DENVER – A former narcotics sergeant with the Denver Police Department faces several felony drug charges related to an illegal marijuana operation.

Hubert “Marty” Vanover, 53, faces marijuana or concentrate possession with intent to distribute, methamphetamine possession and both felony and misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana or concentrate.

Neighbors complained to Denver police over the summer about the odor of marijuana coming from Vanover’s house in the 4900 block of South Field Way.

As officers were conducting a warrant search of the home on Sept. 22 when they allegedly found at least two pounds of marijuana, as well as methamphetamine and a pipe, according to a probable cause statement for Vanover’s arrest.

The statement says Vanover drove by as officers were at the home. He was pulled over and arrested.

DPD fired Vanover in June 2014 after his badge was revoked when he was charged with threatening to kill his girlfriend, according to Denver7’s news partners at the Denver Post. But after the department’s order, he continued to use his badge in certain instances and lied to internal affairs investigators.

Vanover has since posted a $2,000 personal recognizance bond and was released from custody. He is next scheduled for formal advisement on the charges Oct. 21.

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. – The “creepy clown” fad sweeping the nation appears to have found a new home in Colorado in the past week.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office posted a note to Facebook Wednesday afternoon saying its deputies had to investigate a report of a person dressed in a clown costume Tuesday night near the Bellview School.

The sheriff’s office had a bit of fun with the post, saying sarcastically that deputies “were not at all spooked by responding to a school that looks like a castle, surrounded by corn fields, in the dark, during the Halloween season.”

“Deputies were thankful that at the end of the shift they would be sleeping during the day, in the light,” the post continued.

The sheriff’s office never found the supposed clown, who was allegedly dressed in a green shirt and wearing a green wig.

But the clown threat wasn’t so funny earlier this week, after people in Greeley were shaken up when posts made their rounds on Facebook saying clowns were going to shoot-up Northride High School and Franklin Middle School.

A 15-year-old female student now faces criminal charges for that threat.

The FBI says it is now investigating the clown reports streaming in from across the country.

DENVER – The Denver Police Department has opened an internal affairs investigation after one of its Mounted Patrol Unit horses had to be put down Wednesday morning after being left tied up in a stall.

The horse, named “MC Hammer,” was taken to a veterinarian Tuesday with symptoms of colic, a gastrointestinal condition caused by a buildup of gas or an obstruction within a horse’s intestines.

DPD says the 10-year-old horse was left tied in a stall after being on-duty Monday afternoon. The decision was made to put MC Hammer down Wednesday morning.

The horse had been with the department since last November.

DPD says the internal affairs investigation will work to find if there was negligence that led to the horse being put down.

The department said it could not release further information because the investigation remains ongoing.

DENVER – A man already facing murder charges who was shot by Denver police at the end of July now faces felony escape charges after trying to get out of custody at Denver Health Medical Center last week.

Darius Ratcliff, 20, was being escorted by police to the hospital on Sept. 23 when he tried to run, though he was captured just seconds later.

He was already being held without bond on a murder charge stemming from a November 2015 shooting on Bannock Avenue that killed one person and injured several others.

Ratcliff also faces charges from a September 2015 shooting on Colorado Boulevard and a June 2016 burglary at a marijuana dispensary, the Denver District Attorney’s Office says.

Ratcliff was shot by police July 31 after he fled a traffic stop near East 35^th Avenue and North Olive Street.

It’s unclear at this time why he was being taken to the hospital.

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. – The man killed trying to run across I-25 near Thornton last Friday was allegedly running from loss-prevention officers at a nearby store after he was accused of shoplifting.

The Adams County Coroner identified the man Monday as 27-year-old Gabriel Danish, of Northglenn.

A Thornton police spokesman told Denver7 Wednesday loss-prevention officers at Home Depot had confronted Danish, who ran off.

The spokesman said the workers didn’t chase him, but called police and watched as he ran from the parking lot and was hit and killed on I-25.

The crash closed down the northbound lanes of the interstate for hours right at peak rush hour Friday.

BOULDER, Colo. – The teen accused of beating a Lefthand Canyon woman nearly to death last week will be charged as an adult Wednesday amid a fight to get his arrest affidavit released to the public.

Jeffrey Collins, 16, will be charged with attempted first-degree murder and assault on an at-risk person Wednesday in Boulder District Court. He remains held on a $1 million bond.

Collins is accused of beating Katie Kulpa, 71, with a fire poker after she offered him and two other teens hitchhiking in the area a ride.

Collins appeared in juvenile court last Friday, but the district attorney then decided to charge him as adult.

Denver7’s news partners at the Boulder Daily Camera requested and obtained Collins’ affidavit Monday, but Collins’ attorney motioned to seal the file in the case since Collins is a juvenile.

And though the DA’s Office had already sent the affidavit to the Daily Camera, a judge presiding over the case ordered the paper not to publish it and scheduled a hearing for Tuesday.

The Daily Camera’s attorney argued in court Tuesday that since the affidavit was obtained through the proper channels, forcing the paper not to publish its contents constituted unconstitutional prior restraint and argued the order violates the First Amendment.

The judge in the case has yet to rule on the order, but it remained in place after the hearing. It is unknown when a ruling on the defense’s motion will be made.