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Colorado Springs woman cuts man with steak knife
Colorado Springs woman arrested after shooting her common-law husband
Colorado Springs police officer arrested for repeatedly filing false accusations against former boyfriend
Falsely accused Manitou Springs police officer sues Colorado Springs
Relentless stalking, persecution, and jail time was a time of terror for former Manitou Springs cop
Ms. Huffman now claims prosecutors siding with her “abuser”
Judge DuBois rejects Ms. Huffman's plea for the favor of a special prosecutor
Jarrott Martinez awarded $480,000 in settlement of his claims against Colorado Springs police
Boulder blonde smacks her boyfriend and then kills cat with heroin smoke
Blonde Colorado Springs police dispatcher in hot pursuit “commandeers” hot dog cart
Woman stabs man aboard Denver RTD bus
Bad break-up was motive in burglary and assault in Colorado Springs
Woman charged with assault in Denver after grabbing man's testicles and kicking him in the groin
El Paso County Sheriff Deputy arrested after domestic violence dispute with her boyfriend
Charges against sheriff's deputy Amanda Washburn dismissed
Denver police arrest woman accused of groping and biting man and store clerk in Barn Store
Colorado Springs police arrest male in domestic dispute, of course, but it was a mistake
Kersey woman attempts vigilante justice and shoots wildly at men and children
According to the January 2, 2011 (Local, p. 2) edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette on the evening of New Years Day a man was slashed on the hands by a woman with a steak knife.
The incident occurred in a home but the man apparently fled and called police from the Knob Hill Lounge near East Platte and Iowa avenues.
Police said they visited the residence where the man was attacked but the woman had left and no one was home.
The man was treated for his cuts at Memorial Hospital.
June 10, 2011 — A Colorado Springs woman was arrested in an early morning shooting Friday that left her common-law husband hospitalized, police said.
Urriel Lee, 21, was held on investigation of attempted second-degree murder.
Investigators said Ms. Lee was arguing with Demetrius Martin, 23, a home on the 3400 block of Springnite Drive before the 6 AM shooting.
Officers arrived to find Martin bleeding from a gunshot wound. Police said his injuries, treated at a local hospital, aren't considered life threatening.
Ms. Lee was arrested a few hours after the shooting.
Abstracted from article by Joel Millman and Tom Roeder, Colorado Springs Gazette
June 10, 2011
— A Colorado Springs police officer who accused a former Manitou Springs cop of assault last year has been arrested for lying to authorities.
The 4 th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced the arrest of Colorado Springs police officer Sydney Huffman, 24, on Friday, saying she was held on investigation of attempting to influence a public servant, a Class 4 felony.
Officer Huffman claimed to have been the victim in a June 9, 2010 attack by former Manitou Springs policeman Jarrott Martinez, age 30. However, Martinez was acquitted of the charges in a February trial.
Now, authorities say Ms. Huffman, a decorated three-year veteran of the department, misled investigators as the alleged victim in the domestic violence case.
Police say they learned of the issue on April 21, 2011, then turned over the investigation to the district attorney's office.
Last year, Huffman claimed Martinez, her estranged boyfriend, met her in a restaurant parking lot off Woodmen Road. She told investigators that Martinez tried to talk her out of testifying against him in a restraining order case, then strangled her as she tried to leave his pickup.
The case against Martinez was hampered by inconsistencies in Ms. Huffman's account. She first told police that Martinez pulled up behind her car and forced her into the parking lot, but later said she had agreed to meet him there.
In court, Martinez' defense attorney Daniel Deters told jurors that Martinez was not in the parking lot that night and Ms. Huffman lied about the entire incident.
Ms. Huffman was held in the El Paso County jail Friday on just a $20,000 bond on investigation of the Class 4 felony. She is on paid administrative leave pending the filing of formal charges, police said.
