THREE DEAD AS CAR VEERS INTO LAKE

GREELEY» Police were investigating an early-morning crash Monday in which a car veered off the road into a lake in north Greeley and left all three males inside the car dead. As the investigation got underway, police learned the vehicle was stolen.

According to Fire Marshal Pete Morgan, witnesses saw the car, a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder, speed off the road about 5:50 a.m. into a lake near the intersection of 47th Avenue and O Street. Fifteen firefighters responded, and by about 6:30 a.m. they were able to gain access to the lake. About an hour later, they were able to remove two people from the water and take them to North Colorado Medical Center. They rescued a third person about 8 a.m., who also was taken to the hospital.

A midmorning news release from Greeley police said all three died.

Habitual offender sentenced to 192 years in prison in shooting of good Samaritan.

A fivetime convicted felon who shot and paralyzed a good Samaritan — who was trying to help the felon’s girlfriend after she was beaten — has been sentenced to 192 years in prison.

John Walch, 35, on Friday was deemed to be a habitual offender and sentenced by District Judge Jeffrey Holmes, according to the district attorney’s office.

In June, a jury found Walch guilty of nine counts, including attempted first-degree murder.

On Jan. 8, 2015, the 52year-old victim came across a 32-year-old woman bleeding from the face on East Colfax Avenue. The good Samaritan offered to help the injured woman back to the motel where she was staying. While he was helping the woman, whom Walch had beaten, Walch went back to the motel room. They argued through the door, the news release said.

Walch later returned armed with a gun. He fired several shots through a window he’d broken, hitting the good Samaritan in the back, paralyzing him from the chest down.

State gets $1.4 million fed grant to help combat human trafficking.

A $1.4 million grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, has been awarded to the state Department of Human Services to combat human trafficking and to provide services to victims. The grant will help human services and the Colorado Department of Public Safety to develop a joint, comprehensive strategy to battle human trafficking in the state, according to the Department of Human Services. The $1,413,747 grant will also help provide recovery services to child victims and survivors. In 2015, Colorado had 93 cases of human trafficking reported, the release said. Since January, child welfare agencies in Colorado have received 139 reports concerning child sex trafficking.