Comment on Special Report: Japan quake reveals cracks in insurance system

A Pueblo man was arrested this week for what police described as a fake kidnapping report that prompted an Amber Alert, all to expedite efforts to track down his stolen pickup truck. Late Wednesday afternoon, police officers responded to a bowling alley in southwest Pueblo in response to a report of a motor vehicle theft and kidnapping, according to a Pueblo Police Department news release. There, officers spoke with Daniel Reyes, 34, who said his 13-year-old cousin was inside of his white Ford F-250 truck when it was stolen. The investigation by Pueblo police soon escalated to include multiple agencies, including the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, before police found the unoccupied truck about a mile and a half east of the bowling alley. Four hours after the investigation began, police learned the girl whose photograph Reyes supplied was safe.

The Rockies’ offseason roster shuffle began Friday when versatile outfielder Jake Cave and right-handed pitchers Dakota Hudson and Peter Lambert opted for free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. All three players were on the Rockies’ opening-day roster. Cave becoming a free agent opens the door for Sam Hilliard to compete for a roster spot in spring training as Colorado’s fourth outfielder.

Colorado’s housing market is experiencing a situation like pressing the pause button on a VHS player. Despite lower interest rates, the market remains stagnant. The monthly Market Trends Housing Report from the Colorado Association of Realtors shows September properties staying on the market longer, a decrease in the list-price-to-sale-price ratio, and a slight increase in the median sales price.

A 13-year-old boy was accidentally kidnapped from a Lakewood hotel on Friday morning after a tow truck driver repossessed the car he was napping in, according to the Lakewood Police Department. Lakewood police responded to the Baymont by Wyndham at 11909 W. Sixth Ave. at 9:20 a.m. Friday to a report of a stolen car and kidnapping, said department spokesperson John Romero. After about 20 minutes, officers tracked the car to a Denver tow lot and found it had been repossessed, but the tow truck driver had not seen the boy sleeping under blankets, Romero said. The boy’s family was staying in the hotel and were doing laundry and packing the car to leave for New York when the car was repossessed, Romero said. Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | Northbound Wadsworth reopens in Lakewood after water main break Crime and Public Safety | Lakewood girl missing since Monday found safe Crime and Public Safety | Lakewood police arrest teenager in connection with high school bomb threat Crime and Public Safety | Teenager reported missing from Lakewood found safe Crime and Public Safety | Colorado Mills food court prank sparks large police response The boy was not harmed and safely returned to his family, Romero said.

The Colorado Supreme Court will consider whether municipal courts can punish defendants with jail sentences that far outpace state courts’ limits in a case that could force cities to align with recent state-level criminal justice reforms. The justices made the unusual move Thursday, agreeing to examine whether the significant differences in potential sentences in state courts and city courts for the same crimes violate defendants’ constitutional rights. The state Supreme Court agreed to take the case less than a month after The Denver Post reported that municipal courts — designed as the lowest-level courts for the lowest-level crimes — have become the state’s most punitive forum for minor infractions. Sweeping state-level reforms in 2021 significantly lowered the potential penalties for misdemeanor and petty offenses in Colorado’s state courts, but those reforms didn’t impact municipal courts, which don’t fall under the state judicial system and operate independently from one another.

A Denver Police Department sergeant has been charged with felony menacing after he allegedly aimed a gun at another driver during a road rage incident earlier this month. On Oct. 3, Commerce City police officers pulled over Sgt. Jason Brake and another man, who both said they were involved in a confrontation while driving on U.