Colorado
Man wanted in at least 1 Denver bank robbery captured in Massachusetts
DENVER – A man has been charged with robbing a Denver bank last March after he was picked up on unrelated charges in Massachusetts.
Paul Brennan, 58, faces one count of aggravated robbery with a gun for allegedly robbing the 1st Bank, located at 275 S. Federal Boulevard, on March 26, 2016.
Brennan fled the bank after the robbery, but a teller at the bank believed he was the same man who robbed the same bank in December 2015.
The Denver Police Department obtained a warrant for Brennan’s arrest for the robbery in April, but he disappeared.
On Feb. 24, Brennan was picked up on unrelated charges by Weston (Mass.) police, and notified DPD and the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
Brennan is still currently being Middlesex County jail, but is expected to be returned to Denver to face charges “within the month,” according to a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Larimer County jail employee resigns amid investigation into accessing of victim database
LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. – A Larimer County Sheriff’s Office worker assigned to the jail resigned Monday amid an internal investigation into allegations she revealed a victim’s information to the suspect in their case.
Bethanie Williamson, 37, resigned from the sheriff’s office on Monday and faces a class 2 misdemeanor of committing a “computer crime.”
The alleged incident happened Jan. 25 during a disturbance in the jail’s day room.
The sheriff’s office says inmates from separate housing areas were in the same day room, which is against jail policy. The sheriff’s office says it found one of the jail employees had violated inmate movement procedure, and it launched an internal investigation.
The guard in question, later found to be Williamson, had gone onto the Colorado courts website and found the contact information of a victim of one of the inmates, whom the sheriff’s office says was in the room while Williamson allegedly accessed the database.
“The employee had no legitimate business reason to access the information,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
But the office also said that investigators contacted the victim whose information was accessed and found that it was not used for any malfeasance.
Williamson resigned Monday and was issued a criminal summons for her charge. She started working as the jail as a non-certified deputy in February 2007.
“When it comes to maintaining records, deputies have access to sensitive information they are not authorized to release to the general public even if that information can be obtained from other sources. If a deputy violates internal policies or certainly the law, they will be held accountable,” Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said in a news release.
He added that Williamson’s alleged actions “do not reflect the values and principles” of the rest of the sheriff’s office.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Ballot selfie bill in Colorado one vote from governor’s desk
DENVER – A bill that would eliminate the penalty for Coloradans who take a “ballot selfie” could be among the first bills in the 2017 General Assembly to reach the governor’s desk.
House Bill 1014 passed its second Senate floor reading on Wednesday without further amendments. It will have one more floor review before a final vote. The bill passed the House on Jan. 31.
The issue was taken to court ahead of November’s election, and a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction that kept the state attorney general and district attorneys from prosecuting people who took or posted a picture of their completed ballot.
The Colorado rule was first written in the 1890s and has been reinterpreted over the past century.
The new bill changes one of those modifications, created by the Uniform Election Code of 1965 and Election Code of 1992, by eliminating language that prohibits voters from showing their completed ballot to anyone.
But it would still still give county clerks and polling center workers the ability to restrict photography at polling centers. Inducing any voter to show someone how they voted would still be against the law, should the bill pass.
The bill, as modified by the House during its second reading, would create a new offense that would penalize people for trading votes or offering such. They would face a misdemeanor charge.
The third Senate floor session has yet to be scheduled.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Former Littleton Schools, Regis educator charged with sexually assaulting minor in late ’90s
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. – A former teacher and principal for Littleton Public Schools who also worked as an assistant professor at Regis University faces child sexual assault charges stemming from incidents that allegedly happened in the late 1990s.
Michael Camelio, 70, was arrested Tuesday on five counts of sexual assault on a child – position of trust.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office says a woman recently came forward to report she was allegedly assaulted as a minor. Court documents show the alleged assaults happened between July 1996 and February 1998 and that the victim was aged 15-18 at the time.
The court clerk told Denver7 the arrest affidavit for Camelio is sealed and can’t be released.
Camelio worked in various positions within Little Public Schools from 1982 to 2002. He served as the director of education and principal of Mark Hopkins Elementary from 1982 to 1988, then taught computer science at Newton Middle School from 1988 to 1995.
He then moved to Powell Middle School, where he taught until 2002.
That year, he left the district for a job at Regis University. A 2013-14 faculty booklet shows Camelio was employed as an assistant professor at the university’s School of Education, though his LinkedIn page says he left the university in 2012.
