The sheriff and undersheriff

The sheriff continues to participate in Salida Sunrise Rotary.  The sheriff also attended the Buena Vista Chamber’s annual members’ banquet at the Buena Vista Community Center.

The undersheriff and County Clerk Joyce Reno sponsored a liquor servers’ training course held at the county fairgrounds.  Forty people attended.

The sheriff assisted with the evening candidates forum held at the Buena Vista Community Center sponsored by the Chaffee County League of Women Voters.  The sheriff is a member of the League.

The undersheriff, along with Victims Advocate Casey Rumora, attended a four-day training conference of the Colorado Organization for Victims Assistance (COVA) in Keystone.

The sheriff attended a two-day annual training and conference of the FBI National Academy Associates, Rocky Mountain Chapter, held in Estes Park. 

Operations

Law enforcement authorities announced the coordinated arrests of fifteen persons on various felony charges of illegal distribution and sale of controlled substances (four others were arrested later in the month).  The investigation began when officers of the Chaffee County Drug Task Force developed information about prescription drug abuse locally.  It quickly grew to extend into Alamosa, and additional law enforcement agencies were enlisted in the effort.  The Colorado Bureau of Investigation provided undercover operatives who proved instrumental in obtaining evidence that was crucial to the case.  Other agencies that participated in the six-month investigation were the Alamosa Police Department, Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, District Attorney for the 11^th Judicial District, Salida Police Department, and the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad.  The press release can be found at our website, www.chaffeesheriff.org

Members of the Chaffee County Drug Task Force, including CCSO Detective Andy Rohrich, were interviewed by a Mountain Mail reporter for a story on prescription drug abuse in the county.

A Denver Post reporter interviewed Det. Rohrich about a cold case from 1987.  A man prospecting with two others on Mt Antero failed to return home and has not been heard from since; he is presumed dead.  We provided the reporter full access to the file on the missing Florida man, Ray Collins, and the article later appeared in the Post’s print and on-line editions.

A Nathrop man was arrested after leading sheriff’s deputies on a high speed vehicular pursuit, wrecking his pickup truck, and fleeing on foot.  The incident began shortly before 3am when Deputy Logan Tidwell, patrolling in his SUV on US 24 near Johnson Village, was forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision as an oncoming pickup truck swerved into his lane.  A pursuit ensued, with the deputy and a sheriff’s sergeant following the pickup truck with speeds reaching 95mph.  The truck sped through Buena Vista, swerved into a dirt parking lot in the 700 block of US 24 North, fishtailed, sideswiped a building, and struck several trees head-on with a force sufficient to cause the rear of the vehicle to bounce upward.  The driver fled from the truck but was later arrested on a Buena Vista side street.  The driver, Justin Harrison Determan, 26, was charged with multiple offenses and jailed on $25,000 bond.  His truck was impounded.  The press release is posted on our website, www.chaffeesheriff.org  

  Training Attended

  Personnel

  Complaints / commendations

An internally-generated inquiry disclosed that an employee failed to dispatch a call in a timely manner.  The inquiry revealed that the employee became distracted by other, unanticipated, tasks and forgot about the original call.  The employee was counseled regarding the incident and the sheriff sent a letter of explanation to the caller.

Victims Advocate

Both the Mountain Mail and Chaffee County Times carried a feature article on domestic abuse in Chaffee County.  Victims Advocate Casey Rumora contributed to the piece.

Communications Center

  Personnel

  Training received

Several dispatchers attended a three-day training conference in Longmont sponsored by APCO.   Several other employees attended a three-day Sleuth Users Conference at County Sheriff’s of Colorado. 

Search and Rescue

Mount Shavano, October 7.  After reaching the summit of Mount Shavano, four adult males then hiked up Mount Tabeguache.  Not wanting to go up Shavano again for the return, they tried to find an easier way down and became lost in the Squaw Creek drainage.  Unprepared to spend the night on the mountain, they called for assistance.  Search and Rescue volunteers began the mission shortly before 4pm and continued into the night.  They finally reached the four men and assisted them to safety.  Eleven volunteers worked on the mission a total of seven hours.

Records and Administration

Detention Facility