Brighton Blade 032422

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STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N

SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903

75cI

VOLUME 119

Issue 12

WEEK OF MARCH 24, 2022

BUTTERFLY COLLECTION

Xcel bills to get 6.4% increase in April Customers to see $16.50 per month increase after PUC approval BY MARK JAFFE THE COLORADO SUN

Beth Marks-Berner, Quist Middle School English Language Arts teacher with Brian Mason, District Attorney 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office Adams and Broomfield are viewing the variety of art PHOTO BY BELEN WARD created by the Roger Quist Middle School Art Club Students. See the story on page 3.

No charges for deputies in March 2021 shooting STAFF REPORT

The 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will not charge two Adams County sheriff’s deputies for their roles in a March 2021 shooting in unincorporated Adams County. One of the deputies, James Graham, tried to make a traffic stop of a Mercedes near 70th Avenue and Broadway. A letter from DA Brian Mason to AdCo Sheriff Rick Reigenborn said the vehicle was driving at a high rate of speed and passing cars in the median. Instead, the car continued toward the exit for southbound I-25 when it struck a roadway barrier. The letter said two people — Dominick Perea and Joseph Wiley — got out of the car and went eastbound across the lanes of the freeway. Graham gave chase, as did a Denver police officer, Steve Hammack.

The two men tried to stop vehicles and open the car doors, the letter said. “He (Graham) believed the two men were armed and that the civilians in the passing vehicles were in danger of being robbed or kidnapped if the men were to enter a vehicle.” Perea succeeded in getting into a car and laid down on top of a female driver. The letter said Graham caught up with the vehicle but found the door was locked. He broke out the driver’s side window and heard the woman scream for help. The letter said Perea was fighting with the driver to keep the car in motion. After ignoring several orders to get out of the car, the letter said Graham swung his baton at Perea, then tried to use a Taser, which was “ineffective,” the letter

OBITUARIES LOCAL CALENDAR SPORTS LEGALS CLASSIFIEDS

LOCAL

2 •Brighton’s 144th & 3 Sable traffic signal 8 almost ready 15 19 • Page 4 22

SPORTS • Brighton Quarterback aims for Wisconsin Lutheran

• Page 16

SEE XCEL, P7

Adams Co. sheriff debuts DNA laboratory County hopes of new lab will break testing backlog STAFF REPORT

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office unveiled its new, $1.2-million DNA Laboratory on March 14. The department began noting the need for a local DNA Lab began more than 15 years, according to a press statement, and discussions began between then-Sheriff Doug Darr and Detectives Division Chief Fred Stoll. The press statement said law enforcement leaders across the state have “craved tech-

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Contact us at 303-566-4100 INSIDE THIS ISSUE

SEE SHOOTING, P4

The average electric bill for Xcel Energy’s residential customers will go up $5.24 a month — a 6.4% increase — starting in April under a $182 million rate hike approved Wednesday by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The PUC voted 3-0 to accept the increase, which was agreed upon in rate-case ne-

gotiations that included the Colorado Utility Consumer Advocate and Energy Outreach Colorado, a nonprofit advocacy organization that, among other things, helps low-income households pay utility bills. “Although a 6.42% rate is troubling to me, I find the settlement is just and reasonable,” Commissioner John Gavin said. Rates for the average small commercial customer will also rise 6.2% or about $6.62 a month. There will be more Xcel Energy electricity rate cases to come, said Ron Davis, the commission’s chief adviser.

nological advances” in DNA forensics testing and the ability to utilize those advances for solving cases. Speaking at a March 14 press conference, Darr said it wasn’t a one-man effort. “This was a team of people who worked pretty hard in the course of a lot of years to try and create a DNA lab in Adams County,” he said in the statement Current Sheriff Rick Reigenborn presented the proposal for the lab to the Adams County board of commissioners in 2019. Commissioners allocated the $1.2 million. The press statement said the lab was built and furnished under budget. SEE DNA, P4

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