Coloradans not giving fuck about census

Coloradans lagged behind their national counterparts in mailing in their 2010 census forms.

At Friday’s deadline for residents to send in forms and avoid a knock on their doors, only 67 percent of the state’s households had submitted them compared with 69 percent nationally. That ranks the state 30th in the nation.

In 2000, 73 percent of Colorado households mailed in forms compared with 72 percent nationally after all the returns had been tabulated by that fall.

Officials expect Colorado’s mail rate to rise between now and the fall.

“If they got their forms in the mail (Friday), they likely won’t receive a visit from a census worker,” said Census Bureau spokeswoman Deborah Cameron.

Several hundred census workers will descend on households that haven’t returned forms starting May 1.

Motor Vehicle employee pocketed city money

A Motor Vehicle Department employee in Broomfield is accused of stealing funds from the city.

Lori Millar, 44, of Westminster, was arrested Thursday, according to a media release from the Broomfield Police Department.

The department, at 1 DesCombes Drive, made an “employee theft” report to police on April 8.

A preliminary police investigation revealed that Millar “stole funds from the City and County of Broomfield,” police said.

The investigation is ongoing and “a final amount of the theft has not been determined.”

Millar was booked Thursday at the Broomfield jail on suspicion of theft.

Rioting prisoners caused water damage, attempted escape

A disturbance at the privately owned Hudson Correctional Facility 25 miles northeast of Denver International Airport was sparked when cell doors in a unit housing 41 inmates from Alaska inexplicably opened early this morning.

Charles Seigel, spokesman for the Cornell Companies, which operates the prison, said his company is investigating whether the doors opened at about 1:20 a.m. in the prison’s segregation unit because of an electronic malfunction or human error.

When inmates realized the cell doors were open, many left their cells but most returned a short time later. However, as many as a dozen began destroying sprinkler heads and computers. They also tried to break out of the building by breaking windows.

The disturbance caused widespread water damage. The unit was littered with water, paper and smashed computers.

Seigel said that two guards who were in the unit fled to a captain’s office where they locked and barricaded the door.

Seigel said prison officials decided to let things cool down before acting. At 7:30 a.m., the prison sent in its emergency response team. The team used tear gas to subdue the inmates.

No corrections officers were injured. But Seigel said some of the inmates had bruises and abrasions. He said the instigator of the disturbance suffered the worst injury, a cut hand.

Seigel said rioters will be charged under Colorado law.

Seigel said the entire prison, which houses 877 inmates from Alaska, is on lockdown, with all inmates remaining in their cells. He said the lockdown will remain through at least Thursday.

Prisoners Riot at Hudson Correctional Facility

Inmates at a Colorado prison took control of part of the facility following a disturbance overnight, KDVR reported Wednesday.

No guards were taken hostage at the Hudson Correctional Facility in Weld County, northern Colorado, but a portion of the facility remained in the inmates’ control early Wednesday.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, and damage to the prison included smashed sprinklers, KDVR reported.

A riot at the privately owned Hudson Correctional Facility 25 miles northeast of Denver International Airport has been brought under control, prison authorities said this morning.

The prison, which holds approximately 750 inmates from the state of Alaska, is owned by Cornell Companies, Inc.

At approximately 1:30 a.m., 8-to-10 inmates “engaged in a disturbance” which was contained to one housing pod, according to a statement by Cornell.

There were no staff injuries but minor injuries were reported by some inmates.

No hostages were taken and personnel currently have full control of the facility, said Cornell.

Richard Schmitz, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Corrections, said that preliminary information was that the riot was confined to one module of the prison.

“There were no hostages and no escapes,” said Schmitz.

Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said that although the prison is privately owned, six inspectors from DOC’s inspector general’s office are headed to the prison.

Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez said the Weld County Sheriff’s Department assisted officials at the prison by sending two K9 units to the facility.

Martinez said the K9 units left the prison at 6:30 a.m. today and order had been restored.

The prison holds minimum- to medium- security adult males from Alaska. Schmitz said the Alaska inmates at Hudson generally have more than one year left on their sentences.

