Four burglary suspects stole $120,000 in tools and trucks from the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds on Tuesday night, according to the sheriff’s office.
The four masked burglars broke into a maintenance shop and the Arapahoe County Events Center at the fairgrounds shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to a news release from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
They stole television screens, unspecified tools and two white Ford F250 pickup trucks with red Arapahoe County logos on the doors, sheriff’s officials said in the release.
The trucks — license plates AIP-025 and QTL-363 — were last seen near E. Sixth Avenue and Potomac Street in northwest Aurora, sheriff’s officials said.
If caught, the unidentified suspects will face charges of theft, burglary and criminal mischief, according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information about the burglary or suspects is asked to contact the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office’s tip line at 720-874-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous, sheriff’s officials said.
Two men face multiple felony drug charges following searches of Adams County apartments and the seizure of what authorities said were an estimated 67,000 fentanyl pills, 521 grams of methamphetamine, 45 grams heroin and 667 grams of cocaine.
Oscar Serrano Romano and Enrique Delgadillo Ruiz were arrested Dec. 18.
As part of the investigation, the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Front Range Task Force executed search warrants for apartments in Thornton, Aurora and Westminster. During the search of the Thornton apartment, officers found several duffel bags containing bundled packages of suspected methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, according to an affidavit from the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Officers reported finding bags they believed were being used to distribute drugs. They also found a parking pass for an apartment in Thornton where Ruiz was staying, according to the affidavit.
Investigators obtained a search warrant for the second apartment on Dec. 18. They said they found a duffel bag containing suspected counterfeit fentanyl pills, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. Officers also found clear bags of suspected cocaine, an undetermined amount of money and a notebook that appeared to be handwritten daily logs of drug sales.
Before searching the apartment, officers arrested Romano on a traffic stop after he left the building and got in his car. Officers said they found a white, powdery substance in his car’s console. Ruiz was stopped and arrested while driving away a few minutes later.
Both suspects face charges that include possession with intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance and conspiracy to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance.
The pair scheduled to appear Tuesday afternoon in Adams County District Court.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that cities cannot punish lawbreakers beyond what state courts would allow for the same offense, a decision that could set precedent for hundreds of municipal courts around the state.
The justices ruled that when a municipal ordinance and a state statute prohibit identical conduct, the municipal penalties for such conduct “may not exceed the corresponding state penalties for that conduct.”
By imposing more stringent penalties for the same crimes, these cities “materially impede the state’s interest in ensuring that maximum penalties for non-felony offenses are consistent and uniform across Colorado,” the opinion stated.
In 2021, on the heels of nationwide protests for racial justice, Colorado lawmakers enacted sweeping state-level reforms that significantly lowered the potential penalties for misdemeanor and petty offenses in Colorado’s state courts. But those reforms didn’t impact municipal courts, which are not part of the state judicial system.
As a result, the potential jail sentences for minor crimes in city courts now often far outpace the state’s limits, The Denver Post reported last year. The newspaper found defendants across 10 of Colorado’s largest cities served, on average, five times more jail time in municipal court — though the difference was just a matter of days.
Officers have wide leeway to choose which box to check on their summons forms, The Post found. Police departments said they didn’t have specific policies outlining how arresting officers are supposed to decide between arresting someone on municipal or state charges.
Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez delivered the opinion, and was joined by Justices Brian D. Boatright, William W. Hood III, Richard L. Gabriel, Carlos A. Samour Jr. and Maria E. Berkenkotter. Justice Melissa Hart, who announced her retirement last week after being on leave since October, did not participate.
The ruling centered on two cases involving low-level prosecutions in Westminster and Aurora municipal courts in which the alleged offenders faced significantly more jail time after being charged in city court than they would have if charged in state court.
In 2022, Aleah Camp was charged with stealing less than $300 worth of goods from a Westminster store. The officer, by checking a single box on a criminal summons, sent the case to municipal court — where Camp faced a potential jail sentence 36 times longer and a fine almost nine times higher — 364 days and $2,650 vs. 10 days and $300 — than what would be allowed under state law.
In the other case, Danielle Simons was charged in 2023 with motor vehicle trespass in Aurora Municipal Court. As a result of the officer’s decision to pursue municipal rather than state charges, Simons similarly faced up to 364 days in jail and a $2,650 fine. If she had been charged with the same offense in state court, the maximum penalty would have been 120 days in jail and a $750 fine.
Simons’ and Camp’s attorneys argued the significant sentencing discrepancies in their cases violated their clients’ rights of equal protection under the Colorado Constitution.
The Supreme Court did not address the equal protection argument, instead ruling that the city ordinances are preempted by state law. The cities argued that, under home-rule provisions, they are allowed to create their own sentencing policies.
