SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY THREATENED RESIDENTS

A man who was wanted after allegedly menacing residents with a knife and starting a fire near a home on Friday turned himself in a day later thanks to the use of social media, a spokesperson for the Englewood Police Department said Sunday.

Investigators say Gerrick Wood, 26, reportedly went into a home in the area of South Fox Street and West Bates Avenue at about 10 a.m. Friday and threatened a man with a knife.

As police arrived to respond to the call, they noticed smoke coming from a garage to the west of the home and called the Englewood Fire Department to come and assist with putting out the blaze.

Moments later, according to police, Wood got into a confrontation with a different man at The Foundry Apartments, just two blocks away from the first incident. In this encounter, the suspect also threatened the man with a knife.

On Sunday, the Englewood Police Department said Wood had turned himself in thanks to the community, who shared information through the NextDoor app.

Rocky Mountain National Park seeks public’s help in elk poaching cases.

Rocky Mountain National Park officials are seeking the public’s help as they investigate two incidents of elk poaching over the weekend.

Saturday morning, park visitors reported a dead bull elk next to Trail Ridge Road near the Ute Crossing Trail south of Forest Canyon Overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park. Park rangers determined the large bull had been killed Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Previously, on the morning of Sept. 12, rangers found a large bull elk that had been poached on Trail Ridge Road near Milner Pass. The elk was killed overnight or early that morning. The bull’s head had been severed and the carcass remained.

Rangers are asking anyone with information on those incidents or other incidents related to wildlife poaching to call or text the National Park Investigative Services at 8886530009 or call Operation Game Thief at 18003324155. Information can be reported anonymously.

Park rangers also are asking for any photographs taken of bull elk near Milner Pass. Email those to nps_isb@nps.gov or post on the park’s Facebook page at RockyNPS.

Driver of stolen motorcycle dies in crash after escaping from police in Commerce City. A man

who police say stole a motorcycle in Commerce City died after colliding with a vehicle about a halfmile from where he was first spotted by law enforcement.

Police said they found a reported stolen motorcycle in the area of 72nd Ave. and Monaco Street just before 9 a.m., but when they tried to stop the driver, the man sped away. Officers decided not to chase him.

A short time later, Commerce City residents reported a crash had taken place about five blocks west, in the area of 72nd Ave. and Ivy St. Police were told a motorcyclist collided with a vehicle in that intersection.

The man was declared dead at the scene. Investigators did not release the condition of the person driving the vehicle.

Police say this is the eighth fatal crash in that city this year.

Evacuations ordered as Wyoming fire moves toward highway.

JACKSON,

WYO.» Authorities ordered more than 250 residences in western Wyoming evacuated Sunday after a wildfire spread toward a state highway that offers one of the only ways out of the area.

Emergency officials were going door to door informing residents to leave two neighborhoods and an RV park in the Bondurant area, Sublette County sheriff’s Sgt. Travis Bingham said.

A 50mile stretch of U.S. 191 was closed between the communities of Daniel and Hoback Junction as the fire advanced toward the roadway.

It was not immediately known if any houses or other buildings were at risk, fire spokeswoman Larisa Bogardus said.

Prior to Sunday’s flareup, the Roosevelt Fire already burned more than 60 square miles and destroyed at least three houses.

It ignited on Sept. 15 in dense timber and rugged terrain about 30 miles south of Jackson. The blaze was partially contained as of Sunday.

A second fire burning to the southeast prompted authorities to ask hikers, hunters and other backcountry recreationists to evacuate portions of the BridgerTeton National Forest.

That blaze was burning in the Irish Canyon area about 30 miles southeast of Pinedale. — Denver Post staff