage of affordable housing, a new report said. Denver, which ordered about 150 homeless people living on sidewalks to clear out their belongings Tuesday, was among four…
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Colorado surgery tech sentenced for stealing drug
DENVER — A surgery technician who jumped from hospital to hospital around the West after getting hooked on fentanyl while serving as a medic in Afghanistan was sentenced to 6 ½ years in federal prison on Monday for stealing a syringe with the powerful painkiller from an operating room in suburban Denver. Rocky Allen pleaded…