LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4)– A six-year battle over a home in Loveland ended in a pile of rubble. Larimer County authorities demolished a house, a garage and at least one RV on Tuesday.

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The home was located on Fourth Street in Loveland. At least 19 people lived on the property. It tested positive for meth from users smoking the drug inside the home.

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A code enforcement officer was on the scene of the demolition. He talked to CBS4 about the dangers of methamphetamine use but didn’t want to show his face or give his name.

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“There were tents set up in the basement and they were living in tents inside the basement. I wasn’t allowed in there because it was a hazmat so the sheriff’s office dressed in hazmat and oxygen tanks when they went down there. It was like little city down there on top of the illegal finished space,” said the code enforcement officer. “It’s all a hazard, it’s all a health hazard.”

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Larimer County says it filed numerous notices to the property owners to take action but the discovery of meth a year ago was the final straw. It was cheaper to tear down the house than to clean it.

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LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4) –  Larimer County authorities demolished a suspected meth house, a garage and at least one RV on Tuesday. The home at 860 4th Street is now a vacant lot in Loveland.

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Neighbors who chose not to give their names, say the problems go back years.

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“Alcohol and that turned to drugs, and that’s what we wound up with,” one woman told CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger.

She had stories to tell about the men and women staying there.

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“There was an incident where she was hiding in our bushes beside our house because somebody was trying to kill her.” She says they let the woman in their house and called the sheriff’s department.

An inspection of the house at one point turned up methamphetamine levels 100 times acceptable limits.

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Personal protective suits were used remove to debris, and a code enforcement officer described a little city inside.

“They had tents out back with tarps over them people were living in them, and God knows where the human waste was going,” he said.

The owner, 66-year-old Craig Muhlenbruck, was arrested for interfering when 19 people were taken out of the home the day before the demolition.

Craig Muhlenbruck (credit: CBS)

His brother told us this all could have been avoided. Neighbors though are pleased.

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“How does it feel to see this today? This house is gone,” CBS4’s Sallinger asked one man.

“Fantastic. That’s all I can say. It’s great to have it gone,” he replied with a smile.

It cost more than $160,000 for the county to level the home. The owner will be sent the bill.

GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) — A drug dealer who “flooded northern Colorado with meth” will be deported to Mexico — after serving up to 22 years in prison here. Luis Castro, 32, was sentenced to 22 years in the Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty in December to dealing large amounts of methamphetamine across the Front Range.

Luis Castro (credit: Office of the District Attorney 19th Judicial District)

Castro’s arrest came after an investigation by the Weld County Drug Task Force and the Greely Police Department in 2017.

“During the investigation which lasted several months, almost every single day this defendant was distributing meth to Cheyenne to Longmont and everywhere in between,” Weld Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wrenn said.

When Castro was arrested in April of 2017, he had more than two pounds of meth in his possession.

“He was selling large quantities of drugs that were destroying lives and families every single day. Quite frankly, he played a substantial role in damaging this community in a significant way.” Wrenn said.

Investigators believe Castro would receive large quantities of drugs from Juan Frausto of Denver, who was receiving large shipments of drugs from Mexico.

PHARR, Texas (CBS Local) — A truck driver hauling frozen strawberries from Mexico into the United States was arrested Saturday after customs officers found nearly $13 million worth of methamphetamine hidden in the trailer.

The driver, a 42-year-old Mexican man, was flagged down and inspected by a Customs and Border Protection officer working at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge cargo facility in Texas.

CBP referred the shipment for further inspection and discovered, using K-9 and non-intrusive imaging devices, 350 packages of alleged methamphetamine concealed within the trailer. In total, 906 pounds of methamphetamine was seized from the shipment, worth about $12.7 million, CBP said.

“This was an outstanding interception our officers accomplished this weekend,” Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry Director David Gonzalez said in a statement. “Our officers’ astute sense of awareness and tenacity is unparalleled and truly commendable.”

The man involved in the seizure is in the custody of Homeland Security Investigations agents for further investigation.

