Lone Tree Voice 0318

Page 1

March 18, 2021

FREE

DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO

A publication of

LoneTreeVoice.net

INSIDE: CALENDAR: PAGE 11 | VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | SPORTS: PAGE 17

VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 6

ACLU, Douglas County mother suing school district BY JESSICA GIBBS JGIBBS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Douglas County Commissioner George Teal, right, speaks to attendees of a March 9 rally in Castle Rock. PHOTOS BY ELLIOTT WENZLER

Dozens rally in Douglas County as commissioners ask governor for reopening Many residents spoke in support of resolution BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Joe Oltmann, founder of FEC United, speaks to the county commissioners about their request to the governor for reopening. Oltmann had called for the March 9 rally in Castle Rock during a Facebook live event on March 5.

Following a March 9 rally that gathered a crowd of at least 100 people, Douglas County commissioners approved a resolution asking the governor of Colorado to fully reopen the county. Specifically, the unanimously approved resolution asked the state for a framework outlining how and when the county can fully reopen. “The commissioners ... believe that in the current state of recovery and prolonged lack of severity of the ongoing pandemic, the restrictions can no longer be considered reasonable or rationally related to the risk most individuals SEE RALLY, P9

The America Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and a Douglas County mother are suing the Douglas County School District, Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock and three school resource officers for a 2019 incident, alleging deputies unnecessarily handcuffed, detained and charged an 11-year-old Hispanic child with autism. The lawsuit, filed in district court on March 9 and released by the ACLU, says school resource officers intervened unnecessarily after a classroom disagreement between students, “aggressively handcuffed” the child with autism, held him in a patrol car for more than two hours, and failed to seek medical attention for injuries he sustained during the incident. “When we saw him, his forehead and arms were so swollen and bruised,” the child’s mother Michelle Hanson said in a news release. “When we bailed him out, he wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t speak.” Hanson said it was uncharacteristic of her son to head-bang during the incident and that the exchange with law enforcement left him traumatized. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages from the school district, the sheriff and SROs, as well as punitive damages from SROs Sidney “Chance” Nicholson, Lyle Peterson and Daniel Coyle. A spokeswoman for the sheriff ’s office released a statement saying deputies were told a student had been stabbed with scissors and that a staff member had been assaulted before they confronted the child with autism. “The Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office is committed to protecting the entire community, especially the students and staff who attend our schools. When we receive a call for service, especially one that involves a criminal allegation, we must respond,” the statement said. A spokeswoman for the Douglas County School District provided a statement regarding the ACLU’s announcement. “The school district has not been served with the complaint and has not yet had the opportunity to fully analyze its allegations and claims,” the statement said. “Further, the district does not comment on active litigation and will have no comment to make outside of the court proceedings.” The incident took place in August 2019 at Sagewood Middle School when the student, who the lawsuit states is sensitive to touch, became upset because a peer wrote on him with markers. The then 11-year-old responded by scratching the other SEE LAWSUIT, P10

APOLOGIES Due to the recent heavy snowfall, delivery of this week’s paper may have been delayed.


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