Herald HIGHLANDS RANCH 12.20.12
Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 5
December 20, 2012 A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
Schools exercise discretion on alcohol
COP SHOP
Two principals lose jobs; administrator faces no action By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
Grant Atwood, 4, of Parker, picks out a toy on Dec. 15 with the help of Deputy Matthew Bach at Target, 1950 E. County Line Road. Grant was on the hunt for anything to do with Spider-Man, trains or dinosaurs. Bach was among a group of Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputies who volunteered their time to help brighten the holidays for 30 area kids in the inaugural “Heroes and Helpers” event. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen
Accused shooters tied to vehicle vandalisms Highlands Ranch saw 50-plus cases in fall By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office believes it may have solved the rash of vehicle vandalism crimes that occurred in Highlands Ranch this fall. Nicholas Deters, 20, of Larkspur, and Tyson Olson, 29, of Parker, who were arrested Dec. 7 in Castle Rock following a report of 10 to 15 shots being fired at a vehicle at the Castle Rock Walmart, are being linked to more than 50 crimes in Deters Highlands Ranch that happened from September through November. According to Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Bureau Chief Timothy Moore, the two men admitted to all of the incidents, but the department is still investigating each of the cases in- Olson dividually, and it may take a while due to the high number of incidents. “It started off with a few rocks thrown through some windows over a few weekends in September, led to BB guns shot through windows sporadically across Highlands Ranch during October and November, and then in December we started to see somebody using handguns and highcaliber-powered rifles,” Moore said. The Highlands Ranch incidents occurred all over town and the targets were all vehicles that were parked in streets and driveways outside of residences. “We didn’t really know if there was a connection at first,” Moore said. “We were just kind of surprised by this rash of senseless, irrational damage to people’s private property for no good reason. This was really becoming a big issue.” Moore attributed the bust to the coun-
This truck in Parker was riddled with bullet holes during a shooting tied to two people in a GMC or Chevy pickup. The incident was one of several similar cases in the area. Police say two local men, Larkspur resident Nicholas Deters and Tyson Olson of Parker, are suspected of dozens of crimes in Highlands Ranch throughout the fall. They were arrested after 10 to 15 shots were fired at a Walmart while shoppers were present. Photo by Chris Michlewicz
‘We didn’t really know if there was a connection at first. We were just kind of surprised by this rash of senseless, irrational damage to people’s private property.’ Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office Bureau Chief Timothy Moore ty’s nine-person Pattern Crimes Unit. The suspects are also being investigated for shooting up construction equipment in Rhyolite Park Nov. 20 in Castle Rock, a vehicle and business kiosk Nov. 26 at Golf Zone in Parker, a second incident at Golf Zone Dec. 1, and shooting out the storefront of Knockouts in Parker and the Kingdom Hall Jehovah Witness Church on Lake Gulch Road in Castle Rock. In addition, Lone Tree police said Denver
Mattress Company and Ed Bozarth Chevrolet were also hit with bullets within the last six weeks. Both businesses are located on Parkway Drive adjacent to C-470, and police say the shots may have been fired from the highway. Deters and Olson, who were riding in a Jeep Liberty at the time of their arrests, were booked on charges of illegal discharge of a firearm, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
When two Douglas County School District principals reportedly tested positive for alcohol during breathalyzer tests at an administrators’ meeting, both lost their jobs. When Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Education Dana Strother was arrested for drunken driving after she reportedly drove her car down the wrong side of a street, told police she thought she was in a different city, had trouble standing during a roadside test and blew a .277 during a breathalyzer test, district officials took no action. The difference, they say, is that Strother was not working. Former principals Alan McQueen and Ally Berggren were. Both principals reportedly had attended separate events involving drinking on the night of Dec. 5, then drove the next morning from those locations to the meeting at The Wildlife Experience in Parker, where they were given alcohol breath tests shortly after the meeting began. While district officials won’t reveal the tests’ results, school policy states that reporting for or remaining on duty with an alcohol concentration of .02 or greater is prohibited. The arrest of Strother, who was accused of driving with a blood-alcohol level more than triple the legal limit, also came after a social weeknight evening, a police report says. The report of the 1 a.m. Aug. 17 incident in Norwalk, Iowa, describes Strother driving “into oncoming traffic lanes” after a police officer pulled his car in behind hers, and says the officer stopped a roadside test after 28 seconds “for her safety.” In explaining the principals’ cases, district officials repeatedly emphasized safety among their top concerns. The district’s policy, said DCSD legal counsel Rob Ross, “is there for a reason. It’s there for the safety of students.” No students were present during the Dec. 6 administrators’ meeting at The Wildlife Experience. McQueen, principal at Highlands Ranch’s Heritage Elementary, subsequently was released from his principal duties; Berggren, principal of Buffalo Ridge Elementary in Castle Rock, resigned.
Strother lives, works in Iowa
Strother has been working from her Iowa home since her July 1 hiring, and the district said she plans to move to Douglas County next month. The 37-year-old was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, failure to obey a red light and driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway. Court documents show her Nov. 27 sentencing included revocation of her driver’s license, a year’s probation, a $1,250 fine and alcohol classes. Court records say Strother got two days in jail; DCSD spokeswoman Cinamon WatAlcohol continues on Page 6
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