The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge is a major port of entry between Mexico and the U.S. on the southern tip of Texas for both commercial and passenger vehicles. About 175,000 vehicles cross the bridge in a month, according to the checkpoint’s official site.

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (AP) – The number of people who died because of methamphetamine is up in southern Colorado, mirroring a statewide trend.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports that 16 people in Pueblo County died from meth overdoses in 2018, up from 14 in 2017 and eight in 2016. Last year was the first time in recent years that there were more deaths attributed to meth than to heroin or other opioids in the county.

State data shows there were 318 meth overdose deaths in Colorado last year, up from 299 in 2017 and 196 in 2016.

Kirk Bol of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says a national survey of drug use indicates an increase in meth use nationally, with some larger increases in western states.

(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) 

LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) — Twenty people were arrested Monday in an operation involving Longmont police, the DEA and the ATF. Investigators say they seized large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl and prescriptions drugs — as well as 30 firearms, ammunition and silencers.

Investigators say Longmont resident Joshua Ward was the center of a drug trafficking organization in northern Colorado.

Joshua Ward (credit: Boulder County Jail)

They began investigating Ward’s activities in December 2018 and identified numerous suspects believed to be helping him distribute drugs.

During the investigation, local, state, and federal law enforcement officers seized 1,472 fentanyl pills, 3 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.6 pounds of ephedrine, 288 opioid pills, 18.7 grams of cocaine, 6.7 grams of heroin and 10 benzodiazepine pills.

Through arrests and searches on July 1, approximately 30 firearms, ammunition and silencers were seized.

(credit: Longmont Police Department)

(credit: Longmont Police Department)

(credit: Longmont Police Department)

Six of the firearms recovered were AK-47 style rifles without serial numbers — these are known as “ghost guns.”

Suspected members of the drug trafficking organization were charged with drug trafficking, weapons, and organized crimes offenses, among other offenses.

MUG SHOTS: 20 People Arrested In Drug Raids In Northern Colorado

Authorities expect to make additional arrests as the investigation continues.

Investigators listed the following suspects and the number of charges they’re facing:

• Joshua Ward, 83 counts.
• Michael Reed, 43 counts
• Anastacia Rose, 18 counts
• Geraldine Vodicka, 5 counts
• David Childers, 7 counts
• Brandy Langenderfer, 8 counts
• Brenden Pesick, 5 counts
• Ashley Nail, 3 counts
• Chad Lang, 4 counts
• Michael Courtney, 3 counts
• Ramon Lubre, 1 count
• Danita Bauer, 1 count
• David Lopez, 1 count
• Steven Johnston, 1 count
• Joshua Antony, 2 counts
• Connie Medina, 4 counts
• Amy Brackett (Guzzy), 1 count
• Steven Lucero, 1 count

To see mug shots of the suspects and more photos of the guns that were seized, click here.

GYPSUM, Colo. (CBS4) – A woman in Gypsum is facing charges after making a bogus call to 911.

Authorities say Christina Dickson, 31, made the call from a liquor store after barricading herself in the back office. She reported an armed robbery at the store, but when police arrived there was no gunman.

Officers were able to get the woman out of the office. She told them she was under the influence of meth.

Dickson is now facing charges for false reporting and possession of drugs.

DENVER (CBS4)– Two drug trafficking rings were busted by the FBI and the Metro Gang Task Force on Thursday, resulting in the seizure of methamphetamines, cocaine, heroin, LSD, guns and cash.

A total of 39 people were charged with drug-related crimes in Operation Black Rhino.

Nearly 200 agents were involved in the bust that resulted in the seizure of 48 pounds of meth, seven pounds of cocaine and a pound of heroin. Agents also confiscated $60,000 in cash and 17 guns.

Guns seized in Operation Black Rhino (credit: Metro Gang Task Force)

“This is concrete life-changing and life-ending poison that is going out on the streets. I think the message today is we’re here, we’re working hard and we’re going to continue to make sure that people can’t do this to the community,” said U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado John F. Walsh.