But the justices wrote that the court has consistently held that the regulation of non-felony criminal offenses is a matter of mixed local and statewide concern.
Municipalities can still punish offenders beyond the state’s sentencing caps when there is no identical state offense, the court ruled. However, when cities regulate conduct for which there exists an identical state offense, they cannot exceed the state’s cap.
Ashley Cordero, Simons’ attorney, said her client “feels relieved” with Monday’s ruling.
Rebecca Wallace, policy director at the Colorado Freedom Fund, an organization that helps people pay bail, called the decision a “victory for impoverished Coloradans.”
“We have long said that it defies logic, fairness and the law that municipal courts can send people to jail for poverty offenses with 30 times longer sentences than they could get in state court,” she said. “Today, the Colorado Supreme Court unanimously agreed.”
Aurora’s city attorney, Pete Schulte, fired back in a statement Monday, saying the Supreme Court’s decision “begs the question of whether Colorado municipalities should continue to prosecute criminal offenses in their municipal courts when they become de facto extensions of state and county courts at a cost to municipal taxpayers without reimbursement.”
Westminster officials said they are reviewing the order, but otherwise did not offer comment.
State lawmakers this year attempted to resolve the sentence disparity issue through legislation. The measure, House Bill 1147, passed both the House and the Senate before Gov. Jared Polis vetoed the bill. The governor, in his veto letter, expressed concern that the legislation would have restricted municipalities’ ability to react to local crime trends in a manner they see fit.
He also said “it would be informative” to see how the Supreme Court rules before changing the law.
Sen. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat and one of the legislators who sponsored the bill, hopes Monday’s ruling changes Polis’ calculus as lawmakers discuss another municipal court bill this session.
“We’re going to continue to talk to the governor and his team,” Weissman said. “Hopefully, he’d support codifying the results of today’s decision from the court.”
A teenager was shot and killed early Sunday morning in southeast Aurora, police said.
Aurora officers responded to the shooting in the 3400 block of South Jebel Court, near Blue Grama Grass Park and just north of East Hampden Avenue, at 12:18 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release from the police department.
When they arrived, officers found a 16-year-old boy in the driveway who had been shot. He died at the scene, police said.
The teenager will be identified by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office.
As of Sunday morning, no arrests had been made and no suspects had been publicly identified.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
An immigration judge will decide in the coming days whether to temporarily release an immigrant rights activist after a Friday bail hearing that was delayed when authorities tried to block media access to the courtroom.
Attorneys representing Jeanette Vizguerra told the judge, Brea Burgie, that government lawyers had provided no evidence that Vizguerra posed a flight risk or a danger to the community.
Vizguerra, a nationally renowned activist, has been in the Aurora detention center since her March arrest, and her attorneys reiterated their allegations Friday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials intentionally targeted Vizguerra because of her public profile and advocacy. They asked Burgie to release Vizguerra, who was born in Mexico and does not have proper legal status, on bail while the rest of her immigration case proceeds.
“Detention is not justified,” said Laura Lichter, one of Vizguerra’s lawyers.
Shana Martin, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, argued that Vizguerra should continue to be detained indefinitely because, Martin said, she was both dangerous and a flight risk. Martin pointed to Vizguerra’s criminal conviction for using a fake Social Security card so she could work, as well as to traffic violations, as evidence that she “shows a lack of respect for authority.”
One of Vizguerra’s daughters recently joined the Air Force, and Vizguerra applied for a form of legal status based on her daughter’s military service. Martin said that application has been denied — something Lichter said was news to Vizguerra and her lawyers.
Lichter said after the hearing that she’d never seen that type of application denied in a case like Vizguerra’s. She told Burgie that the denial was “fantastic evidence” of the government’s bias against her client.
CIting the extreme complexity of the case, Burgie said she would issue a written decision on whether to grant bail to Vizguerra at a later date. The Denver judge appeared remotely in the Aurora detention center’s hearing room.
As Vizguerra waited in a hallway outside the courtroom, she blew a kiss to family members and waved to supporters.
The hearing came two days after a U.S. District Court judge ordered federal officials to provide Vizguerra with a bail hearing before Christmas.
Proceedings were delayed Friday morning after personnel at the detention center, which is privately run by the Geo Group, told reporters and supporters that they couldn’t enter the courtroom. It’s typically open to observers, family members of detainees and journalists who provide photo ID and go through a security checkpoint.
Earlier Friday morning, a Denver Post reporter was waiting for an escort to the courtroom when a Geo Group lieutenant approached and asked what courtroom he was visiting. When the reporter said he was there to watch the Vizguerra hearing, the lieutenant told him the courtroom was full and escorted him back to the lobby.
Juan Baltazar, the facility’s warden, later told reporters that they wouldn’t be allowed into the courtroom “partially” because of space constraints, as well as because of unspecified “safety and security” concerns.
Geo personnel also closed and locked a gate leading into the facility, with an armed guard later controlling access. The gate was not closed on several earlier visits by The Post earlier this fall. Guards on Friday were dressed entirely in black, a change from their standard blue shirts.
Baltazar said ICE officials had called and verbally ordered Geo personnel to allow in only lawyers, family and witnesses. He said the limitations were put into place “because of the attention (this case) is getting.”
When Lichter pressed him about what safety or security risk was posed by reporters, Baltazar said questions would have to be directed to ICE.
“Everybody has a boss,” he said.
After continued prodding by Lichter, facility personnel eventually relented and allowed in several reporters, along with a handful of Vizguerra’s supporters.
Messages sent to Steve Kotecki, Denver’s ICE spokesman, and to a regional ICE representative were not immediately returned.
Access to Interstate 70 from southbound E-470 near Aurora will be closed for an extended period of time today after a tractor-trailer carrying windmill parts broke down on the highway.
The semi-truck’s trailer was hauling drivetrain components for a windmill that shifted during transport, causing the trailer to break, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Troopers were called to the scene just before 5 a.m. Saturday near milepost 20.
The southbound E-470 exit for Aurora and I-70, exit 20, is closed as emergency crews work to remove the semi from the road, state patrol officials said.
“Motorists should plan on an alternative route,” the agency said Saturday morning.
Some might say the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus that opened recently in a former 255-room hotel is undergirded by one of humanity’s seven deadly sins — envy.
The intent is to turn that feeling into a motivational force. For his part, Mayor Mike Coffman prefers to refer to the three-tiered residential system at the homeless navigation center as an “incentive-based program” — one that awards increasingly comfortable living quarters to those showing progress on their journey to self-sufficiency.
“The notion here is (that) different standards of living act as an incentive,” Coffman said in early November during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the campus, which occupies a former Crowne Plaza Hotel at East 40th Avenue and Chambers Road. “The idea is to move up the tiers into much better living situations.”
Clients in the new facility, which opened its doors on Nov. 17, start at the bottom with a cot and a locker. They can eventually migrate to a hotel room, with a locking door and a private bathroom.
But that upgrade comes with a price.
“To get a room here, you have to be working full time,” Coffman said.
It’s an approach that the mayor says threads the needle between housing-first and work-first, the two prevailing strategies for addressing homelessness today. The housing-first approach emphasizes getting someone into a stable home before requiring employment, sobriety or treatment. A work-first setup conditions housing on a person finding work and seeking help with underlying mental health and addiction problems.
“We’re providing a continuum of services that starts with an emergency shelter,” said Jim Goebelbecker, the executive director of Advance Pathways.
Advance Pathways, the nonprofit group that ran the Aurora Resource Day Center before its recent closure, was chosen through a competitive bidding process to operate the new navigation campus in Aurora — with $2 million in annual help from the city. Goebelbecker said the tiered approach at the new facility “taps into a person’s motivation for change.”
The Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ debut nearly completes a mission that has been in the works for more than three years. It is the fourth — and penultimate — metro Denver homeless navigation center to go online since the Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 1378 in 2022.
The bill allocated American Rescue Plan Act dollars to stand up one central homeless navigation center. The plan has since shifted to five smaller centers, with locations in Aurora, Lakewood, Boulder, Denver and Englewood. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs in late 2023 approved $52 million for the centers. The final center, the Jefferson County Regional Navigation Campus in Lakewood, is undergoing renovations and will open next year.
Aurora’s center, with 640 beds across its three tiered spaces, is by far the largest of the five facilities.
Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said the opening of Aurora’s navigation campus is “a really big deal.” Aside from serving its own clientele, she expects the center to send referrals to the coalition’s newly opened Sage Ridge Supportive Residential Community near Watkins, where people without stable housing go to address their substance-use disorders.
“A person can go to one place and get multiple needs met,” Alderman said, referring to the array of job, medical and addiction treatment services that give homeless navigation centers their name. “We are excited that the new campus is now up and running.”
The new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus, operated by Advance Pathways, photographed in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
‘How do I move up?’
Walking into the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus feels like walking into, well, a hotel.
The swimming pool was removed during renovation, as was a water fountain in the lobby. Everything else stayed, including beds, bedding, furniture — even a stash of bottled cocktail delights. But not the alcohol to go with it.
“They left everything, down to the forks and knives and a wall of maraschino cherries,” said Jessica Prosser, Aurora’s director of housing and community services, as she walked through the hotel’s industrial kitchen.
The kitchen, which was part of the $26.5 million sale of the Crowne Plaza Hotel to Aurora last year, was a godsend to an operation tasked with serving three meals a day to hundreds of people. The city spent another $13.5 million to renovate the building.
