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Boulder Public Safety Documentation Presented to City Council (2020)
About this document
This archive preserves 22 incident reports submitted to the Boulder City Council in July 2020 regarding crime, public safety, emergency-response activity, and broader community conditions affecting Boulder, Colorado.
Materials included here draw from publicly available information including police and emergency radio traffic, police reports, public records, photographs, media coverage, and other contemporaneous documentation collected during the reporting period.
In some cases, I have added my own notes in bold italics.
The purpose of preserving this material is historical and documentary in nature. It reflects concerns, observations, and public-safety conditions being discussed within the Boulder community during 2020 while also documenting information that may otherwise become difficult to locate or reconstruct over time.
Descriptions included here generally reflect reported incidents, public-safety observations, or emergency responses rather than adjudicated findings regarding criminal responsibility or official policy conclusions. Whenever possible, information was supplemented or cross-referenced using publicly available police reports, media coverage, court records, photographs, or other official documentation.
The first three cases listed were from before 2020, as they were of special interest to me. Not included was my own story of being assaulted on the Pearl Street Mall in March 2020 because I had already sent a letter about it to Boulder City Council shortly after it happened.
Historical context
The year 2020 was an unusually turbulent period for Boulder. Among the many other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, jail arrest standards were far higher than normal, leading to increased brazenness of daily crime. Meanwhile, Boulder experienced ongoing public debate surrounding homelessness, public safety, emergency-response activity, open drug use, encampment-related issues, policing policy, and broader community impacts occurring in public spaces throughout the city.
May 20th, 2016
9:56 PM
Boulder Creek Path and Foothills Parkway
A woman is jogging on Boulder Creek Path one night, shortly before the Bolder Boulder. Without warning, she is grabbed from behind. She tries to scream, but a hand is cupped over her mouth, and she is threatened with a knife. She is taken to some bushes in between the path and the creek and instructed to perform oral sex. She complies, fearing she will be harmed if she does not. She is never able to get a very good look at him. Afterwards, the man tells her, “A man has his needs, it’s been four years.” The man takes the victim’s phone but then hides it in the area. The woman saves the man’s semen as evidence.
Shortly after the assault, officers contact many individuals in the area, including the suspect, who is on foot. He lies about his recent movements and activities. He is not arrested, but he is suspected, and he is contacted by police several times during the ensuing investigation.
After a lengthy and complex forensic investigation, officers identify the suspect, obtain an arrest warrant, and take him into custody near the Bandshell. He is a transient from Georgia, where his most recent job was working at a McDonald’s. Since arriving in Boulder, he has been camping in various locations around the city.
The victim’s identity is redacted from the report. However, it is clear that she is a Boulder resident and avid runner.
I had originally requested a copy of this police report because I had some suspicions that the police had not taken this case seriously. After reading the report, which was very long, I stood corrected. The forensic analysis alone was extremely detailed.
December 1, 2018
1:30 PM
Goose Creek Path at Foothills Parkway
A 34 year old woman is living with her 40 year old boyfriend in one of the numerous Goose Creek tunnels under Foothills Parkway. Both are daily meth users, and he has been drinking. She expresses concern about their living situation, and an argument ensues. He becomes angry. He beats her while yelling at her that he’s going to kill her. He pours gasoline on her and threatens to burn her alive. He repeatedly attempts to strangle her. He is distracted just long enough for her to get out of the tunnel and scramble to the nearby highway off ramp. He chases her and tries to drown her in a ditch by the road. A Good Samaritan pulls over to intervene. The victim climbs into the car and is driven to safety.
The man leaves the tunnel and sets up a camp in an enclosed area behind a commercial property a few hundred feet away. He sets up a grill but then loses control of the fire, accidentally burning his own tent, backpack, and some other gear.
11 AM the next morning, an employee finds the man unconscious amid burnt gear and trash, and with a glass bowl sitting in plain view. He calls non-emergency dispatch to ask for a welfare check. He does not know that this man is sought by police. Officers arrive, ID the suspect, and immediately arrest him for attempted murder and other charges.
When officers meet with the victim after her assault, they note: she is wet and dirty; she’s bleeding; she’s in great pain; she’s having trouble moving; and she still smells like gasoline. She does not know how long this assault lasted, but she says it seemed like “hours.”
Police make contact with other individuals living in adjacent tunnels. They admit that they heard the assault in progress but did not intervene. They explain that when you’re in prison, what happens in adjoining cells is none of your business.
Police had made contact with the man and woman in their tunnel the day before this attack. It’s not clear from the report why they were permitted to stay there when the Path to Home shelter was less than a mile away.
I had a cameo in this story. I was the one who found this man camping behind my workplace that following morning. When I first laid eyes on him, I thought he was dead due to the cold temperature and one of his bare hands sticking out palm up. After confirming he was breathing, I called for a welfare check. I told the dispatcher, please:
~ make sure he’s okay;
~ don’t charge him with anything, just have him clean the area up before he leaves (use dumpster nearby);
~ make sure he’s not dangerous, as there were businesses open in the area, and he had a drug pipe sitting in plain view.
