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#CU cops: Serial bank robber is busted
Mar 15th
The suspect who law enforcement officials believe is the so-called “Face Off Bandit” was arrested this afternoon as he was leaving a Wal-mart store in Thornton. The “Face Off Bandit” is believed to be responsible for six bank robberies in four jurisdictions, including Boulder, Golden, Thornton and Louisville.
Mark Steven Edwards (DOB 9/19/1961) faces three felony Robbery charges in connection with the Boulder bank robberies. Forensic evidence linked him to the robberies, and he was arrested on a Boulder Police Department warrant.
In Boulder, the first robbery occurred on Dec. 16, 2011 at Great Western Bank, located at 1900 9th St.
The second robbery took place at First Bank, located at 4770 Baseline, on Jan. 19, 2012.
Chase Bank, located at 603 S. Broadway, was robbed on Feb. 15, 2012.
The “Face Off Bandit” is also suspected of robbing a Wells Fargo Bank in Golden, Key Bank in Thornton and First National Bank in Louisville. These cases are still under investigation by police agencies in those jurisdictions.
In each of the Boulder robberies, the suspect entered the bank and walked directly to the teller, demanding money. Tellers complied with the suspect’s demand. No one was hurt.
The suspect fled on foot after each robbery, and police found discarded beards and other items believed to belong to the suspect.
Edwards is in custody at the Boulder County Jail. His bond has been set at $100,000.
The case numbers are: 11-16250, 12-858 and 12-2138.
The Boulder Police Department is grateful for the assistance that other law enforcement agencies provided during the investigations. Those agencies include: FBI-Denver, the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force, the Louisville Police Department, the Thornton Police Department, the Golden Police Department and the Adams County Sheriff’s Department SWAT Team, which executed a search warrant in unincorporated Adams County on behalf of the Boulder Police Department.
Anyone with information about these robberies is asked to contact Detective Heather Frey at 303-441-3369. Those who have information but wish to remain anonymous may contact the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-444-3776. Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com. Those submitting tips through Crime Stoppers that lead to the arrest and filing of charges on a suspect(s) may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 from Crime Stoppers.
City, county fire crews contain grass fire along Diagonal Highway
Feb 22nd
City, county fire crews contain grass fire along Diagonal Highway
City and county firefighters have contained a grass fire that broke out at about 3:30 p.m. today at 63rd Street and Diagonal Highway. Firefighters battled high winds that made conditions particularly challenging. As of 5 p.m., crews were reporting that the blaze was 100 percent contained.
Emergency officials used the Everbridge notification system to inform 1,300 households of the fire. No evacuations were ordered.
The fire, which spread to about 45 acres, started on City of Boulder Open Space and property owned by IBM, near a transformer just outside of Tom Watson Park.
Several agencies responded to the fire: City of Boulder Fire, Longmont Fire, Lafayette Fire, Louisville Fire, Boulder Rural Fire Protection District, Lefthand Fire Protection District, Rocky Mountain Fire Protection District, Mountainview Fire Protection District, Fourmile Fire Protection District, Sunshine Fire Protection District, Lyons Fire Protection District, Sugarloaf Fire Protection District, Boulder Emergency Squad, American Medical Response ambulance service, Boulder Police, Boulder Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, City of Boulder Open Space and Boulder County Open Space.
Officials are anticipating that high winds could pick up ash and dust. Individuals with respiratory concerns are advised to stay indoors and limit their exposure to particulate matter. Firefighters are planning to remain on scene throughout the night to monitor and respond to any potential hot spots.
The city-county Emergency Operations Center has been activated and updates, including road closures information, are being posted atwww.boulderoem.com/emergency-status.
Fracking headed to Boulder County
Feb 2nd
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County is concerned about the potential for significantly expanded oil and gas drilling within the county, and supports appropriate, tighter restrictions on drilling and increased local control to mitigate the impacts of these activities.
However, Boulder County and other local governments in Colorado do not have complete authority to regulate drilling. In order to ensure both our Comprehensive Plan and Land Use regulations are as thorough and up-to-date as possible, today we approved a temporary moratorium on the processing of the required development plans for local oil and gas permits under the county Land Use Code (Resolution 2012-16). This will give us time to make sure that, within the limits of our legal authority, we are able to mitigate local impacts from these activities and to maximize protection for the people and environment of Boulder County.
Boulder County does not voluntarily allow oil and gas drilling on its open space properties. Like many private landowners, we often do not own the rights to a given property’s oil and gas deposits. In other cases, the mineral rights were leased prior to acquisition of the land by the county. In those instances, the county does not have the ability to prohibit drilling, even though it is the surface landowner. As the surface owner, we do negotiate surface use agreements prior to drilling, and in doing so, we attempt to minimize those impacts to the maximum extent possible.
Through our Land Use Code, we do have some local authority over oil and gas drilling on private and public land; however, substantial authority for regulation of oil and gas operations lies with the state and federal governments, so there are limits on what we can restrict. For instance, it is unlikely that Boulder County could simply prohibit hydraulic fracturing on either public or private land in the county.
Boulder County has and is actively supporting efforts to strengthen state regulation, and to expand local authority in the area of oil and gas drilling. We supported legislation signed by former Gov. Bill Ritter to strengthen oil and gas rules and to reform the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. We have also advocated for a stronger disclosure requirements of fracking fluids, although the COGCC ultimately approved requirements that did not include our requests for a process that would allow any leaks to be traced, nor for pre- and post-drilling water monitoring. Finally, we are supportive of legislation that Rep. Matt Jones of Louisville is sponsoring in the 2012 General Assembly to expand local authority over drilling.
We also authorized staff to set a public hearing for Thursday, March 1 to take public testimony on the local impacts associated with oil and gas development, and on the appropriateness of continuing or amending the temporary moratorium on the processing of land use applications for oil and gas development which we approved today. This meeting will begin at 4 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room on the third floor of the Boulder County Courthouse at 1325 Pearl St. in Boulder. Staff from several county departments will be making presentations regarding our current regulations and the development we have seen on our open space properties.