“To build a new commercial kitchen is a half-million dollars, easy,” Prosser said.
The layout of the navigation center was deliberate, she said. The hotel’s convention center space is now occupied by Tier I and Tier II housing. The first tier is made up of nearly 300 cots, divided by sex. There are lockers for personal belongings and shared bathrooms. Anyone is welcome.
On the other side of a nondescript wall is Tier II, which is composed of a grid of 114 compartmentalized, open-air cubicles with proper beds and lockable storage. The center assigns residents in this tier case managers to help them treat personal challenges and get on the path toward landing a job.
The Tier II “Courage” space, which offers overnight accommodation for people who are working on recovery, employment and housing pathways at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Tier III residents live in the 255 hotel rooms. They must have a full-time job and are required to pay a third of their income to the program. Residents in this tier will typically remain at Advance Pathways for up to two years before they have the skills and stability to find housing on the outside, Goebelbecker said.
People living in the congregate tiers can house their dogs in a pet room, which can accommodate 40 canines. (No cats, gerbils or fish). The center also doesn’t accept children. Around 60 staff members, plus 10 contracted security personnel, will work at the facility 24/7.
Shining a bright light on the path forward and upward inside the facility — the windows of some of the coveted private rooms are fully visible from the lobby — is an “intentional design feature,” Prosser said.
“How do I move up?” she mused, stepping into the shoes of a resident eyeing the facility’s layout. “How do I get in there?”
The Tier III “Commitment” space, which provides private rooms that will serve people who are in the workforce and are building towards financial independence, seen at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
It’s a system that demands something of the people using it, Coffman said, while at the same time providing the guidance and help that clients will need.
“This is not just maintaining people where they are — this is about moving people forward,” the mayor said.
The approach is familiar to Shantell Anderson, Advance Pathways’ program director. She told her life story during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, bringing tears to the eyes of some in the audience.
A native of Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, Anderson fell in with the wrong crowd. She became pregnant at 15 and got hooked on cocaine. She spiraled into a life on the streets that resulted in her children being sent to an aunt for caretaking.
But through treatment and by intersecting with the right people, she recovered. She earned a nursing degree and worked at RecoveryWorks, a nonprofit organization that operated a day shelter in Lakewood, before taking the job at Advance Pathways.
The Tier I “Compassion” emergency shelter, which provides immediate short-term shelter for those in need at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
“This is a system that honors people’s dignity,” Anderson said, her voice heavy with emotion.
In an interview, she said assuming the burden to improve her situation was critical to her transformation.
“I actually did that — no one gave me anything,” said Anderson, 48. “If it was handed to me, I didn’t appreciate it.”
How much responsibility to place on the people being helped by such programs is still a matter of intense debate by policymakers and advocates for homeless people. The housing-first approach favored by Denver and many big cities across the country is anchored in the idea that work or treatment requirements will result in many people falling through the cracks and staying outside, particularly those who face mental-health challenges.
The Bridge House in Englewood, one of the five metro area navigation centers, follows a “Ready to Work” model that is similar to that of the upper tiers of the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus.
Opened in May, the Bridge House has 69 beds. CEO Melissa Arguello-Green said the organization asks its clients (called trainees) to put skin in the game by landing a job with Bridge House’s help and then contributing a third of their paycheck as rent.
“We help them find employment through our agency so they can leave our agency,” she said. “We’re looking for self-sufficiency that will get people off system support.”
Arguello-Green said she would like to see more coordination between the metro’s five navigation centers, though she acknowledged it’s still in the early going.
“We’re missing that come-to-the-table collaboration,” she said.
Advance Pathways volunteer outreach coordinator Evan Brown organizes the clothing bank before the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ grand opening ceremony in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Homeless numbers still rising
Shannon Gray, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, said her department had started convening quarterly in-person meetings across the locations.
“While each navigation campus is unique and reflects community-specific strategies, they are all a part of a regional effort to bring external partners together onsite to provide needed services and referrals,” Gray said. Together, they are “building towards a larger regional system to connect homeless households to a larger network of opportunities.”
The centers are permitted to “tailor their approach to their unique needs and vision,” she said. While Englewood and Aurora use a tiered system, Gray said, the other three centers don’t.
“It is important to understand that DOLA serves as a funder for these regional navigation campuses — we do not oversee their operation or maintenance,” she said.
Denver’s navigation center, which opened in December 2023 in a former DoubleTree Hotel on Quebec Street, offers 289 rooms to those in need, said Julia Marvin, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Housing Stability.
She called the facility an “integral component of Denver’s All in Mile High homelessness initiative,” Mayor Mike Johnston’s ambitious effort to appreciably reduce homelessness in the city. The center is just one of several former hotels and other shelter sites in the system.
