The Fourth Shift for Oct. 7th
President Biden Plans To Pardon Federal Marijuana Offenses. Boulder Police Arrest a Second Suspect in the University Hill Shootout. An Undercover Fort Collins Detective is Seriously Hurt
NATIONAL
NBC News: President Biden announced he will take executive action to pardon people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law. The move is expected to wipe the records of more than 6,500 people convicted between 1992 and 2021. Biden also said he would ask his administration to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and what action he could take to change it. Currently, marijuana is classified as a Schedule One drug, which is the same classification as heroin and LSD.
Spectrum News 1: The Vine Grove Police Department in Kentucky had a unique idea to combat the fentanyl crisis in the city. The department set up a vending machine that would allow residents to get free doses of Narcan nasal spray to reverse an opioid overdose. In just three days, all 42 doses of Narcan were gone. The department is working to restock the machine.
WXXI: The City of Rochester, NY will pay $12 million to the family of a man who died after he was arrested by police in March 2020. Prude was pinned to the ground, restrained with handcuffs and had a spit hood placed over his head. Purde’s family had called police initially because he was having a mental health episode.
The Virginian-Pilot: The Norfolk, VA Police Department is turning on the smolder when it comes to recruitment. The department featured Officers Sean Gilley and Anthony Marquez, dubbing the good-looking duo “Norfolk’s Finest,” bringing them for a meet-and-greet. Facebook photos of officers drew 31,000 comments from some very thirsty women. 🥵
COLORADO
EAGLE COUNTY
Sun: President Biden plans to visit Colorado next Wednesday. The president will make Camp Hale near Leadville a national monument. The camp is where the Tenth Mountain Division trained before heading to battle in World War II.
STATEWIDE
CBS4: Colorado.gov is back online after a suspected cyberattack. Security experts believe a Russian hacker group known as “Killnet” may have been the culprit. State officials say the attack only affected the state website homepage.
ADAMS COUNTY
9News: A sergeant with the Denver Sheriff Department will serve a two-week suspension after he was convicted of drinking and driving. Sgt. Jerry Sherrod addended the birthday party at the home of Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins on April 9th north of Watkins. Sherrod flipped his car and called CSP. A test showed his blood-alcohol level was at 0.134.
BOULDER
Denver7: Boulder Police arrested a person of interest connected to the University Hill shooting on Sunday. Eighteen-year-old Gabriel Sharma is the second man facing charges, but at least three other suspects could still be at large.
Fox31: A former CU frat member faces sexual assault charges. Police say 19-year-old Ethan Hirsch assaulted the woman back in August at the Kappa Sigma annex house. Records show the victim had been drinking and was too physically impaired to consent.
PLATTEVILLE
9News: The Platteville Police officer who parked his patrol car on the train tracks before it was hit by a train believed he was in the clear. Sgt. Pablo Vasquez was part of the group that arrested 20-year-old Yareni Rios-Gonzalez last month for a road rage incident in Fort Lupton. In the video, Vasquez is heard explaining that an officer from Fort Lupton put Rios-Gonzalez in the back of his patrol car before he and two officers searched her truck for a gun. Vasquez also explains that he was not aware the woman was in his car when the train struck it, and he didn’t realize he had left his patrol car in a vulnerable position.
FORT COLLINS
9News: An undercover detective in Fort Collins was seriously injured by an acquaintance of a suspect. FCPS officials say the detective was conducting follow-up work for a prior investigation late last month when Quentin Wallace attacked him. Wallace was an associate of a suspect of a prior investigation and had no idea he assaulted an officer. The detective remains in critical condition at this time.
DENVER
Denver Post: Investigators arrested a suspect in a sexual assault case in Denver that took place in 2004. Authorities in Missouri took 49-year-old Jason Groshart into custody on Tuesday. Detectives in Denver used Investigative Genetic Genealogy DNA research to link DNA evidence from the crime to Groshart.
9News: A 17-year-old boy will be charged as an adult for a deadly shooting at a Denver rec center from back in August. Prosecutors say Deigo Lopez killed 14-year-old Josiaz “JoJo” Aragon outside the Southwest Recreation Center. According to investigators, Lopez beat and then shot the victim during an illegal sale of a gun.
CBS4: The Denver Police Department hired its first-ever victim assistance coordinator. The move comes as a response to the shooting death of Ma Kaing over the summer. Kaing was a Burmese refugee who was killed by a stray bullet. The investigation into her murder showed gaps in how DPD provided services for victims of crimes, especially if they spoke a language that was uncommon. The victim assistance coordinator will be tasked with trying to find interpreters for future investigations, and help locate other services needed.
PUEBLO COUNTY
KOAA: One suspect is dead after a deputy-involved shooting in Colorado City Wednesday night. Pueblo County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a burglary where an intruder broke into a home of a grandmother and a nine-year-old girl. According to the grandmother, the man was looking for a man named David when she asked him to leave. Deputies later found the man and tried to approach him. The suspect then pulled out a handgun and threatened to shoot law enforcement. Three deputies opened fire when the suspect refused to drop his weapon.
Editor’s note: This edition of the newsletter was completed before 9 p.m. yesterday.