The suspects face from 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted.

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)– The Western Colorado Drug Task Force seized 25 pounds of meth during a traffic stop on Interstate 70. The driver was just 13 years old.

A deputy with the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office and drug task force stopped the Dodge Avenger in Fruita as it was traveling on I-70. Three people, all from Los Angeles, were in the car, including the driver, identified as a 13-year-old.

The two passengers have been identified as German Michel-Arreola, 22, and Irene Michel-Arreola, 19.

(credit: Mesa County)

Deputies searched the vehicle and found 23 packages containing a crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine.

All three are facing drug charges including distribution/manufacturing/possession with intent of meth, heroin, ketamine, cathinone.

German Michel-Arreola (credit: Mesa County)

The 13-year-old driver is facing additional charges of failing to drive in a designated lane, and driving without a valid driver’s license.

German Michel-Arreola, and Irene Michel-Arreola are being held in the Mesa County Detention Facility. The juvenile is being held at the Grand Mesa Youth Services Center in Grand Junction.

WEST COVINA, CA (CBS Local) – A rookie K-9 officer in California has already made a big impression on his new department after finding nearly 60 pounds of meth in a suspect’s car.

Rye is the newest K-9 in the West Covina Police Department. The pup recently learned how to sniff out drugs and received his field certification in narcotic detection in April, according to the department’s Facebook page.

The fresh-faced recruit looked like an old pro when officers stopped a driver on May 19. West Covina Police say the 2010 Nissan was pulled over for a driving violation when they allegedly found methamphetamine on the driver’s seat. Officers called in Rye for a more thorough search and the K-9 discovered “two hidden compartments” where the rest of the drugs were stored.

The 60 pounds of meth were hidden in spaces under the driver’s seat and front passenger’s seat. Officers immediately arrested 28-year-old Pedro Lopez and charged him with possessing and transporting narcotics.

West Covina Police noted that this was Rye’s very first drug bust in a photo on Twitter, where the four-legged officer posed with the valuable evidence.

TURKEY CREEK, Ky. (CBS Local) – A Floyd County, Kentucky man is blaming a spike in local drug use for an odd burglary his own cousin allegedly carried out at his home.

“Who steals a cheese grater?” burglary victim Mason Tackett asked. “He’s got the works…Lysol… he stole an empty bottle of spray,” he continued. “What got me the most was my soap. He stole my soap! Who steals soap!?”

Neighbors said they saw Tackett’s cousin Phillip Matthew Hagans carrying items from his house.

“When I finally got down here to the house to look and see what happened the door was standing wide open,” said Tackett. “It look like he was packing up for a yard sale when he come out.”

That is when Tackett confronted Hagans.

“He was lying, throwing his hands. Saying stuff like ‘I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it.’ You know how rogues do,” said Tackett. “Blame it on everybody else.”

Then things got dangerous.

“He did pull a gun on me when I got back around the house,” said Tackett. “I guess he thought I was upset with him.”

Locals and authorities in Kentucky reportedly believe meth use is on the rise in the area leading to an uptick in crime, according to WYMT-TV.

“Must have been a bad batch around here cause Floyd County has went crazy here in the last four days,” Tackett explained.

The homeowner said he plans to file additional charges against Hagans. Despite Tackett’s assumption that drugs drove his cousin to allegedly steal this odd collection of items, police did not say Hagans was facing any meth-related charges.

[H/T CBS DFW]

DENVER (CBS4)– Realtors say potential buyers had to wear a hazmat suit to tour a home for sale in Denver. That’s because the townhome is contaminated with methamphetamine.

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At first glance, the $500,000 price for a 2,000 sq. ft. home with a two-car garage at 777 28th St. in Curtis Park seems like a good deal. But inside the 13-year-old townhome, everything has to go.

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The home is currently under contract. But the contamination means that before anyone can move in, the danger needs to be mitigated by a professional restoration company.

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Mike White owns Homeland Environmental. The company does a lot of meth decontamination jobs and he says they are a lot of work.