Earlier this year, his administration cited annual count numbers showing a 45% decrease in the number of people sleeping on the streets since 2023 — dropping from 1,423 to 785 people, despite overall homelessness continuing to increase in that time.
In fact, homelessness numbers are still going in the wrong direction across the seven-county metro, per the latest Point-in-Time survey from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, which captures a one-night snapshot. The January count revealed that 10,774 people were homeless on the night of the survey, up from 9,977 in the count the year before.
Anderson, the Advance Pathways program director, said the new Aurora facility was opening at just the right time. Despite a recent calming in runaway home values in metro Denver, the $650,000 median price of a detached home in October still demarcated a housing market that was out of reach for many.
“I am excited,” Anderson said of the Aurora navigation campus’ debut. “I’m waiting for people to walk through the door and start the next chapter of their journey.”
AURORA, Colo. — It’s a sweet sight to see, and it smells good too. The life-sized gingerbread mountain cabin is now on display at Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, thanks to a dedicated team of 25 pastry cooks who used more than 2,000 pounds of ingredients.
The executive pastry chef, Brielle Fratellone, explained they used close to 500 pounds of gingerbread, 1,00 gumballs, along with 50 pounds of coconut for the snow.
“We’re so excited to debut Gaylord Rockies first gingerbread mountain cabin here in the lobby. It’s been six months of work and planning, and we finally finished it just last night at 5:00 p.m. We placed the final sour gumballs onto the tree, so very excited to debut it this morning,” Fratellone said.
Maggy Wolanske
The pastry team has created gingerbread displays in years past, but Fratellone explained, ‘this is the largest gingerbread house we’ve ever made at Gaylord Rockies resort.’
Our Maggy Wolanske visited the pastry kitchen to see the final preparations that went into bringing this culinary creation to life. Fratellone was busy piping intricate frosting snowflakes on a gingerbread wreath and using sugar syrup to make glass-like lanterns.
“There’s a lot of planning that goes into this. We started back in July, walking the lobby space, working on designs, working out all the gingerbread math that it took to come up with what shingles need for the roof,” said Fratellone. All that’s a lot of fun, but my favorite part is the final decoration. When it all starts to come together, and all the personal details gets applied.”
Maggy Wolanske
The cabin will be on display until January 1 in the resort’s main lobby, and guests can smell the spices in the gingerbread dough. Fratellone shared the plans moving forward for this gingerbread cabin to become a yearly tradition.
“We plan to continue making this mountain cabin every single year, making it maybe a little bigger next year, adding some more elements to it, but it’s really going to be incredible every single year to come,” Fratellone said.
Maggy Wolanske
As the holidays quickly approach, Denver7 knows many of you may be taking out gingerbread kits and planning to create your own winter wonderland, so we asked Fratellone for any tips she may have.
“Take your time. Be patient. Make sure that those walls are fully dry and secure before you put the roof on. Maybe even let it set overnight before you put that roof on and put that extra weight on top,” Fratellone said.
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AURORA, Colo. — Police in Aurora are investigating a shooting inside a gas station that wounded an uninvolved bystander amid a dispute between two people early Sunday morning.
Police said one person, identified as 36-year-old Jimmie White, was arrested. A second person fled on foot.
The shooting happened just after midnight inside a gas station located in the 200 block of S. Sable Boulevard, according to police.
Police said two men were inside the store arguing when one shoved the other, causing a gun to discharge.
The bullet struck a bystander, who was treated for a non-life-threatening injury at a hospital, according to the department.
Police said officers quickly identified a suspect vehicle and arrested white after a high-risk traffic stop.
The department said White is facing multiple charges, including second-degree assault, prohibited use of a weapon, obstructing a peace officer/firearm, disorderly conduct, and DUI.
Police want to talk to the second man involved in the dispute.
Anyone with information is asked to call Denver Metro Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.
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Three major crashes in Aurora sent six people to the hospital Friday night and Saturday morning, including two along the same section of southbound Interstate 225.
A two-vehicle crash closed southbound I-225 near East 17th Place at around 9:13 a.m., the Aurora Police Department said on social media.
Three adults and one child were taken to the hospital, but additional information about their injuries was not immediately available.
The highway reopened as of 11:45 a.m., according to Colorado Department of Transportation traffic cameras.
A three-vehicle crash on the same section of southbound I-225 sent two people to the hospital at 9 p.m. Friday, Aurora police said.
To the south, a three-vehicle crash closed several lanes of Parker Road east of I-225 just after 11 a.m.
#TrafficAlert Parker Road east of 225 is partially shutdown due to a three vehicle crash—seen in this photo. One lane of NB traffic is still moving. Miraculously no one was injured. This is our 3rd major crash since last night. Please slow down and pay attention to the road. pic.twitter.com/EB52XZ7fhK
Aurora police on Tuesday arrested a second person in connection with a homicide last month.