Abstracted from article by Jakob Rogers, Colorado Springs Gazette
June 14, 2011 — In a lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court Jarrott Martinez alleged that Colorado Springs police officer Sydney Huffman was aided and abetted in her vendetta against him by MIchael Jelmo, a detective also with the Colorado Springs Police Department. Jelmo oversaw three investigations in 2010 on allegations that Martinez burglarized Ms. Huffman's apartment and repeatedly beat and sexually assaulted her.
The suit claims Detective Jelmo conspired with Officer Huffman to draw up the charges, often overlooking Ms. Huffman's lies, and facts and witness statements that exonerated Martinez. Her vendetta of false charges was drummed up after Martinez broke up with Ms. Huffman in April 2010.
The suit came less than a week after Ms. Huffman was arrested on suspicion of trying to influence a public servant, a class four felony.
The suit claims Ms. Huffman led “a campaign of personal destruction” against Martinez by coercing Colorado Springs investigators into pursuing four warrants — including one issued after Martinez was acquitted in two trials and a district attorney dropped charges in another case. The warrants falsely alleged Martinez committed burglary, domestic violence and sexual assault, against Ms. Huffman, among other allegations.
According to the lawsuit, in three affidavits written by Detective Jelmo last year Ms. Huffman alleged:
• Martinez beat her in May 2010, causing a fresh bruise on her eye.
• Martinez tried hitting her vehicle with his pickup truck in June 2010 while out of jail on bond. She claimed he then tried strangling her once the two pulled over.
• Martinez, again out on bond, broke into the apartment she was staying at three times in August 2010, threatened her and beat her with a candle holder. He was jailed for six months following the alleged incident spending much of his time in solitary confinement because he was a police officer.
Martinez turned himself in to the El Paso Count jail following the August 2010 accusations. Jarrott Martinez then spent six months in solitary confinement for a crime he didn't commit because a vindictive and jealous police officer wanted her revenge. One can hardly imagine the pain and agony of a man sworn to uphold the law being falsely imprisoned by a mentally-deranged woman, who is also a police officer. “I was in disbelief,” Martinez said. “My family was heartbroken, I was heartbroken. It just really hurt. But if you look at the pattern and how relentless they've been in hunting me, and the lack of investigative effort there has been, it's kind of par for the course.”
On October 5, 2010, a jury acquitted Martinez in the May incident. In February 2011 another jury acquitted him of the second incident. Prosecutor's with the 4 th Judicial District Attorney's Office then dropped charges in the third incident and he was released from jail in March 2011.
The suit notes that in aiding and abetting Ms. Huffman in her vendetta, Detective Jelmo ignored, or didn't catch several inconsistencies in her claims, including:
• Witnesses placed Martinez at a firearms training course in Gunnison in the days prior to when Ms. Huffman's fellow officers noticed the bruise on her eye in May 2010.
• When security camera footage showed Martinez on a date with his girlfriend at the time of the alleged incident in June 2010, Sydney Huffman, a sworn police officer, admitted she lied, later saying she voluntarily met Martinez five hours later than originally reported. A fellow police officer then refuted even her second account, noting she was at his house that evening.
• Inconsistencies in the report of the August 2010 incident, including the fact that the gun said to be used in the assault was in Ms. Huffman's police locker, not her apartment as claimed.
The lawsuit detailed a fourth warrant written by Detective Jelmo and filed in April 2011 in which Ms. Huffman claimed Martinez strangled her with a cord, cut her with a knife and sexually assaulted her. The fourth set of charges claimed Martinez had a history of abuse despite the acquittals. The arrest affidavit also wrongly claimed Martinez had once been sought for attempted murder.
Upon learning of the charges, Martinez once again turned himself in to the El Paso County jail. However, the district attorney, finally waking up, declined to press charges in the fourth incident.
Based on a story by Jakob Rodgers, Colorado Springs Gazette
June 15, 2011 — Former Manitou Springs police officer Jarrott Martinez said he was in “sheer terror” when jailed following accusations of domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend, Sydney Huffman, a Colorado Springs police officer.