Camelio’s LinkedIn page says he was a consultant and owner at Littleton-based Creatively Affordable Marketing from 2012 to the present day.
A protection order was granted against Camelio in the case on Wednesday as he made his initial court appearance.
His next court appearance is set for April 5. The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information about the alleged crime or any other incidents involving Camelio to contact Investigator Melinda Schubert at 720-874-4042.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner talks marijuana, Russian meddling, health care in telephone town hall
DENVER – Colorado Senator Cory Gardner answered questions from 12 Coloradans ranging from marijuana to health care and the administration’s executive orders on immigration in a 45-minute telephone town hall Wednesday morning.
The telephone town hall was an olive branch to frothing constituents who have demanded in recent weeks that the Republican senator hold in-person town hall meetings with his constituents, despite most of his fellow Colorado Congressmen also refraining from doing so. Continue reading
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner to host telephone town hall meeting amid uproar
DENVER – Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner is holding a town hall meeting with constituents after all – he just won’t be there in person.
Gardner, Colorado’s Republican senator, announced Monday he would be holding the first of what he says will be several telephone town halls on Wednesday, March 1 at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time.
It had originally been scheduled for 10 a.m., but was rescheduled Wednesday morning. A stream of the call can be heard here.
“Throughout the year, I’ll be hosting live telephone town halls. During the interactive meetings, you’ll hear from me regarding updates on the work I’ve been doing for fellow Coloradans, and I’ll talk about issues important to my constituents,” a post on Gardner’s website says. “In addition, you will have the opportunity to ask me questions on the phone and online.”
The senator has been under fire for more than a month in Colorado after comments about people protesting at his office being “paid” to do so, but the fervor intensified last week after he spent the week in the state at various meetings with business leaders and others.
But he didn’t show up to a handful of town hall meetings planned by organizers and constituents to discuss a wide range of topics, including health care, energy and President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
One of the town hall meetings used a cardboard cutout of Gardner in his absence.
“Over 14,000 people have signed a petition requesting a meeting; hundreds of people have either called or protested outside his office requesting the same. But so far, Senator Gardner has said no,” said Katie Farnan, a lead organizer with Indivisible Front Range Resistance who organized the town hall.
Gardner’s camp issued a statement on his behalf last week regarding his meetings in Colorado saying he “had the opportunity to meet with and speak to hundreds of Coloradans and discuss issues ranging from the challenges facing the agriculture community to reforming our health care system,” in part.
Gardner is a former U.S. House member who narrowly defeated Democrat incumbent Mark Udall for the senate seat in 2014 by a 48.5 to 46 percent margin.
He has so far voted with President Donald Trump in each possible confirmation or vote, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Colorado’s other senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, also has held no town hall meetings this year.
To sign up to participate in Gardner’s telephone town hall, click here.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Mother of deaf Myanmar refugee killed by RTD train: ‘My heart is broken’
AURORA, Colo. – The family of a deaf refugee from Myanmar who was killed Feb. 19 by an RTD train during testing on the new R Line says it is heartbroken over his death, which his family says may have been preventable.
Saw Eh, 35, died after he was hit by the train while it was being tested earlier this month. RTD and Aurora Police Department spokespeople have both said Eh walked passed crossing gates and onto the tracks, where he was struck.
But his family says that since he can’t hear or read English, that he did not heed the flashing lights at the crossing gate.
Eh’s mother, Kyin Shwe, spoke to Denver7 Tuesday. She and her family came to Denver as refugees from Myanmar six years ago. Myanmar has sent more than 5,000 refugees to Colorado since 1997, and the country has sent the third-most refugees to the state, compared to other countries, since 1980.
Shwe says her family is suffering greatly after her son’s death.
“I couldn’t even explain the suffering that I’m going through right now,” she said through an interpreter.
She had gone to church that day, and came back to find the rest of her family distraught.
“When I came back from church, I saw a lot of police were in that location,” Shwe told Denver7. “When I came home, his father told me, ‘Your son’s left for a long, long time.’”
She says police confirmed her worst fears.
“I cried a lot,” Shwe said. “They told me, ‘That train accident killed your son.’”
She said that Eh was very helpful around the house and at his church despite his disability.
“He was very honest and very obedient,” Shwe said of her son.