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“From a residential house it could be a matter of taking all of the drywall, walls, ceilings, floor, HVAC systems, down to studs,” said White.

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He also says it can be pricey, “Anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 to $50,000 to $200,000.”

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Afterward, the walls of the home would need to be rebuilt, and all new light fixtures installed along with appliances, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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Most homes contaminated with meth, including the one in Curtis Park, are bought by investment companies who flip them then make a profit.

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White said if you buy a home and it is contaminated you are on the hook for the bill so if you are home shopping, always ask for methamphetamines test during the inspection process.

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“Definitely do you due diligence up front,” said White.

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Neighbors in Curtis Park say they just hope someone will buy the contaminated home and fix it up so it doesn’t bring down home prices in the area.

LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) – The Herrera family is struggling after unknowingly buying a house contaminated with methamphetamines, saying they never thought their dream home would have to be condemned due to meth toxins. Now, they’re sharing their story with CBS4, hoping it will warn other home buyers about hidden dangers.

“It’s been nothing but heartache,” said Eric Herrera, who bought the house in Littleton with his wife, Jennifer.

The Herrera family bought the house in March. It was everything they were looking for, but Herrera said about a week and a half after buying the home, he discovered meth paraphernalia.

One of the pipes Eric Herrera discovered at the home in Littleton he purchased. (credit: Herrera family)

“I found a meth pipe in the backyard, just in plain sight, cleaning up the rocks,” Herrera said.

He said he also found a pipe in a utility room near the garage.

“I found some weird stuff in there, like an industrial strength surge protector, makeshift drywall, a small mattress, bedding, random things, and I’m cleaning everything out, I get to the end, and I flip over a blanket and I find a meth pipe inside,” Herrera explained.

After finding those items, Herrera decided to have the house tested. Testing documents show 24 samples from various surfaces in the home were taken. The laundry room, heat exchanger, dining room supply vent, and the master bathroom supply vent samples were all found to have levels above the state’s legal limit for meth contamination in the home.

The testing company was obligated to send the high results to the health department, and the house was condemned not long after, which forced the Herrera family to move out.

Now the family is having to rent a condo and pay the mortgage on the house. With two young daughters and two dogs, the family is stretched thin. According to property records, the family paid more than $600,000 for the home.

“What happened to us was wrong, it’s still wrong, the expenses are just continuing to pile up,” Herrera said.

The Herrera family stands in front of their home in Littleton, where meth contamination levels were so high in some areas of the house, they were forced to move out. (credit: Kati Weis, CBS4)

Herrera tried to get the seller, Executive Properties LLC, a company that also flipped the property, to buy the house back. However, Herrera says the seller wouldn’t agree to that.

“In their disclosures at the end, (they) used a loophole that says, ‘we never lived there, because it was a commercial site, we make no representations, about whether there was or was not any methamphetamine contamination, and the buyers aren’t relying on our representations,'” explained Pat Mellen, the attorney for the Herrera family.

Now, the Herrera’s are planning to remediate the house of meth, sell it, and then try to come to a resolution with the seller. But Executive Properties LLC tells CBS4 it did not know of any meth in the home when the property was sold, as it only owned the home for just a couple of months to flip the house.

The attorney for Executive Properties LLC also said in a written statement to CBS4, “although under no legal obligation to do so, Executive Properties has already offered to pay for a full state-certified remediation of the methamphetamine impacted portions of the home. To date, the Herreras have not accepted Executive Properties’ offer to pay to remediate the property.”

The Herrera family said they did not accept the offer, because there have been so many other expenses that have come out of the ordeal that they believe the seller should also pay for.

The Herrera family and their attorney believe the state legislation should step in and create better laws to protect home buyers.

“If in fact within a certain number of days within closing the transaction, you discover information, that should have been disclosed, buyers should have more rights,” said Mellen.

A letter is taped to the door of the home in Littleton, saying the house is condemned. (credit: Kati Weis, CBS4)

Mellen said she has learned that the issue of meth in homes is far more common than most people would think.