I had no idea that this man was wanted for attempted first degree murder of a female that took place just a five minute walk away. ***
Seven years later, this remains one of the absolute worst police reports I have ever read.
November 10, 2018
5:43 PM
Broadway and Hawthorne
A 72 year old woman (and Boulder resident) is getting off the bus at Broadway and Hawthorne. She is disabled and asks the suspect, who is waiting to board, to wait so that she can use both the hand rails. The suspect grows impatient; she yells and cusses at the victim and pushes past her. The bus driver tells the suspect she will not be allowed to board due to her behavior.
The suspect follows the victim, tackling her into the roadway in front of the bus, kicking her and hitting her approximately ten times in the face with a closed fist, causing facial injuries. A Good Samaritan pulls over to intervene. The suspect steals the victim’s phone and flees.
Police locate the suspect at 16th and Iris. She lies about what happened and accuses the victim of being the aggressor. She is arrested for assault on an at-risk adult and robbery.
The bus’s security cameras capture the transaction on the bus, although not the assault itself, from several angles and also records the audio.
The suspect has an extensive criminal history from all around the Greater Metro Denver area, including many assaults, burglaries, and various felonies. She is residing at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, 4869 N. Broadway.
Photos of the victim’s facial injuries were circulated online. I am not linking to them here because I don’t know for certain this was done with her consent.
October 6th, 2019
1:00 PM
CU Boulder Engineering Building
Two male CU students, one black and one white, are meeting in a study room in CU Boulder’s Engineering Building. They notice a white woman sitting in a darkened study room across the hall who is staring at them menacingly. They contact her. She launches into a profane tirade in which she repeatedly calls the black student the N-word. She also states that black people are following her, and other bizarre statements. A professor intervenes and says he’s calling the police. Much of this is caught on cell phone video. She leaves.
She is identified as the same suspect from several similar cases of minority harassment on campus. She is eventually located and taken into custody.
The woman is a transient from Florida, where she has a criminal history and a history of mental health problems, including delusion and paranoia. Her own family doesn’t know that she’s left the state of Florida. They find out she’s in Boulder, Colorado when they see her arrest in the news.
This incident was covered by many news media outlets.
March 12, 2020
6:09 AM
Scott Carpenter Park
A 23 year old woman and resident of Longmont drives to Scott Carpenter Park in Boulder to go for an early morning run on Boulder Creek Path.
She is approaching 30th Street. A male transient by the bench lunges at her, grabs her, pushes her down, hits her in the head, and yells at her nonsensically. She scrambles to her feet, runs away screaming to a nearby apartment complex, and borrows someone’s phone to call police.
The police arrive and are unable to locate the suspect. The victim is still shaken when an officer meets with her. Officers note there is an unoccupied tent near the scene of the attack and just a few feet from 30th Street.
March 15, 2020
4:17 AM
2691 30th Street, Path to Home shelter
A 70 year old woman calls 911 a total of 19 times over 13 hours. She is upset that Path to Home is the only homeless shelter available to her, and she does not want to go there. Each time officers and AMR personnel respond she is antagonistic; she also causes various other problems. Officers finally determine that nothing else can be done for her.
She calls the police communications line; she threatens to kill cops and claims to have weapons. Police respond, this time telling her to stop calling 911, and that they will not respond to her calls any more this evening.
A short time later, a bomb threat is called in to Path to Home shelter. The woman’s number appears on caller ID. The police locate the woman at King Soopers, 1650 30th Street. She continues to be antagonistic and causes more problems. She is booked and released for various charges, including the bomb threat.
The woman has a criminal history in Oregon and Colorado. Her area code is from Oregon.
The Path to Home shelter had numerous noteworthy calls. It was closed around May 2020, after which it continued having issues including trespassing. The building itself, which was on 30th just south of Valmont, was eventually demolished and replaced with a fire station.
March 20th, 2020
2:56 PM
Target, 2800 Pearl
A 42 year old male shoplifts two phones from Target by ripping them off the display. He proceeds to the checkout, with loss prevention following him, where he shoves a shopping cart and kicks a female in line.
He runs out the door and attempts a carjacking. The victim (a Boulder resident) is dropping off his wife and has his 11-month old boy in the back seat. The suspect yells at the driver, calls him the N-word, and attempts to force his way into the car. The driver speeds away while blowing his horn, saving his son but leaving his wife vulnerable. The suspect attempts to steal several other cars before leaving the parking lot. He is contacted by police at Hazel’s and arrested.
The suspect has already been the subject of three calls to police throughout the day. He has an extremely lengthy criminal history in Colorado. He is residing at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, 4869 N. Broadway.
At the time, this man was one of Boulder’s highest utilizers. On 9/30/22, he was contacted after jumping in front of a moving car at 3200 Arapahoe, causing the driver to swerve and crash. In that case he was booked at the jail and released.
On 8/28/22, police responded when the man was in a business’s bathroom breaking bottles and refusing to leave. Officers found him appearing intoxicated; they escorted him out and trespassed him from the location. While they were watching, he tried to enter two parked cars (getting confronted by one of the owners), and then climbed on top of a pickup truck and started jumping on it. They found beer in his backpack and learned he had a protection order prohibiting possession or consumption of alcohol. He was arrested.