“I thought for sure they would do a complete and thorough investigation...but that wasn't the case,” Martinez said. “I was just in a state of confusion and shock....She's basically, up until now, been given carte blanche to do whatever she wanted.”
Apparently Colorado Springs police officers his former girlfriend worked with were “more than willing” to help Sydney Huffman and Detective MIchael Jelmo pursue charges that landed him in jail five times in the last year. And it is horrifying to find this level of corruption extends into the police department, although the level of false allegations in the 4 th Judicial District have made it obvious such malfeasance must exist.
The Colorado Springs Police Department has opened an internal affairs investigation into the allegations against Ms. Huffman and Michael Jelmo, said police spokesman Sgt. Steve Noblitt. He declined to comment further but we can expect the usual whitewash of police misconduct.
Martinez stated that Ms. Huffman began airing false accusations after Martinez ended their five-year relationship. He said she concocted her plan when she learned he was seeing another woman, whom he later married.
“It was just relentless observation that she constantly maintained over me.” Martinez said. “She was very jealous. She was always very skeptical of my whereabouts. Over time, I just ultimately decided to leave the relationship.”
While in jail the last time from August 2010 to March 2011 Martinez stated: “I spent a lot of time praying and a lot of time staring out windows...It's humiliating and degrading to be locked away all day. It's just crushing.”
Martinez has been unemployed since June 2010, when the Manitou Springs Police Department fired him after his second arrest. Conversely, Ms. Huffman remained on paid leave at last report.
He has been unable to get another job in law enforcement due to a restraining order filed by Ms. Huffman that has yet to be lifted.
He said he has spent much of his time with his family “trying to breathe free air.”
“I'm glad that it seems most of the worst is behind me now,” Martinez said. “Finally they can't hide the truth any further.”
On June 22, 2011 Ms. Sydney Huffman was formally charged with six felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant. The prosecutor warned that more charges could follow, hopefully to include stalking. In the meantime while Jarrot Martinez was fired from the Manitou Springs police department due to the malicious actions of Ms. Huffman and unemployed for two years, she remains on paid leave from the Colorado Springs police department.
Unfortunately, now it will almost certainly be left to the innocent taxpayers of Colorado Springs to pay for the injustice done this man and the malfeasance of two of the city's sworn police officers.
Are there no lengths to which neo-Marxist radical feminists (redfems) will go in their claims that they are “victims” of an evil patriarchy? As reported by the December 1, 2011, edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette (p. A3 and A5) Ms. Sydney Huffman, who remains on paid leave from the Colorado Springs Police Department, has the unmitigated gall to claim she is being persecuted by the district attorneys who are investigating her false allegations against her ex-boyfriend. The Equal Justice Foundation has heard some bizarre uses of the “abuse excuse” but her outlandish claims raise the bar to new heights.
The real victims in this case are her ex-boyfriend and the citizens of Colorado Springs who are forced to pay her salary and suffer the penalties of such incompetence in its police force.
Abstracted from article by Lance Benzel, Colorado Springs Gazette
August 03, 2012 — District Judge Jann DuBois rejected a request to appoint a special prosecutor in the case of a former Colorado Springs police officer accused of lying about abuse to put an ex-boyfriend behind bars. The female judge ruled the defense failed to establish that Sydney Huffman, 25, would be unable to receive a fair trial and said she found no evidence of impropriety in the decision to charge Ms. Huffman.
The ruling came after two court hearings in which Huffman's attorneys raised questions over whether charges against Ms. Huffman were a knee jerk reaction to a lawsuit filed by Jarrott Martinez, the ex-boyfriend she repeatedly falsely accused of assaulting her.
Incredibly, defense attorneys also argued Ms. Huffman's prosecution is inappropriate because it relies on details she supplied while being interviewed when alleging she was a “victim.” Note that Sydney Huffman was a decorated Colorado Springs police officer who, of all people, should have been aware that any voluntary statement she made could be used against her. In response the prosecuting attorney, Amy Fitch, noted that charges are routinely, and rightly filed against those who lie to police about being victims to exact revenge on someone. The only objection the Equal Justice Foundation has is that more such charges for false reporting should be filed.
