Jeffco Transcript 0204

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February 4, 2021

JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

JeffcoTranscript.com

VOLUME 37 | ISSUE 30

Jeffco Sheriff’s Office contends with challenges Property crime and staff turnover are up as office deals with outbreak in jail BY PAUL ALBANI-BURGIO PALBANIBURGIO@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Jacob Sandoval, back left, sits in his family home in Arvada with his wife, Katelyn Macy, and their three sons, Jackson, 4, middle, PHOTO BY MICHAEL HICKS and twins Cameron, front left, and Cole.

All in the family Arvada resident finds biological father, half-siblings he never knew existed BY MICHAEL HICKS MHICKS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Jason Sandoval never truly had a dad in his life. Not really. He’s never had siblings, either. Now, the 42-year-old Arvada resident is a son, a brother and an uncle — as he’s been for all of these years — he just didn’t know it. Until now. His discovery actually started,

in part, because of his wife’s own inquiries about genetic markers that she may have. Katelyn Macy didn’t find out much in her initial search on 23andme.com, but just as the COVID-19 pandemic started last March she stumbled across a family of her own — an aunt, who just happened to reside in Aspen of all places. “She grew up in Aspen and I grew up in Evergreen. We were living these parallel lives and had no idea,” said Katelyn, a South Korean native who was adopted by Mark and Pam Macy when she was 6 months old. “We are the same person. We have everything in common. Same humor, look similar,” Katelyn

Two COVID-19 outbreaks in the jail. An unprecedented rash of staff retirements. Sharp increases in property crime. Those are just three of the many issues Jeffco Sheriff Jeff Shrader says both his department and other law enforcement agencies continue to struggle with in the wake of a pandemic that is now stretching into its 11th month. “I wish I could tell you that there hasn’t been anything going on over the last few months,” Shrader told the Jeffco board of county commissioners while giving a quarterly update about the Sheriff ’s Office and crime in the county on Jan. 26. “But that certainly has not been the truth.”

added. Her aunt, Kim, who is 3 years older and now resides in Virginia, was adopted at 3 months old. Because of Katelyn’s discovery years earlier of her birth mother in South Korea, she’s been able to help her

Property Crime Shrader told the commissioners that one of his biggest concerns continues to be the rise in motor vehicle-related crimes the county has seen during the pandemic. According to Shrader’s most recent Law Enforcement Authority quarterly report, which covers the fourth quarter of 2020, there were 339 motor vehicle break-ins, compared to 206

SEE FAMILY, P9

SEE SHERIFF, P2

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 | LIFE: PAGE 12 | CALENDAR: PAGE 15 | SPORTS: PAGE 19

DON’T BE SCARED

A wonderful world of monsters awaits on the 16th Street Mall P12


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Jeffco Transcript 0204 by Colorado Community Media - Issuu