Limping Latex Bandit captured in Parker

A man suspected of being the bank robber known as the “Limping Latex Bandit” was arrested Thursday in Douglas County.

Merle Allison, 66, of Centennial, was arrested by Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies after a bank robbery in Parker.

Authorities believe Allison is the Limping Latex Bandit, a robber suspected of at least eight jobs along the Front Range since November.

The robber got the moniker from the FBI because he limped and wore latex gloves.

On Thursday at about noon deputies were called to a robbery at a First Bank, 11961 Lioness Way, according to a media release from the sheriff’s office.

A witness flagged down deputies and said the bank robber got into a silver SUV, possibly a Toyota RAV4, and fled east on Lincoln Avenue.

In the bank parking lot deputies found a grocery bag stuffed with cash that was stained by an exploded dye pack.

The suspect description was relayed to other deputies in the area and a matching vehicle was stopped on Lincoln near Chambers Avenue, the sheriff’s office said.

The driver, Allison, matched a physical description given by bank employees, according to the release, and he was arrested.

‘Limping Latex Bandit’ gets dye pack on seventh bank robbery

The “Limping Latex Bandit” was covered in red this afternoon after a dye pack exploded from his sack of stolen cash following bank robbery in Aurora.

After a holdup at the Colorado State Bank in the 15400 block of East Hampden Avenue at about 2 p.m., witnesses saw the man get into a sport-utility vehicle.

A witness then saw the red dye pack explode, before the SUV sped away.

The robbery was thought to be the seventh in the metro area by the man the FBI dubbed the “Limping Latex Bandit” because he had a limp and wore latex gloves during his first robbery last November.

Lakewood cop car damaged in hit-and-run

A driver clipped a Lakewood police car this morning as the officer was checking on an accident near C-470 and I-70.

No one was injured but the driver of the vehicle that hit the patrol car did not stop, said Steve Davis, a Lakewood Police Department spokesman. Police are looking for the hit-and-run driver and the vehicle, possibly a red Honda Pilot, an SUV.

No one was injured in the initial accident, or the following hit-and-run, Davis said.

The first accident happened at about 5:45 a.m. as snow fell in the area. The second accident, which caused minor damage to the patrol car, happened a short time later.

Based on witness information, including a possible license plate, police are checking a home in Wheat Ridge in hope of finding the SUV and the driver.

May Day 2010 Fort Collins

This May 1st we’ll come together and celebrate our collective radical history, the struggle for workers’ rights, and autonomous people’s movements, while building our current communities of resistance!

The day’s activities begin at 2 p.m. Meet at the Old Town Square–look for the black flags and a banner or two. We’ll set out on a celebratory street dance and head to a nearby park where we can enjoy free food and each others’ good company.

Bring yourself, your friends, and revolutionary desire! If you wanna bring a banner, masks, costumes, extra food for the picnic, or anything else you feel is appropriate–please do!

Check it: http://mayday2010.blogspot.com/

Series of armed bank robberies in Denver

Bank robbers targeted two Denver banks late last week and over the weekend, the FBI said today.

The most recent robbery occurred at 9:50 a.m. Saturday when three armed, masked men, entered the Liberty Bank, 9660 E. Alameda Ave., and demanded money, according to Dave Joly, spokesman for the FBI in Denver.

Joly said that after being handed the money the trio fled.

On Thursday, said Joly, two armed men entered the Wells Fargo Bank, 1001 S. Monaco St., showed their guns and demanded money.

After getting the money, they also fled.

Casino robbery in Central City

A man who brandished a semiautomatic weapon and robbed a caged cashier at the Famous Bonanza Casino in Central City on Saturday afternoon was shot almost two hours later in the parking garage of another casino, police said.

The man fled the Bonanza on Main Street with an undisclosed amount of money in a black Audi, which officers later spotted in the parking garage of the Golden Gates Casino.

A Black Hawk police officer was searching the parking garage about 5 p.m. when the robbery suspect appeared near his car, “engaged the officer and shots were fired,” said Gilpin County sheriff’s spokeswoman Cherokee Blake.

The suspect was wounded and taken to the hospital. His name was not released.

The officer involved in the shooting, a 16-year veteran, was placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.