Ms. Huffman's attorneys, Karen Steinberg and Lara Marks, notified the court they intend to appeal DuBois' decision. It is of interest to note that an attorney by the name of Karen Steinberg is not listed in the directory Lawyers.com although she claims to have been an attorney in Colorado for over 20 years. One wonders which feminist group is using public money to pay Ms. Huffman's legal fees? An article in the August 3, 2012, edition (p. A5) of the Colorado Springs Gazette noted that TESSA has sent a victim's advocate, Nancy Duke, to support Ms. Huffman during numerous court appearances.
In response to the civil lawsuit filed by Martinez, and described above, Colorado Springs ultimately agreed to pay him $480,000 to settle his claims that Ms. Huffman had launched a “campaign of personal destruction” against him.
Sydney Huffman was finally terminated by the Colorado Springs Police Department in May, 2012, after nearly a year of being on paid administrative leave following her arrest on suspicion of six counts of attempting to influence a public servant. Her salary certainly brings the cost to the city for her lies to at least $550,000. Legal costs for prosecution will probably take the total to over $1 million.
One hopes police will finally recognize that two thirds of the claims of domestic violence made by women in the Fourth Judicial District are false.
Abstracted from story by Mitchell Byars, Boulder Daily Camera
July 6, 2011
— A woman was arrested by Boulder police after her boyfriend said she hit him and then blew heroin smoke in a cat's face, causing the pet to die several hours later.
Danielle Blankenship, 21, was arrested Tuesday morning when police responded to the 1100 block of 30 th Street after her boyfriend called police after she hit him in the face.
When police arrived, they noticed that a cat, which belonged to a roommate of Ms. Blankenship's boyfriend, was lying unresponsive at the base of the stairs. Officers were unable to wake the cat and called animal control.
When asked what had happened to the cat the boyfriend said Ms. Blankenship had been smoking heroin and blew smoke in the cat's face.
Muffin was taken to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley where veterinarians began treating it for poisoning. The cat appeared to stabilize after being treated with fluids, but its condition worsened Tuesday evening. It was then transported to Boulder Emergency Pet Clinic where it died.
Ms. Blankenship was charged with third-degree assault and misdemeanor animal cruelty. Prosecutors were reportedly considering felony animal cruelty charges if drugs were found to be the cause of Muffin's demise.
Toxicology tests and necropsy were then performed on the cat to determine a cause of death and whether there were drugs in the animal's system. Charges of animal cruelty against Ms. Blankenship were later dropped after necropsy found no trace of heroin in the cat's system. The cause of death was inconclusive. Apparently Muffin had a number of pre-existing health problems despite being relatively young.
Presumably prosecutors will do their duty and pursue the domestic violence assault charges against her.
Abstracted from story by Lance Benzel, Colorado Springs Gazette
August 4, 2011
— She was hot on a bad guy's trail — at least that's what 28-year-old Kayla Hogan claimed when a Colorado Springs hot dog vendor said she tried to drive off in the pickup to which his snack cart was hitched.
“I'm commandeering your truck,” the vendor said he was told. “I'm after someone.”
Ms. Hogan, a dispatcher in the Colorado Springs police communications center, was arrested June 26 on suspicion of attempted vehicle theft after a closing-time fracas outside the Copperhead Road Bar, 3330 N. Academy Blvd. Police say she pinched the hot dog vendor and twice punched a bar bouncer who came to his aid.
According to an arrest affidavit, a bar bouncer grew concerned when he noticed Ms. Hogan standing in the bar parking lot about 1 AM. But when Curtis Lille approached and asked if she needed help, she ignored his questions, “kicked off her high heel shoes” and took off running through the parking lot.
Four minutes later, police say, hot dog vendor Charlie Gast “saw a female wearing no shoes run up to his truck and get into the driver's seat.”