“The concern is that Colorado does permit transfer of property that does include some level of methamphetamines, I’m not sure the public knows that,” Mellen said.

Herrera also believes meth testing should be required on a home before it is sold.

“That would help so many families, I believe there’s families living in methamphetamine contaminated homes and don’t know it,” Herrera said.

In recent years, situations like what happened to the Herrera family have also happened to families in Missouri, Indiana, and Oregon, according to local news reports.

The TriCounty Health Department said a situation akin to what the Herrera family experienced has only happened one other time in recent years. However, in 2019, the TriCounty Health Department issued 16 letters of contamination, and so far in 2020, the department has issued four letters of contamination.

Herrera hopes his family’s ordeal will warn others to be careful, and consider having the house tested before signing on the dotted line.

“If this could happen to us,” Herrera said, “it could happen to anybody.”

DENVER (CBS4) – Angelina Maestas of Montrose was sentenced Wednesday to more than 13 years in federal prison. She and a dozen others were indicted in January for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin in the area. Prosecutors later added a charge of tampering with a witness or informant, according to court documents, after Maestas posted court documents on Facebook that openly accused another member of the trafficking operation with cooperating with police. Those documents were protected by court order.

(credit: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

“This substantial sentence is an appropriate one for someone that caused tremendous damage to a small Colorado community and then tried to undermine the judicial process by intimidating a witness,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn. “We look forward to continuing the prosecutions in the case and ensuring that this drug ring is stomped out permanently.”

Maestas received a 30-month sentence for the witness tampering in addition to the 130-month sentence handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello for the drug trafficking.

Of the 13 defendants indicted in the case, three, including Maestas, have pleaded guilty. The only other defendant who has so far been sentenced, Joseph Davis, was ordered to serve 151 months in federal prison. The cases against the other 10 defendants are pending.

The Drug Enforcement Agency broke up the drug operation with the help of the Montrose Police Department and the Montrose County Sheriff.

The press release from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office in Denver did not confirm if the person identified in Maestas’s Facebook post indeed worked as an informant.

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)– Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman added a new title to his resume last week — Homeless Mike. The Marine Corps veteran and former state treasurer, secretary of state and congressman, went undercover for a week to live among the homeless in Aurora and Denver.

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His goal, he says, was to find out why the problem of homelessness was growing and what he, as a mayor, could do to address it. He wanted answers, not from advocates who may have agendas, but from the homeless themselves. So, he became one of them, taking a week of vacation to do so.

“I’m just going to periodically text you,” he said to CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd as he set out the day after Christmas carrying a backpack and wearing a hat, mask (he contracted COVID-19 in November) and military garb. He had no money, no food and no protection.

“This week will be spent on the streets. … From my military background, I spent a lot time outside in pretty rough conditions, so I know what my tolerance is.”

“What’s your story when you go in there?” Boyd asked. “Are you Mike?”

“I’m a homeless veteran,” he replied. “Mike is fine. I have one identification card with me in case I get injured.”

“Be safe,” Boyd told him.

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For seven days and nights, Coffman stayed in shelters and encampments, sleeping under a tarp in temperatures that dipped into the teens. CBS4 caught up with him at times and shot video from a distance.

“I think this is a really hard problem,” he told Boyd before he left. “And I don’t think a lot of policymakers like myself understand it. … I think there’s so many questions — Where’s their income? How do they exist? And what is the profile of people in homeless encampments?”

The answers would surprise him.

The encampments, he says, are made-up of hardcore drug users who’ve formed communities with even unofficial leaders.

“These encampments are not product of the economy or COVID. They’re not a product of rental rates or housing. They are part of a drug culture.”

That culture, he says, involves mostly young adults that, he says, openly use meth, heroin and cocaine while lots of well-meaning people provide money, food and other necessities that sustain them.

“It’s just amazing that people want to help and that they think this cause is a just cause,” said Coffman. “I remember one of the first people I ran into in an encampment. I asked ‘Where do you get food?’ He was really perplexed. He goes ‘People bring us food.’ And I almost didn’t believe it at first.”

Then, he says, he saw it happen again and again.

“I think the first car had homemade chicken noodle soup, which was incredible, and banana nut bread, which was amazing, too. And 30 minutes later another car comes by with bread, cupcakes for dessert, all homemade, and a bottle of water to go with it. … I can’t imagine that they know all dimensions of what these encampments are about.”

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“This is not about a lack of shelter?” Boyd asked him.

“It really isn’t,” he responded. “It is a lifestyle choice and it is a very dangerous lifestyle choice.”

While the shelters he stayed at don’t allow drug use, Coffman says, most of them don’t search residents either. He sent CBS4 a picture of hypodermic needles on the floor of a bunk beneath him. Those in the shelter, he says, tend to be older, receive disability checks, and have no plan to become self-sufficient.

“The broadest category are drug and alcohol problems where people are settled into this sort of lifestyle and decades go by and they’re not moving on.”

In some ways, he says, dependency becomes easier for those who rely on the Aurora shelters than self-sufficiency.

“I process in at the day resource center. I can watch TV all day, eat a lot, and then there’s a van that takes me in the evening to the overnight shelter and then there’s a van that picks me up in the morning and takes me back to the day resource center.”

Coffman says many of those he met are from out of state and some of them have mental health issues that make it impossible for them to hold a steady job. Most of them, he says, can work but don’t.

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“I think this is a growing problem in America and we have to confront it and we have to be honest about it. It is an extraordinary challenge and it’s going to take a different vision to resolve. It’s not going to be doing more of the same. It’s not going to be spending more money to do the same stuff.”

A week before Coffman set out on his journey, he got a call from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock about working on a metro-wide approach to homelessness. Read more about what changes Coffman thinks are needed.

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman has a new understanding of what he says is driving the growing number of homeless in Aurora and Denver after he went undercover and became one of them. For one week, Coffman was known only as “Homeless Mike” to those he met as he walked the streets, slept on sidewalks and documented his journey in text messages to CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd.

CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd interviews Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman. (credit: CBS)

He took no money, no food, and lost what little he did have when his backpack was stolen.

“It wasn’t fun. It was really hard … but incredibly impactful,” he told Boyd after the experience, adding, “I never want to do it again.”

(credit: CBS)

He says what he saw in encampments and shelters shocked him, and the changes he’s now proposing may come as a shock to those who think the homeless problem is all about housing. As a mayor, Coffman wanted to know what was behind the growing number of homeless — not from those studying it — but those living it. As one of them, he got answers that, he says, aren’t what he expected.

“I thought really that the numbers would be driven by the economy, by COVID. They were not.”

In the shelters, he says, most of the people he met had lived there for years. Many, he says, were from out of state.

“I would talk to them and they would have a vision of maybe what they wanted to do but they would have absolutely no plan to get there. So I’d say, ‘Well okay, what’s the next step?’ and there was no next step.”

(credit: CBS)

What he saw in the encampments was far more troubling. He says young people are openly using meth, heroin and cocaine, and their addictions, he says, are being facilitated by those who think they’re helping.

“It’s kind of this dropout mentality drug culture that is sustained by a lot of well-meaning individuals who give money to them, who bring food to them, other necessities to them.”

(credit: CBS)

Boyd asked him what he would say to those well-meaning people. He replied, “I would say you’re hurting these people. You’re really prolonging what is really a negative lifestyle that is going to eventually kill these people.”

“But, they won’t go to the shelters,” Boyd said. “That’s the thing,” he responded. “We can’t keep subsidizing a lifestyle that is so harmful to them and I think represents a public safety and health problem to the community at large … there are no redeeming qualities about the encampments, none whatsoever. I think they’re a public safety menace and a public health hazard and they have to go. The sooner we can dismantle them, the better.”

Coffman says the shelters he visited are also enabling a life of dependency. While he says some people there have mental health issues that make it impossible for them to hold a steady job, most, he says, can work.