Diego Jimenez, a 26-year-old Aurora resident, was wanted on suspicion of second-degree murder in an Oct. 24 fatal shooting near East 6th Avenue and Del Mar Circle, police said on social media. Jimenez was also arrested on outstanding warrants from Weld County for aggravated motor vehicle theft, as well as a theft warrant out of Boulder.
Police previously arrested Sheena Fuentes, 41, on suspicion of accessory for her alleged role in the shooting, which occurred after Jimenez and the victim got into an altercation, authorities said.
The victim’s identity has not yet been released by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867). Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
Sky watchers in the D.C. region may get another chance to see aurora Wednesday night after a dazzling show of northern lights Tuesday.
On Tuesday night into the early hours Wednesday morning, sky watchers were treated to dazzling and colorful aurora throughout North America, including in the D.C. region.
The aurora over Great Falls on Tuesday night.
(Courtesy Jared Angle)
Courtesy Jared Angle
Northern Lights on Wednesday night at Ida Lee, Leesburg, Virginia.
(Courtesy William Dawe)
Courtesy William Dawe
Aurora over Sumerduck, Virginia, on Tuesday night.
(Courtesy Mark Burge)
Courtesy Mark Burge
The northern lights were visible along Randolph Road in Rockville around 9 p.m. Tuesday evening.
(WTOP/Dave Dildine)
WTOP/Dave Dildine
Northern lights are seen in Leesburg, Virginia, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
(Courtesy William Dawe)
Courtesy William Dawe
Aurora seen in Stafford County, Virginia, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
(Courtesy @NoZoup/X)
Courtesy @NoZoup/X
Amid the clouds bright and multicolored aurora adorn the Northern horizon.
(WTOP/Greg Redfern)
WTOP/Greg Redfern
Aurora is seen in Northern Minnesota on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
(Courtesy Kelsey Pinckney)
Courtesy Kelsey Pinckney
Fueling the sky spectacle was a powerful Level G4 (Severe) geomagnetic storm that lasted for hours. Two videos from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center explained what was occurring at the onset and later on.
Your camera and/or smartphone could have significantly improved your chances of detecting and imaging the aurora due to their digital sensors. Even if you did not see aurora, if you photographed the northern horizon, you may have gotten image of them.
Using a camera or smartphone that can take exposures of several seconds — including using “Night Sky” or “Low Light” settings if your camera has them — gives you your best shot. Steady the camera or use a tripod for best image results. The camera can capture aurora that your eyes did not.
Good luck, aurora chasers, let’s hope and be ready for another sky spectacle.
Multiple parts of the United States were treated to mesmerizing colors from the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the sky Tuesday night. This is because of a severe geomagnetic storm triggered by solar flares. Related video above: Weather Talk — How do I know if we can see the Northern Lights?The lights can appear faint when looked at with the naked eye, but with the right camera settings, the different colors and waves can be seen in photos.Forecasters say there is still a chance that some regions would get to catch the lights on Wednesday night. Here’s how to take the best photos of them:Using nighttime picture-taking settingsMost newer versions of iPhone and Android phones have a setting for taking pictures in low light. This slows the shutter speed, allowing more light in and taking a clearer picture. Here’s how to adjust settings on iPhone and Android devices like Samsung phones or Google Pixel phones. It’s important to hold your phone steady or use a tripod so your image does not end up blurry.Video below: Check out these dazzling photos of Tuesday night’s northern lights in IowaThere’s an app for that, tooThere are also apps available that are specifically designed to help you take pictures of the northern lights. Check the app stores on your iPhones or Android devices.Be in the right place at the right timeArtificial light pollution can decrease your chances of catching the best colors, so it is best to get away from cities and into rural areas for picture-taking. There will be more visibility the farther north you can get. Any time after it gets dark outside and before midnight will be the best opportunity. Related video below: What causes the colors you see with the northern lights?
DES MOINES, Iowa —
Multiple parts of the United States were treated to mesmerizing colors from the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the sky Tuesday night. This is because of a severe geomagnetic storm triggered by solar flares.
Related video above: Weather Talk — How do I know if we can see the Northern Lights?
The lights can appear faint when looked at with the naked eye, but with the right camera settings, the different colors and waves can be seen in photos.
Forecasters say there is still a chance that some regions would get to catch the lights on Wednesday night. Here’s how to take the best photos of them:
Using nighttime picture-taking settings
Most newer versions of iPhone and Android phones have a setting for taking pictures in low light. This slows the shutter speed, allowing more light in and taking a clearer picture. Here’s how to adjust settings on iPhone and Android devices like Samsung phones or Google Pixel phones.
