On April 28, 2019 Nederland Police were dispatched to a local business on the report of suspected shoplifting. The officer arrived and spoke with the owner of the business who reported that three women had been in the store carrying bags and behaving suspiciously. She heard the sound of clips being snapped indicating items being removed from hangers and due to the store being cramped with customers she had been unable to see the acts happen. The officer requested photos of the items alleged to have been stolen, took descriptions of the suspects and proceeded to search the area for them with no success due to the delay in reporting the crime(s). The reporting party claimed she saw the suspects walking past her store a short time after they had left, and that their bags looked to be fuller than they had been when she witnessed them entering her store. Due to the lack of evidence and failure to receive any picture examples of the stolen items, the case was closed. 

On May 3, 2019, Nederland Police were dispatched to investigate a complaint of criminal mischief. A Nederland officer contacted the reporting party and took a report of the male party having been parked in front of a local establishment where he claimed his tires were slashed. He was able to get his truck to a location where he could swap them out and gave the officer information on cost of damage as well as who he suspected may have committed the crime. The officer sought video footage from the local businesses and upon watching them determined there was no evidence of criminal mischief and closed the case. 

On May 16, 2019, Nederland Police were dispatched to assist Boulder County Sheriff in a report of road rage in unincorporated Boulder County. Upon arrival, Nederland officer observed a car in the ditch with a truck attempting to pull it out and a van approximately 125 yards away. The driver of the car was a woman known to the officer as having a warrant out for her arrest. He took her statement first and confirmed all passengers were not injured. She reported that she had passed a truck that had pulled over on Highway 72, who then proceeded to pass her, break check her and yell racial slurs out the window. 

The officer then made contact with the driver of the truck and took a statement that had the driver of the sedan passing him after tailgating him for a distance and then driving erratically and brake checking him while the people in the back seat were flipping him off. 

The officer then ran a check on the female party and confirmed two warrants for arrest. The Boulder County officer then began taking her into custody, of which she resisted and claimed he broke her wrist, shouting to neighbors watching to video the arrest. The Nederland officer observed only, and ultimately checked the handcuffs to ensure they weren’t too tight before she was transferred to Boulder County Jail.

On May 20, 2019, Nederland Police were dispatched to County Road 130 on a report of possible injury accident with airbags deployed. Upon arrival the officer observed a gray sedan off the side of the road having left a trail of destruction from the point it left the roadway, with no obstacles or road conditions in the area to indicate cause. The officer made contact with a male party standing near the vehicle who at first refused but later admitted to being the driver of the vehicle and had just left his friend’s house. The officer could smell a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, to which the male party responded he had consumed one beer at his friend’s house. Due to his observable behavior, the officer asked him about other substances he may have consumed, as he appeared to be having trouble staying focused on the present and appeared somewhat disoriented about location and time. The officer believed the party was on ETOH.

The officer called the party in to Boulder County Dispatch, and a Boulder County Sheriff responded to the scene to take the party into custody after he refused voluntary roadside maneuvers and was given an explanation of Colorado express consent.

On May 23, 2019, Nederland Police responded to a report of a suspicious person at a residence in Nederland. The reporting party rented the property and left the residence to return later and find a man in the upstairs bedroom sitting barefoot and having a bald spot on the back of his head. The man left and headed east to another residence on the street. The officer had arrived with a second officer and began taking the report before being called out on another incident. Upon return, he found the suspected party in question and after briefly interacting with him to be told he is a caretaker to the property. The officer called in a mental health hold on the party. He then contacted the landlord of the property in question who explained that the man had briefly done work on the property 15 years prior but had not done any since. He further stated that he had been frightened and disturbed by the recent behavior of the party, and that when there is wet, cold weather the deadbolt can be jiggled open. He did not want to press charges. 

On May 24, 2019, Nederland Police took a report of possible theft of a cell phone. The officer took a report from a female party who claimed she had last remembered having it at a local business before moving on to another local establishment. After taking the report, the officer determined it sounded more like a lost phone, valued to be approximately 700.00. The IPhone 7 is password protected and does not have the Find my IPhone app installed on it. The owner of the phone asked if it were possible to track it, of which the reply was only during a life and death emergency situation. 

On May 28, 2019, a Nederland Police was performing a routine drive around when he observed a vehicle pulled over in a known driveway on Hurricane Hill that did not seem to belong there. After confirming by phone with the property owner that no one was meant to be on the property, the officer went back and began approaching the vehicle in question. The driver of the vehicle got out of the car and began approaching the officer, who believed to recognize the party as a known transient in the area. When the officer questioned the male party, he was told that the male party was in the area to visit a friend and his wife but was unable to confirm the identity of the other party in his car. The officer then called for cover, advising he had at minimum a trespass violation. At that time the other party got out of the car holding a tray covered with a towel. The officer ordered him to place the tray on the ground and move towards him. He asked the passenger some general questions and observed the party as having confusing, extremely nervous and intoxicated behavior of which he believed was due to drug use. The passenger claimed to have no ID and to not have ever had any. Eventually, a second Nederland police officer arrived, enabling the original officer to take the passenger suspect into temporary custody where he confessed to his true identity and to having a warrant out of Fort Collins municipal court. The officer called Boulder County Sheriff to take the party into custody. 

It was discovered that the driver suspect had two active warrants out of Boulder County and was also transported. Before leaving, he told the Nederland officer that he had noticed him following him, believed he had noticed the license plates were expired and expected to be stopped so he pulled over to make it look like he was at his residence. The officer believed he had no intent of burglary. 

(Originally published in the June 27, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear).