A climber was rescued Sunday afternoon after falling multiple stories from a route in Eldorado Canyon State Park, according to the Boulder County officials.
The 69-year-old man and his partner were climbing the Chockstone Route when the man fell about 70 feet to the ground below, according to a news release from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
Bystanders and rescuers performed CPR to resuscitate the unidentified man after his heart stopped, sheriff’s officials said. Someone called for help just before 2:20 p.m. Sunday.
Eldorado Canyon State Park employees, Boulder County sheriff’s deputies, the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and Mountain View Fire Protection District crews all responded to help the fallen climber, according to the sheriff’s office.
Rescuers secured the injured climber onto a stretcher and, over the course of two hours, carefully moved him down rocky terrain to an ambulance, sheriff’s officials said. Paramedics then took the man to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The warrants were served in unincorporated Boulder and Adams Counties, and the cities of Denver, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Federal Heights and Johnstown. However, the grand jury case originated out of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
“Judicially approved warrants are being carried out as part of a Grand Jury investigation conducted by the District Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement,” the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. “That criminal case will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office. Once the indictments are unsealed and the appropriate individuals are in custody, the District Attorney’s Office will issue a press release and release the grand jury indictment.”
Law enforcement conducts 9 search warrants Wednesday AM across Front Range
Patrol, tactical, investigators and support personnel from more than two dozen law enforcement agencies began executing search warrants at 7 a.m. Wednesday at seven residences and two storage lockers.
The SWAT operation in Commerce City closed E. 104th Ave. in both directions between Idalia Street and Landmark Drive, according to the city’s police department. Drivers were commended to find alternative routes until this area reopens.
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Flames engulfed a strip mall in Nederland early Thursday morning, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
As of 5:51 a.m., the fire had been “knocked down substantially,” but continued to burn, sheriff’s office spokesperson Vinnie Montez said in a video posted by the agency.
The flames are contained to the Caribou Village Shopping Center at 20 Lakeview Drive in Nederland, Montez said.
While crews continue to battle the fire, Montez said the following road closures remained in place:
Eastbound Big Springs Drive at Colorado 119, also known as Bridge Street
Westbound Big Springs Drive at Conger Street
Eastbound Lakeview Drive at Colorado 119
And westbound Lakeview Drive at Conger Street
It’s unclear exactly when the fire started, but emergency officials issued an evacuation order for areas around the shopping center and near Barker Meadow Reservoir at 3:28 a.m. Thursday.
The evacuation area is bordered to the north and west by Colorado 119, the south by Peakview Road and the east by the end of the Barker Meadow Reservoir, the map shows.
Information about the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage was not immediately available.
Marshall fire victims who joined the massive lawsuit against Xcel Energy are expected to receive their portion of the $640 million settlement before the end of the year, but the amount of money each plaintiff receives will not be publicly disclosed.
Xcel and plaintiffs’ attorneys announced the settlement Wednesday, just one day before the start of jury selection in a two-month civil trial to determine blame for the 2021 wildfire that killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County.
The full terms of the settlement will not be released, though private corporations involved in the litigation may need to disclose their payouts to shareholders. The individual homeowners who participated in the lawsuit will be required to sign nondisclosure agreements, said Paul Starita, a lawyer at Singleton Schreiber, one of the firms that represented homeowners.
Not every person or company among the more than 4,000 plaintiffs will receive the same amount of money, Stirata said. The amount each receives will depend on the level of damages.
Plaintiffs whose houses burned to the ground would be in line to receive more money than people who suffered smoke and soot damage, he said. People who rented housing or owned rental properties were also parties to the lawsuit, as were some people who only evacuated and sued for the nuisance. And claims involving deaths would be compensated with a higher amount.
Attorneys figured out months ago what percentage of any settlement or jury award each plaintiff should receive, because those dollar figures were part of the mediation and settlement negotiations, Stirata said.
“You add up all of those figures and the defendant pays you that lump sum and you give that to your clients,” he said. “It’s a fair settlement.”
Payments should start being distributed within 60 days and be complete by the end of the year, Stirata said.
The lawyers will also get a cut of the settlement as their payment for taking on the case. Each firm sets its own fee for the clients it accepted, Sirata said. He declined to reveal what percentage Singleton Schreiber will receive.