His family says Eh crossed the same train tracks every day at 30th Avenue and Peoria Street, but likely thought there wasn’t a train coming despite what RTD says were warnings.
“Him being deaf, he would assume there was no train coming because before the lights, the arms were flashing and there was no train coming,” said Eh’s brother-in-law, Antonio Turner. “He was assuming that there was no train coming when the lights were going – it’d be just like normal.”
After he was struck by the train, Eh was pronounced dead at University of Colorado Hospital. The Adams County Coroner’s Office says his manner and cause of death is still pending.
The RTD R Line opened days after the accident.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Colorado’s elected officials, political organizations react to President Trump’s speech to Congress
DENVER – Colorado politicians and political organizations reacted swiftly to President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress Tuesday night.
Here is a roundup of some of the responses received by Denver7:
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.
“Tonight, President Trump outlined his plan to tackle our country’s challenges. I am encouraged that he prioritized strengthening our economy and boosting job creation as well as addressing our broken health care system. Equally as important, the President highlighted the increasingly complex security threats we’re facing around the globe, including Iran and ISIS. After eight years of a failed foreign policy that led to emboldened regimes and instability in the Middle East, it’s critical that the United States stands up to its adversaries and stands by its allies.
“While headlines may reflect polarization, I remain convinced that more unites us than divides us. Our shared love and respect for democracy continues to make America the greatest nation on earth. Our country is still one that strives to inspire, innovate, invent, and above all – promote and create opportunities. I’m committed to working with this Administration on behalf of Coloradans to strengthen our country and make it easier for every American to succeed.”
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
“I am pleased the President condemned the recent hate crimes and attacks on Jewish community centers and cemeteries. Such actions have no place in the United States or anywhere else.
“I have long said I will work with anyone to rebuild our infrastructure, fix our broken immigration system, educate our children, protect our environment, reduce our debt, and repair our health care system. In the days ahead, I hope the President will start the hard work of building consensus and leave the campaign behind.”
Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo.
“The president’s address was a reminder that America is strong when we stand together and work to achieve common goals. We all want a robust economy, affordable and accessible health care, safe communities, and a better future for our kids. Tonight, the president laid out what his governing vision is for America – much of which Republicans in Congress have already started working on as part of our Better Way Agenda.
“We’re repealing and replacing Obamacare with a health care system that lowers costs, increases choice, and ensures all Americans can access the health services they need. We are taking steps to roll back the federal overreach that has plagued small business owners and entrepreneurs over the last eight years, because a vibrant Main Street is critical to a strong economy. We are also working towards streamlining and simplifying our tax code, so businesses will feel confident investing in the United States and Americans can keep more of their hard-earned money.
“We’re at a pivotal point in our nation’s history, and I look forward to continuing the work that will advance policies that benefit the families of the Third Congressional District of Colorado.”
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo.
“I’m eager to work with President Trump to advance conservative policy,” stated Congressman Ken Buck. “Tonight he called for lower taxes for the middle class, a roll back of excessive regulations, a better healthcare system for Americans, and safety and security for our communities. It’s time for America to once again be optimistic.”
Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
“For the past month, President Trump and Republican leaders in Congress have been giving us platitudes and promises, but no real plans on anything from health care to immigration to education and beyond. Meanwhile, the president’s actions speak louder than any number of grand pronouncements he made this evening. His draft budget is completely out of line with U.S. values and long-term interests. He talks about things that will be wildly expensive, but then offers no way to pay for them but vague assurances of tax cuts. These things sound great in a speech, but the reality has set in: As president, you have to put in place workable policies.”
Colorado Republican Committee Chairman Steve House
“Finally, a president came before the American people to speak plainly and honestly about the future of our great country. Tonight, President Donald J. Trump outlined an optimistic and bold vision for our country that crosses party lines.
“President Trump has now set lawmakers on a clear path to improve our nation’s health care, protect our borders, require tax and regulation reform and ensure the future of American exceptionalism.
“Since January 20th, President Trump has been fulfilling the promises he made to the American people at a record-setting pace, including bringing back American jobs and nominating a mainstream conservative to the Supreme Court. This evening, he expanded on his plans to pass an aggressive agenda that will solve real problems for real people, make sure every American who needs a good job gets one, and put our nation’s security first.
“It is my sincere hope Senator Michael Bennet and the Democrats will join with President Trump to help fix the problems of this country and Make America Great Again.”
ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Ian Silverii
“The only thing saving our nation from the abyss today is the fact that Donald Trump is having trouble keeping his promises,” said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Ian Silverii. “The first month of Trump’s administration has been an historic disaster, as Trump has lurched from crisis to crisis within his administration, only partially successful in his plans to attack abortion rights, working people, immigrants, and clean water. Trump has abandoned his promises to help American workers compete in the global economy, and instead signed our government over to the same Wall Street kingpins who plunged the nation into recession less than a decade ago.”
“President Trump’s false claims about the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, do not comport with the experience of millions of Americans who have gained coverage from President Obama’s signature health care reform law,” said Silverii. “Today, the polls show Americans have finally come to understand the benefits of Obamacare, and Americans have rejected the years of misinformation from the Trump and Colorado’s Sen. Cory Gardner. No replacement for the Affordable Care Act introduced by Republicans would protect as many Americans as the Affordable Care Act, and eliminating the key protections and coverage benefits in the Affordable Care Act could deprive millions of Americans of the care they need. For too many, Trump’s cavalier dismissals of their need for care are a life-or-death proposition.”
“It is inconceivable that Donald Trump, a man who has spent so much time and effort demonizing immigrants, could ever deliver workable comprehensive immigration reform–and Trump failed to articulate anything but a vision of greed and contempt tonight on immigration,” said Silverii. “Trump’s unconscionable attacks on Latin American immigrants and refugees from war-torn nations around the world, which continued in tonight’s address to the shock of many in the chamber and millions watching, have left him completely alienated from the communities he needs to buy in to any immigration reform plan. Expecting immigrant communities to trust Trump after his disparagement of them as violent criminals and terrorists would is impossible.”
“Tonight, President Trump tried the same tricks that he used on the campaign trail last year, and failed,” said Silverii. “Trump is full of grand empty promises to working people, but his actions so far have proven that he doesn’t care about America’s working families or the middle class. The campaign is over, and Trump is learning that being President is more than stringing words together. Tonight’s speech just demonstrated once again that Trump is not up to the job.”
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Denver DA’s Office reorganizes units for specific focus on juvenile diversion program
DENVER – The Denver District Attorney’s Office is reorganizing its juvenile and drug courts units to make a separate juvenile court unit staffed by attorneys who have expressed interest in working with youth offenders.
As of Wednesday, Denver’s Juvenile and Drug Courts Unit will split into two departments. Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has appointed Deputy District Attorney Courtney Johnston to head the new Juvenile Unit. Several other deputies will work under her.
The DA’s Office says the Juvenile Unit will continue to work to divert first-time offenders from the justice system. McCann says she wants to expand that program, wants to include 18-to-26-year-old offenders in the program, and is looking into diversion programs for people before they are booked.
The office says the juvenile unit will also continue to prosecute cases in Denver Juvenile Court and that the Drug Court Unit would continue its normal activities.
Johnston and others appointed to her position after she vacates it will serve a minimum of five years in the position. The deputy attorneys will serve at least three.
Johnston has several years of experience at the Denver DA’s Office and has also worked with youths in Mississippi and Georgia.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.
Summitville Mine in southwestern Colorado gets $1M in Superfund grant money
DENVER – An old mining site in southwest Colorado has received $1 million in Superfund grant money from the Environmental Protection Agency to continue water treatment at the site.
The Summitville Mine, located in Rio Grande County, has been under the purview of the EPA and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment since 1992.
Mining at the site began with gold and silver mining around 1870. It continued for more than 100 years, when Summitville Consolidated Mining Corp., Inc. started large-scale open-pit mining operations using cyanide to retrieve the metals from the rock.
A leak in the pad used to leach out the precious metals was discovered in 1986. The company abandoned the site shortly thereafter and filed for bankruptcy at the end of 1992, when the EPA took the site over for cleanup operations.
Over the next two decades, the EPA and state worked extensively to contain the leak and start rehabilitating nearby land and waterways, including the Alamosa River and Wightman Fork.
Construction on a hydroelectric power system at the site got underway in 2008, and $17 million in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds received in 2009 helped the completion of the water treatment plant at the site.
The $1 million in new Superfund grant money will go toward continuing water treatment at the site.
The site is one of 24 EPA Superfund sites in Colorado.
Sign up for Denver7 email alerts to stay informed about breaking news and daily headlines.