It’s important to hold your phone steady or use a tripod so your image does not end up blurry.
Video below: Check out these dazzling photos of Tuesday night’s northern lights in Iowa
There’s an app for that, too
There are also apps available that are specifically designed to help you take pictures of the northern lights. Check the app stores on your iPhones or Android devices.
Be in the right place at the right time
Artificial light pollution can decrease your chances of catching the best colors, so it is best to get away from cities and into rural areas for picture-taking.
There will be more visibility the farther north you can get. Any time after it gets dark outside and before midnight will be the best opportunity.
Related video below: What causes the colors you see with the northern lights?
Multiple parts of the United States were treated to mesmerizing colors from the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the sky Tuesday night. This is because of a severe geomagnetic storm triggered by solar flares. Related video above: Weather Talk — How do I know if we can see the Northern Lights?The lights can appear faint when looked at with the naked eye, but with the right camera settings, the different colors and waves can be seen in photos.Forecasters say there is still a chance that some regions would get to catch the lights on Wednesday night. Here’s how to take the best photos of them:Using nighttime picture-taking settingsMost newer versions of iPhone and Android phones have a setting for taking pictures in low light. This slows the shutter speed, allowing more light in and taking a clearer picture. Here’s how to adjust settings on iPhone and Android devices like Samsung phones or Google Pixel phones. It’s important to hold your phone steady or use a tripod so your image does not end up blurry.Video below: Check out these dazzling photos of Tuesday night’s northern lights in IowaThere’s an app for that, tooThere are also apps available that are specifically designed to help you take pictures of the northern lights. Check the app stores on your iPhones or Android devices.Be in the right place at the right timeArtificial light pollution can decrease your chances of catching the best colors, so it is best to get away from cities and into rural areas for picture-taking. There will be more visibility the farther north you can get. Any time after it gets dark outside and before midnight will be the best opportunity. Related video below: What causes the colors you see with the northern lights?
DES MOINES, Iowa —
Multiple parts of the United States were treated to mesmerizing colors from the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the sky Tuesday night. This is because of a severe geomagnetic storm triggered by solar flares.
Related video above: Weather Talk — How do I know if we can see the Northern Lights?
The lights can appear faint when looked at with the naked eye, but with the right camera settings, the different colors and waves can be seen in photos.
Forecasters say there is still a chance that some regions would get to catch the lights on Wednesday night. Here’s how to take the best photos of them:
Using nighttime picture-taking settings
Most newer versions of iPhone and Android phones have a setting for taking pictures in low light. This slows the shutter speed, allowing more light in and taking a clearer picture. Here’s how to adjust settings on iPhone and Android devices like Samsung phones or Google Pixel phones.
It’s important to hold your phone steady or use a tripod so your image does not end up blurry.
Video below: Check out these dazzling photos of Tuesday night’s northern lights in Iowa
There’s an app for that, too
There are also apps available that are specifically designed to help you take pictures of the northern lights. Check the app stores on your iPhones or Android devices.
Be in the right place at the right time
Artificial light pollution can decrease your chances of catching the best colors, so it is best to get away from cities and into rural areas for picture-taking.
There will be more visibility the farther north you can get. Any time after it gets dark outside and before midnight will be the best opportunity.
Related video below: What causes the colors you see with the northern lights?
Portions of Northern California were treated to a rare spectacle, as the aurora borealis lit up the night sky.
The dazzling display comes after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center on Tuesday issued a severe weather geomagnetic storm watch.
The potential severe geomagnetic storms could disrupt radio and GPS communications, and potentially cause auroras to be visible across much of the northern U.S., and as far south as Alabama and Northern California, NOAA said. Read more here.
Several KCRA 3 viewers shared their view of the northern lights. If you would like to share a photo, submit here.
Northern lights were visible across metro Denver on Tuesday night as a severe geomagnetic storm lit up the skies in Colorado and throughout the U.S.
Folks spotted waves of pink, purple and green in Denver, Thornton, Broomfield, Centennial, Parker and beyond, according to photos shared on social media and captured by The Denver Post.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center, based in Boulder, sent out an alert for a severe geomagnetic storm just after 6 p.m.
A severe geomagnetic storm is “a major disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field,” with the potential to impact electricity and satellite operations, including GPS, NOAA officials wrote in the alert.
Almost 40 years after a passerby found the skeletal remains of missing teenager Donna Sue Wayne in a northeast Aurora field, investigators finally identified a suspect in her death — a man already in prison for the murder and sexual assault of another woman killed in the city seven months after Wayne.
Richard “Ricky” Saathoff, 65, is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping in Wayne’s death, according to the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office.