A large chunk of the settlement will go to the 200 insurance companies that sued Xcel to compensate for the massive property damage claims they paid in the fire’s aftermath. In a legal filing ahead of the trial, those insurance firms said they suffered $1.7 billion in losses. It is not known what settlement amount they agreed to.
The Target Corporation was a plaintiff as well because its store in Superior was closed for months due to fire damage. The city of Boulder, Boulder County and the Boulder Valley School District were also plaintiffs.
The fire ignited first on the property of the Twelve Tribes religious cult, which has a compound on Eldorado Drive, near the Marshall Mesa Open Space. That ignition was caused by smoldering embers left over from a Dec. 24 burn-pit fire on the property.
The Mountain View Fire Protection District and Boulder County sheriff’s deputies responded when neighbors reported the fire, and the cult members extinguished the blaze by burying it with dirt. However, strong winds on Dec. 30 uncovered the smoldering embers and sent them flying into dry grasses and brush.
A second ignition occurred about an hour and 20 minutes later when wires and electrical equipment from an Xcel utility pole became unmoored, clashed into each other and threw sparks into dry grass at the trailhead, an investigation by the Boulder County district attorney and sheriff’s offices found.
In the settlement, Xcel did not admit fault or negligence for the fire and continues to deny that its equipment ignited the Marshall fire.
The Twelve Tribes was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Stirata said that’s because “we didn’t see them as an entity you could recover (money) from.” The cult also would have been able to claim it was given the OK by the fire department on Dec. 24, he said.
The various lawyers will appear before Judge Christopher Zenisek on Nov. 5 to provide an update on the settlement.
Two dogs are among the newest government employees of Boulder County.
Ares, a 1½-year-old German Shepherd, is the newest K-9 recruit of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and Marlow, a 2-year-old golden retriever lab mix, is the most recent furry friend to be hired by the District Attorney’s office to help in victim services.
While the two dogs could not be more different in their jobs, they reflect the continued presence of K-9 support in law enforcement agencies.
‘He’s very good at comforting people’
Ares, who is currently going through the academy, is being trained for certification in patrol and narcotics detection. Meanwhile, Marlow helps victims and children feel more comfortable during trial proceedings.
“This building is a scary place, it’s got people a victim or witness don’t know, and people in suits who are going to be asking all these really tough questions about stuff they really don’t want to talk about if they had a choice, ” said Chris Merkle, a senior investigator at the DA’s Office. “Just to see the impact, these dogs can just take that edge off.”
Merkle’s work involves investigating cases in preparation for trial. Each investigation includes interviewing witnesses, victims and responders as to what they saw during the incident.
“We meet with them right before trial, kind of give them the logistics of trial and where and when they should show up. That’s often when Marlow is involved,” Merkle said. “A lot of times when you’re talking about the crime again and in the court, it brings up a lot of anxiety. He’s very good at comforting people.”
Investigator Chris Merkle and his dog Marlow have been working at the DA’s Office to provide support to victims, witnesses, and staff.(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
Marlow, who has been with the office since April, is from the Canine Companion For Independence organization which provides “service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings,” according to its website. Their dogs are of no cost to the clients.
Merkle said Marlow was trained when they began working. But to ensure Marlow stays up to date on his training, they spend about five-to-10 minutes a day, reviewing.
Marlow’s responsibilities involve calming people down, bringing smiles to people’s faces and even dropping a tissue box in their laps if they need it.
The pup is trained to respond to both English and Spanish, and has the ability to open drawers, “boop” people to alert them, and rest his upper body or chin on someone to calm them. Marlow can also jump on furniture if needed, only barks on command and only goes to the bathroom when told to.
Ares will work on the other side of the system, by being used to track suspects, reprimand suspects through bites and find narcotics.
Ares first met his handler, Boulder County Deputy Richard Hart, in early August after being picked up from Vohne Liche Kennels, based in Indiana.
Since then, the two have bonded in training sessions prior to starting the academy in October. Hart’s plan in that they will graduate and become certified in patrol and narcotics detection.
“We’ve had a couple months now to really build a foundation of obedience. So we’ve been going to weekly trainings with our unit, our internal unit here at the sheriff’s office,” Hart said. “I’ve learned a lot of obedience and other basic commands, I’ve gotten a lot of exposure, environmental exposure, and that really gave us a good foundation to start the academy. So even though we’ve only been there a week, we’re pretty far along.”