Hogan pinched Gast and punched Lille during a scuffle that broke out as they tried to get her out of the truck, police said.
According to the court documents, Ms. Hogan lashed out when Gast prevented her from turning the truck's key, which was left in the ignition: “You're really aiding and abetting a felon,” she said, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police listed the value of the 2006 GMC pickup at $15,000. The vending trailer hitched to the back is worth approximately $25,000, police said. She was charged with attempted aggravated motor vehicle theft, a Class 4 felony that carries up to 12 years in prison.
For some reason her arrest apparently didn't make it onto the Colorado Springs Police Department's online blotter, which records notable incidents and arrests. However, records show that Ms. Hogan was arrested and convicted twice previously for driving under the influence during her six-and-one-half year career with the Colorado Springs Police Department. The first of those arrests occurred within six months of her start date. The Colorado Springs Gazette (November 14, 2011, p. A6) also states that a deputy police chief halted another alcohol-related Internal Affairs investigation after concluding it was a “personal issue.” In that incident police records indicate an on-duty patrol officer was dispatched to pick her up at The Ritz, 15 South Tejon, because she was “trashed.” Yet another Internal Affairs probe was opened when Ms. Hogan was found passed out behind the wheel of her car outside a Village Inn restaurant.
Ms. Hogan, despite two previous convictions for drunk driving, earned a base salary of $52,000 in 2011. The six-year veteran was put on paid leave after her most recent arrest in June said police spokesman Sgt. Steve Noblitt. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette (November 14, 2011, p. A6) she finally was terminated three months later on October 1, 2011.
On December 5, 2011, Kayla Hogan pled guilty to attempted aggravated motor vehicle theft in the June 26 th incident that ended her six-year career with the Colorado Springs Police Department. Under a plea deal with prosecutors other charges were dropped and Hogan agreed to avoid alcohol while serving two years' supervised probation.
Abstracted from story by Jordan Steffen, The Denver Post
October 10, 2011 — Denver police identified the woman accused of stabbing a man on a Denver RTD bus as Sheila Monroe, 44. She was arrested after she stabbed a man near the throat before running off the bus, said Sonny Jackson, spokesman for the Denver Police Department.
About 3 PM officers were called to the intersection of West Colfax Avenue and Perry Street in Denver after passengers on the bus called 911 and reported the stabbing.
The bus driver pulled over near a 7-Eleven convenience store and, following protocol, opened the doors, said Scott Reed, spokesman for the Regional Transportation District. Shortly afterward, officers found and arrested Ms. Monroe a few blocks away.
The driver turned footage from the bus' surveillance system over to police, who used it to identify Sheila Monroe as the assailant. All buses are equipped with multiple-camera surveillance systems, Reed said.
Police are still interviewing witnesses, and the investigation is ongoing. The motive behind Ms. Monroe's attack, and whether the two knew each other was not known. The victim, whose name has not been released, was discharged from a hospital Tuesday morning.
Sheila Monroe has a long criminal record in Colorado, including charges of third-degree assault, burglary and possession of a controlled substance, according to state court records.
Story by Tom Roeder, Colorado Springs Gazette
October 15, 2011 — Police say love gone sour led to a home-invasion burglary on the 2500 block of Verde Drive early Saturday.
Police say a woman still bitter after a breakup decided to go after her ex-boyfriend's new squeeze and recruited two friends to help in the endeavor. The trio showed up at the victim's apartment just before 3 AM and kicked down the door before rushing inside to pound on the victim.
Police were called to the scene and found the three in the building's parking lot.
Officers say the victim was hit in the face, but refused medical treatment.
Shanntel Ottcson, Katyln Roseboro and Brian Sojourner were arrested in suspicion of burglary, police said. It's unclear which one allegedly had the sour grapes after a break-up.
November 4, 2011 — A 41-year-old woman has been charged with assault after she grabbed a man's genitals when he tried to keep her from leaving a downtown bar with her drink.