While some details of the 18-year-old’s disappearance have long been public knowledge, a newly filed Aurora Police Department arrest affidavit illuminates the winding path investigators trod for nearly 40 years, using DNA and fingerprint evidence along with witness statements to identify Saathoff as a suspect.
Donna Sue Wayne.
Wayne went missing after leaving her Aurora home to meet up with friends at a Montbello house party and bar the night of June 13, 1986.
She was last seen alive early the next morning, when a Stapleton airport worker saw her being physically and sexually assaulted by a man driving her green 1972 Ford LTD in the 800 block of North Picadilly Road.
Earlier reports described the car as red, but the arrest affidavit includes photos of the green Ford. The car was later destroyed. .
Wayne screamed for help before the man forced her back into the car, the woman told police. The woman drove to the nearest house to get help, but by the time police arrived, Wayne and the man were gone.
Wayne’s car was seen abandoned in Aurora’s Hoffman Heights neighborhood the next day, on June 15, 1986, but police did not link the car to Wayne until it was towed away two weeks later, an Aurora cold case investigator wrote in the affidavit.
Police lifted two fingerprints from the driver’s side window, and a neighbor found Wayne’s car keys, tossed in an evergreen bush down the block near Vaughn Elementary School, a few weeks later.
Wayne’s body was found by a passing driver in a northeast Aurora field littered with trash and debris one month after she was last seen alive, with her clothes and purse were strewn about the area, according to the affidavit.
Her exact cause of death was never confirmed because of how much her remains had decomposed, but she had multiple broken bones, including her jaw, ribs, clavicle and in her neck, chest and face.
The investigation seemed to stall after her body was found as police chased leads that did not pan out.
Fingerprint evidence from the driver’s side window was later misplaced and went missing for years, until it was found and retested in 2009, with no matches.
Investigators retested the fingerprints in a new system in 2012 and matched the two prints to Saathoff, who was already in prison after he was convicted of murder in the death of 40-year-old Norma Houston. Houston’s body was found naked, brutally beaten and assaulted near a gas station at 11697 E. Colfax Ave. on Jan. 18, 1987, seven months after Wayne’s death, police wrote.
Like Wayne, Houston had significant trauma to her head and a broken jaw, police wrote.
Houston was sexually assaulted, and though Wayne’s remains were too deteriorated to confirm sexual assault, her pants and underwear had been removed, like Houston’s.
Investigators linked Saathoff to Houston’s murder after his DNA was found on her clothes, and he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in June 1988. He is eligible for parole in June 2027, state records show.
After the 2012 fingerprint match, investigators tried to further link Saathoff to Wayne’s murder, according to the affidavit. A detective interviewed him in prison in 2014, and he denied knowing Wayne (and later denied killing Houston).
Investigators determined Saathoff lived with his parents in the same neighborhood where Wayne’s car was abandoned, and so did his ex-girlfriend.
In May, more than a decade after the fingerprint match, investigators again looked at Wayne’s clothes for a DNA sample, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation found and tested DNA on Wayne’s jeans that had a high likelihood of belonging to Saathoff.
Saathoff remains in prison at the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Cañon City, according to state records. His next court date was not available Friday.
An Aurora pedestrian was struck by a train Wednesday morning after trespassing on the tracks as the A-Line approached, according to the Regional Transportation District.
The unidentified victim was a “trespasser” because the Peoria Station crossing areas were closed to pedestrians for the incoming train at the time of the incident, RTD spokesperson Tara Broghammer said.
“When an individual enters railroad property anywhere other than a designated pedestrian or roadway crossing, or when either crossing is closed, it is illegal and considered trespassing,” Broghammer said in an email to The Denver Post.
Broghammer said the victim was hit just after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, and paramedics took the person to a hospital with unknown injuries at 7:50 a.m. At that time, the pedestrian was still alive.
No one on the A-Line commuter rail train was injured, and buses temporarily replaced the train between the Central Park and 40th & Airport Boulevard stations while police investigated, Broghammer said.
As of 8:45 a.m., the A-Line had resumed service, according to RTD.
RTD’s A-Line takes commuters between Union Station in Denver and Denver International Airport.
A motorcyclist died Tuesday night in Aurora after another driver ran a red light, crashing into the motorcycle and a third vehicle, police said.
The fatal crash happened at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when a GMC driver headed north on South Buckley Road failed to stop for a red light at East Mississippi Avenue, according to a news release from the Aurora Police Department.
The GMC driver then crashed into a motorcycle and an Acura, the drivers of which were both turning left onto Mississippi, police said.
Police said the motorcyclist, an unidentified man, died from his injuries at the scene of the crash. He will be identified by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office.
No other injuries were reported. The GMC driver remained on scene and is cooperating with the investigation, according to Aurora police.
Information about the cause of the crash was not available Wednesday, but police said speed and alcohol are not suspected to be factors.