“You ought to do something. You ought to sweep the floor or mop the floor or you ought to help in the kitchen, but there was no responsibility whatsoever.”

Those who stay in publicly funded shelters, he says, should be required to get drug treatment or job training.

“You have to commit to do something affirmative in exchange for taxpayer benefits.”

“And if they don’t?” Boyd asked. “Won’t we have more people on the streets?”

“I think we’re not helping them,” he replied. “I think at some point in time you have to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ I know that’s a hard decision, but if you’re just subsidizing a lifestyle that’s destructive to them and their families, who are you helping? We have to have a different vision in order to really be compassionate to those who are homeless and be fair to the taxpayers of America.”

What we’re doing now, he says, is clearly not working. He’s seen that firsthand. “It was really hard,” Coffman told Boyd. “But was it worth it?” she asked.

“It was absolutely worth it,” he said.

While Coffman was considering a camping ban in Aurora before his week on the streets, he says he won’t seek one now. Aurora has a much smaller camping problem than Denver, he noted, even though Denver has a camping ban. What he would like to see, he says, is maybe a public education campaign urging people not to bring food and other provisions that enable people who want to put up tents in urban areas, sleep on sidewalks and use drugs.

A week before Coffman hit the streets, he got a call from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock who wants to work on a metro-wide approach to homelessness. Coffman will suggest that it include some personal responsibility from the homeless.

As a state lawmaker in the late 1990s, Coffman sponsored the bill that created the Colorado Works Program which provides temporary assistance to needy families who can show they are trying to improve their situation, much like he wants the homeless to do.

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) – Police in Adams County on Friday announced that a drug bust this month netted 20 pounds of methamphetamine and a 22-year-old man is under arrest and facing charges. Fernando Arellano Villa-Gomez was arrested in Westminster on Jan. 7 and is being held at the Adams County Jail.

Fernando Arellano Villa-Gomez (credit: Adams County)

“We are very proud to announce that over 20 lbs. of suspected methamphetamine was recovered and taken off the streets of Adams County,” the Adams County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a news release.

Villa-Gomez now faces felony charges including distribution of a controlled substance on or near school grounds.

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) — Deputies conducting a routine traffic stop in Adams County took one person into custody after finding methamphetamine, fentanyl, and stacks of cash in the car.

(credit: Adams County Sheriff)

Deputies pulled the driver over on North Pecos on Friday.

They found 22.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 36 grams of pressed fentanyl pills.

(credit: Adams County Sheriff)

(credit: Adams County Sheriff)

More than $1,500 in cash and a professional money counting machine were also found in the car.

(credit: Adams County Sheriff)

The car was impounded into evidence.

Investigators did not provide any information about the driver.

(CBS4) – A woman from Rifle will spend 32 years in prison for the death of her 5-year-old daughter. Stephanie Alvarado was sentenced for the 2019 crime on Friday, according to the The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction.

Sophia Larson (credit: Alec Larson)

Sophia Larson died after she unknowingly drank water mixed with methamphetamine and overdosed. Alvarado waited more than 3 hours before calling 911 to get help, saying she was fearful of losing custody. Authorities said it’s unlikely she would have faced such a harsh sentence had she reported the overdose right away.

Stephanie Alvarado (credit: Garfield County)

The Daily Sentinel reported that several relatives of the victim spoke at Friday’s sentencing hearing and described being shocked by Larson’s death.

“All family members connected to Sophia were clearly devastated by the loss of a child who made a memorable impression on everyone she met in her short life,” the DA’s office said in a news release.

Two other adults, Daniel Bello Alvarado and Karina Ceballos-Romo, who were allegedly there at the time of Larson’s death are also facing charges.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Denver man has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison on a federal drug charge.

Thirty-two-year-old Vincent Rios pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Authorities say Rios conspired with others to distribute at least 50 grams of methamphetamine.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Viken sentenced Rios to 87 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release.

A federal public defender was not immediately available for comment.

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