Lori Ann Waldo was charged with unlawful sexual contact and third-degree assault on Thursday, according to a news release from the Denver District Attorney's Office.
At 1:40 AM on October 15, 2011, officers were called to a bar in the 4800 block of Bannock Street on a report of an assault.
After an argument with the 40-year-old bar employee, Ms. Waldo grabbed his genitals and kicked him several times in the groin.
Abstracted in part from article by Jakob Rodgers, Colorado Springs Gazette
November 15, 2011 — A female El Paso County sheriff's deputy was arrested earlier this week following a domestic violence dispute with a male deputy she was dating.
Amanda Washburn, who works in the sheriff's office's patrol division and is a member of the Sheriff's Office honor guard according to the El Paso County Sheriff's 2010 Annual Report, was jailed on suspicion of harassment, a misdemeanor, said Lt. Lari Sevene, sheriff's spokeswoman.
Investigators report Ms. Washburn hit her boyfriend, Ryan Harris, who is also a deputy, on the chest and threw chunks of dirt and concrete at his house on Sunday, according to an arrest affidavit. She also followed Deputy Harris about 20 miles in her car while texting him to talk to her, the affidavit said, and tried going into his home several times after being asked to leave.
She told investigators that the two began arguing over concerns he spent too much time with his son's mother on Halloween, according to an arrest affidavit.
Ms. Washburn made her first court appearance Tuesday afternoon and was released on a personal recognizance bond out of interest for her safety. She faces harassment charges, a Class 3 misdemeanor with the add-on charge of domestic violence.
The court ordered a mandatory protection order for 7 days that included Deputy Harris' two children, ages 11 and 8. The children were present during the dispute and Deputy Harris says their mother does not want Ms. Washburn to have contact with them.
Ms. Washburn has been placed on administrative leave and must report to her chain-of-command every day. However, the court is allowing her to go out of town for a previously-arranged holiday trip.
Court records show Ms. Washburn is going through a divorce, which was filed in March 2011.
The November 19, 2011, p. A3, edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette reported that domestic violence case against an El Paso County sheriff's patrol deputy Amanda Washburn, who was accused of hitting her boyfriend and throwing chunks of concrete and dirt at his house has been dismissed.
Prosecutors decided not to pursue harassment charges against her during a court hearing Friday, according to Lee Richards, 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office spokeswoman. “They (prosecutors) felt it was a weak case,” Richards said. “There was no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”
Her boyfriend, Deputy Ryan Harris, did not cooperate with the investigation, Richards said, and he did not want to pursue charges.
Sheriff's office officials had yet to decide Friday afternoon whether Washburn would be taken off paid administrative leave, said Sgt. Mike Schaller, sheriff's spokesman. The Sheriff's Office still plans to conduct an internal investigation into her actions, Schaller said.
To his credit Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May has initiated a pre-plea evaluation into cases such as this, of which there are thousands in El Paso County. Currently 20-30% of DV cases undergo such an evaluation and if there is little evidence beyond “he said/she said,” the “victim” is uncooperative, or the evaluation suggests this was a one-time minor incident the case will be dismissed. Defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges all report this new system is working well to reduce the number of trivial DV cases.
November 16, 2011
— Denver police today arrested 30-year-old Emi Leyonia Coleman on charges she bit two people on the neck at a convenience store last week.
Ms. Coleman reportedly groped a man from behind inside the Barn Store at 4650 Tower Road on November 7 th and bit him on the neck. She then bit a store clerk on the neck after asking the woman for a hug.
The clerk told police after the 10:30 PM incident that Ms. Coleman was a semi-regular customer at the store. “I was in shock! Did she really just bite me?” clerk Alice Gonzales told 9News. “I could feel her teeth.”
Ms. Coleman's previous run-ins with law enforcement includes several traffic offenses, records show. In June she pled guilty to driving under the influence in Lakewood and was sentenced to two years of probation.