Given that a number of other agencies within the county don’t have K-9 units themselves, Hart said he and Ares will be called to assist other agencies on scene. Hart is also a part of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force which tracks “violent fugitives.” Ares will be used there, as well.
The two will also need to remain on call, as they could be needed at any time.
‘if I were to send him on a bite, I have to be able to recall him.’
Boulder County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Hart, with K-9, Ares.(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
The two K-9s also have very different home lives. At home, Ares sleeps outside in an insulated kennel, provided by the sheriff’s office, to keep him from confusing his work life and home life.
“I can’t bring him inside really, and there’s reasons,” Hart said. “When we do our training exercises and we go into an empty building or something and we’ll have a decoy suspect, I need him to be comfortable jumping over furniture, jumping on the counters, pushing doors open — things you don’t want him to do in your own home. If I were to bring him in my house and tell him no or correct him for doing that, then that can pour over into training.”
Despite Ares not sharing a home with his handler, the pair share the rest of their time together. Hart feeds, walks, plays and trains Ares to ensure they build a bond that will transfer into the workplace.
“He has to really only understand me,” Hart said. “He takes orders from me, he gets his food from me, his water, I’m the provider of everything. He tends to ignore other people, including my family. He is hyper-focused on me — which is good for the training bonding.”
Hart said while on scene he is the one to decide whether to release Ares for a bite and has to ensure that if he lets Ares go, he will bite the correct person. Hart added that if Ares were to be released and then the suspect were to start complying, Hart has to be able to stop Ares from pursuing.
“You have to be able to demonstrate verbal recall and a verbal out with your dog,” Hart said. “Right now, I have control of him on the leash, but if I were to send him on a bite, I have to be able to recall him.”
Meanwhile, Marlow has a similar home life to most dogs but still does everything with Merkle, including walking a mile-and-a-half each morning at 4 a.m. before eating breakfast, getting dressed for work and making the commute, in.
“He’s spoiled like any other dog because he’s so well-behaved,” Merkle said. “He is just such a good boy and he loves to lay in the sun.”
‘He’s the most popular employee’
In the DA’s Office, Marlow is always near one of his many balls or toys that he treasures and often plays within the courtyard. When indoors, he can be found resting in his dog bed in Merkle’s office, where people often stop by to visit.
“Marlow has no shortage of visitors that come by and want to say hi,” Merkle said. “He’s the most popular employee.”
In contrast, Ares hangs out in the spacious kennel in the back of Hart’s patrol car, which stays running throughout the day. Ares always has a bed and water in the kennel and gets taken out for walks and training during the day.
Boulder County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Hart, with K-9, Ares.(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
Hart explained that if the patrol car’s air somehow gets turned off, the car will automatically roll the windows down and turn on fans inside the vehicle. Hart also has a device that will tell him the temperature inside the vehicle.
The manufacturer also considered the possibility of someone attempting to steal the running vehicle. Hart explained that if someone without the key tries to open the door, the patrol car will turn off immediately.
The sheriff’s office hopes to get another K-9 toward the start of next year.
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Two climbers were rescued from the Redgarden Wall in Eldorado Canyon State Park 11 hours after they became stuck, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
Just before 8 p.m. Saturday, Boulder County Communications was notified that two climbers were stuck on the top pitch of the T-2 climb located on Tower Two of the Redgarden Wall.
The climbers — identified as a 22-year-old Boulder man and a 20-year-old Boulder man — started their ascent at 2 p.m. but “moved slower than expected,” the sheriff’s office said. By the time they realized they needed to bail from the route, it was getting dark and they did not feel safe rappelling down, especially since they did not have headlamps.
Rescuers found the two using spotlights. A team from Rocky Mountain Rescue Group ascended the East Slabs and climbed to the top of Tower Two. The rescuers then rappelled down to the stuck climbers and helped them up to the top of the climb, where they were assisted down, the sheriff’s office said.
The climbers did not require medical attention, according to BCSO. Both climbers were able to walk to the trailhead. The sheriff’s office said the second climber arrived back at the parking lot at 6:45 a.m. Sunday.
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