February 19, 2015 VOLU M E 1 1 3 | I S S UE 1 6 | 7 5 ¢
DouglasCountyNewsPress.net D O U G L A S C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
JAZZING THINGS UP
WHAT’S INSIDE
Cookie season: The Girl Scouts are back with their annual treats. See Page 2
True story: Fantasy author Richelle Mead coming to town. See Page 6
Getting a grip: Local wrestlers secure trips to state tournament. See Page 19 Douglas County High School Jazz Band Instructor Jim Stranahan plays a solo during the Huskies’ Evening of Swing fundraiser event Feb. 13 at the high school. The evening included music, dinner and a silent auction. The money raised went toward funding the DCHS band program. Photo by Mike DiFerdinando
POSTAL ADDRESS
Man guilty of shooting at police Pebley faces minimum prison term of 190 years Staff report
NEWS-PRESS
(ISSN 1067-425X) (USPS 567-060) OFFICE: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Englewood, Colorado, and the towns of Castle Rock, Parker and Larkspur, the NewsPress is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media and additional mailing offices. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Suite 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 DEADLINES: Display: Fri. 11 a.m. Legal: Fri. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 5 p.m. G ET SOCIAL WITH US
P L EA SE R ECYC L E T H I S C OPY
A Castle Rock man faces a minimum prison sentence of 190 years — and a maximum sentence of approximately 600 years — after being convicted of 46 counts in connection with a police pursuit and armed standoff. Lonnie James Pebley, 43, was found guilty of the dozens of crimes stemming from a late-night incident on Independence Day in 2012. Pebley attemptPebley ed to shoot 27 Castle Rock police officers and Douglas County sheriff’s deputies with an AK-47 and handgun for 30 minutes in the standoff. The incident occurred at 1280 S. Ridge Road in Castle Rock. Pebley’s case was tried from Jan.22 to Feb. 6 in Douglas County District Court. Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Gallo and Deputy District Attorney Sam Evig prosecuted the case According to Gallo, the county is grateful the jury comprehended the seriousness of the crimes in question. “We’re talking about a guy who tied to kill a bunch of heroes that night,” Gallo said. “Call it luck or Pebley continues on Page 9
Douglas County commissioners were presented with a photo of the Broken Arrow wildfire training exercises Feb. 10. During the training, 68 emergency vehicles were assembled. Photo by Mike DiFerdinando
County saluted for role in preparedness test Fire exercise was first of its kind in Colorado By Mike DiFerdinando
mdiferdinando@colorado communitymedia.com Douglas County helped provide the footprint for future statewide efforts to combat large-scale wildfires. The county was recognized Feb. 10 during the county commissioners’ meeting for its role in Broken Arrow — statewide exercises aimed at testing fire and emergency departments’ preparedness for large wildfires. The exercises, the first of which was hosted by the Douglas County Justice Center in May 2014, were an attempt to do something that had never been done before in
Colorado. There was a second exercise run in Larimer County. “We didn’t know what was going to happen. The goal was to put 30 pieces of fire apparatus in a staging area in 90 minutes after the activation,” said Garry Briese of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs. “Now that sounds like a pretty simple thing to do, but it’s not and, it took about six months of planning.” During the Douglas exercise, emergency responders were able to assemble 68 engines from 46 participating fire departments. The north exercise brought together 31 engines from 31 departments. During the Feb. 10 meeting, the Douglas County commissioners were presented with a framed photo of the 68 units assembled at the Justice Center.
“We did not hit the 90 minutes time frame,” Briese said. “That was an arbitrary time frame to see if we could do it, but we did hit 99 engines in both exercises in 120 minutes.” Other than California, it was the first time the exercise has been done west of the Mississippi River. “Certainly, we witnessed what happened in Waldo Canyon, and then shortly after we saw what happened in Black Forrest,” Briese said. “We recognized that we have a shortage of the ability to move massive amounts of equipment in a very short amount of time to get hard, heavy and fast to an incident and try to contain that incident.” The Waldo Canyon Fire was a forest fire that started approximately four miles Prepared continues on Page 9