She was charged with unlawful sexual contact and third-degree assault by the Denver District Attorney. [Of course a man who openly groped a female's genitals or breasts would be facing felony sexual assault charges.]
December 25, 2011 — Following an investigation of a domestic dispute, Colorado Springs Police say they've realized that they had arrested the wrong person. They're now looking for Shante Jackson and plan to arrest her on felony charges.
Police originally arrested a male for his part in a domestic dispute, but have since discovered that the female was the primary aggressor. Officers then arrested Ms. Shante Jackson on felony assault charges.
Ms. Jackson, 25, was fighting with a 24-year-old male, police say. The responding officers arrived at the 1000 block of Palacio View and found that she had a cut on her lip and was describing being strangled by the man.
Detectives from the Domestic Violence Unit discovered, however, that Ms. Jackson was the primary aggressor. They say she flattened the tires on a vehicle the couple shared and hit the man in the head with a frying pan when he tried to leave.
They also found no evidence that he had tried to strangle her.
The male was originally arrested but was later released without charges.
Shante Jackson was arrested later Christmas Day and was being held in the county jail on felony charges of second-degree assault and criminal mischief.
Compiled from stories on TheDenverChannel.com
December 30, 2011 — The Weld County Sheriff's Office is looking for the gunman who sprayed bullets through an apartment window Thursday night, critically injuring a man in his 50s and nearly hitting three children and three other adults in the home.
The shooting occurred around 7:40 PM on the upper floor of a fourplex at 713 Sandy Knoll Circle, located on the south side of Kersey, said Margie Martinez with the Weld County Sheriff's office.
The victim of the shooting was transported to the hospital with multiple life-threatening injuries. He has not been identified.
The Weld County Sheriff's Office was working the case at the request of Kersey police. The incident began when a grandmother called Greeley Police on Christmas night and said her grandson had been sexually assaulted.
A police officer said he took the boy and his mother, Tarrara Garcia, to the Medical Center of the Rockies for an exam. The officer said on the way to the hospital, Ms. Garcia asked if she could borrow his duty rifle “because she wanted to go shoot the person who touched her son,” according to the incident report.
Four days later, on December 29, 2011, witnesses said someone drove by the Sandy Knolls Apartments in Kersey and opened fire into a second floor apartment window. The incident report said 27 bullets were fired and hit the intended apartment as well as the three other apartments in the fourplex. People were in three of the four apartments, but only one person was hurt. A downstairs neighbor said she counted seven bullet holes in the wall, ceiling and counter of her home.
Police later accused 25-year-old Tarrara Garcia of Greeley of firing 27 bullets into the fourplex in an attempt to shoot the man she alleged sexually assaulted her son on Christmas Day.
Police also interviewed Ms. Garcia's friend, Khanh Tran. He told police she called him on December 29 th and asked him to meet her. Tran told police he felt Ms. Garcia was going to go stab the person accused of sexually assaulting her son. He then gave her a ride to the vicinity of where of the shooting occurred.
Ms. Garcia asked Tran to wait for her, and when she returned, Tran said she had a gun with her and that she said she “saw him through the window and 'shot him,'” according to the incident report.
Tran said that later when Ms. Garcia went to bed, he took the rifle, magazine and ammunition and put them in Dumpsters.
Investigators arrested Tarrara Garcia for investigation of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. Tran was arrested on charges of accessory to attempted murder.
Investigators said that Ms. Garcia did not shoot the person she intended to shoot. Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez confirmed the intended victim was in the apartment at the time of the shooting, but was not hurt. Three other adults and three children were also in the apartment — but no one else was hurt by the spray of gunfire.
The intended target told investigators he was in a chair next to the victim who was shot. He told police when the shooting started, he ran to the kitchen.
Tarrara Garcia was sentenced to 38 years in prison in October 2012 after pleading guilty to attempted first-degree murder. Her boyfriend, Khanh Tran, plead guilty to being an accessory to the crime and was sentenced to probation and community service.
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