TWO FOUND IN SUV SHOT, ONE DIES OF WOUND
Westminster police discovered that two occupants of an SUV that slammed into the lower level of an apartment building had been shot, one fatally, early Friday morning.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash at Park Place Apartments in the 9200 block of Federal Boulevard.
Police received the call about the crash at 12:01 a.m.
“It first came in as an accident,” said Cheri Spottke, Westminster police spokeswoman.
A police officer was about five seconds away from the crash, Spottke said.
When the officer arrived, he quickly realized that a shooting led to a crash. The driver and passenger both suffered gunshot wounds, Spottke said. Police are withholding the genders of the victims for the protection of the passenger but also for investigative purposes, she said.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene while the passenger was rushed to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, she said.
Arapahoe County death ruled a homicide.
The Arapahoe County coroner has released the name of a 44-year-old man who died of a gunshot to the head and declared the death a homicide.
Erik Leon Baker was found dead on Wednesday in Aurora, according to a news release by Dr. Kelly Lear, Arapahoe County coroner.
A passerby spotted a body at 12:41 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of East 26th Avenue and North Himalaya Road, according to an Aurora police news release.
A police investigation determined that the victim had been killed more than 10 miles away in the 800 block of North Kenton Street near Interstate 70 and Smith Road.
Politician faces wrongful death suit.
COLORADO
The former head of the El Paso County GOP is facing a wrongful death lawsuit in a 2016 auto-pedestrian crash that killed a local businessman, The Gazette reported.
A complaint in 4th Judicial District Court alleges that Trevor Dierdorff was negligent in an April 2 crash that caused the death of Mel Tolbert, longtime owner of Platte Floral near downtown Colorado Springs, as he tried to cross a downtown street.
The lawsuit was filed Dec. 4 by Tolbert’s widow, Dianne Tolbert, the newspaper said.
Woman dies in fall at recreation center.
JUNCTION» Authorities GRAND say a 20-year-old woman was killed in a fall at an indoor recreation park in western Colorado.
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports Ciara Romero died at a hospital Thursday night after falling from a significant height at the park, called Get Air at the Silo.
Police spokeswoman Heidi Davidson says emergency crews were called to the park Thursday afternoon and were still performing chest compressions when Romero was wheeled out of the building and taken to the hospital.
Get Air has several indoor recreation areas, including a 70-foot climbing wall and bungee-jump that opened in March. Investigators did not release the circumstances of the accident or how far Romero fell.