March 23rd, 2020
12:20 PM
1326 Pearl Street
A man who works at a bank at 11th and Pearl is walking with his girlfriend on the Pearl Street Mall. He is approached and struck in the head by an unknown male. The suspect denies hitting the victim, then runs at him, spitting on him and forcing the victim to push him away. Abruptly, the suspect stops fighting and walks away, as though nothing had happened.
The suspect is not identified, but is described as a transient (see report). The victim is not allowed back at work that day due to having been spit on. The victim’s story is corroborated by his girlfriend.
March 24th, 2020
10:01 AM
Mapleton and 30th, behind Mapleton Ballfields
A 60 year old man is attacked in his van with a baseball bat by a man known to him. His hand is struck; his van is also struck and damaged. When contacted, the suspect lies about what happened, telling officers that he was the one attacked by the victim, whom officers note has a severely broken leg and other health issues.
It’s not clear from the report what this attack was about. However, a woman who was with the victim at the time said the suspect had been stealing the money she made from panhandling to buy meth. She was with the victim in his van to get away from the suspect.
The victim is driving a 2019 Dodge van. He lists his home address as the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, 4869 N. Broadway.
The suspect’s home address, driver’s license, and area code are all from Arkansas. His vehicle’s license plates are from Kansas. He is not arrested; he is issued a summons for Third Degree Assault and Criminal Mischief.
Officers also note the suspect has five dogs in his van – three of them puppies – with no food or water. Animal Protection is contacted, although it’s not clear what the outcome was from the report.
March 28th 2020
5:42 AM
Main Library 1001 Arapahoe
Police are dispatched to the Main Library on report of a structure fire. They find two campfires on the west side of the building. One of these campfires is directly beside the building, causing charred marks on the exterior wall about 20’ high. Trash and other debris litter the area.
Damage to the building and adjacent electrical conduit is estimated between $5000-7000. No suspects are identified.
In the winter of 2020-2021, there were many instances of campfires around the library area. In January, there was a late-night fire in the breezeway directly underneath the building at a large encampment which had been there for several months. Firefighters arrived on scene, however they were not willing to enter without a law enforcement presence. Police arrived to find a very chaotic situation, with no one willing to help them, one man revving a loud motorcycle, and a woman who yelled at officers extensively. This encampment was eventually cleared. Out of curiosity, I obtained the body camera footage from this and found it impossible to believe.
March 30th, 2020
10:01 AM
Ginger Liquors, 3053 28th Street
Officers and fire crews respond to reports of a structure fire at an abandoned liquor store. The fire is extinguished, but the building suffers significant damage.
The building is known to be used as nighttime shelter by transients. The back door had been left standing open, and the building contained a mattress, cigarette butts, and other evidence it had been recently occupied.
The manager for the property reports that a 40-something woman who was apparently living in her car with all her belongings had watched the fire with interest but took no action. She left the scene and was not identified.
At the time of this writing, this building is still vacant.
April 9, 2020
3:18 PM
13th and Pearl, Courthouse
An officer locates a man who is wanted for Failure to Appear on Felony Menacing charges. The man responds erratically and makes incoherent statements about being characters from Harry Potter. When the officer attempts to take custody, the man resists arrest, including by trying to burn the officer’s arm with a torch lighter. He is subdued and arrested.
The suspect’s menacing charge stems from an incident at Path to Home, where he brandished a knife at two employees who had asked him to leave, frightening both of them. He was arrested shortly after this incident while trying to gain entry into the Covid-19 recovery center at East Boulder Rec. He was booked and released and did not show up for his court date, hence the arrest warrant.
April 23, 2020
4:02 PM
13th and Pearl, Courthouse
The victim, a 71 year old at-risk male (and Boulder resident), is sitting on a park bench in front of the courthouse reading a newspaper. The suspect, a 22 year old man, approaches the victim, attempts to steal his backpack, then assaults him, dragging him and hitting him approximately ten times in the head. The victim suffers serious facial injuries which are redacted from the report. When contacted, the suspect lies to police, claiming that he was the one attacked. He is positively ID’d and arrested. The suspect is a transient with no fixed address in Boulder.
The victim of this assault was – and still is – a recognizable figure on the Pearl Street Mall.
May 8th, 2020
11:26 PM
1777 6th Street (near the Kids Fishing Pond)
The victim, who is a resident of Attention Homes at 1440 Pine Street, is at a park downtown. Three other males, also residents of Attention Homes, engage and assault the victim, knocking him down and repeatedly hitting him in the head, and calling him names and spitting on him while doing so. This appears to be an act of revenge, as the victim had “snitched” on one of the males. (The reason is not specified in the report.)
All four people involved in this had been drinking.
The three suspects weigh 170, 200, and 215 pounds, and all are at least six feet tall. They are issued summons for Third Degree Assault. None are arrested.
It’s not clear from the report which of the three attackers had violent criminal histories, are Boulder natives, or whether they’ll be allowed to continue living at 1440 Pine Street after this assault.
All three of these suspects in this case were later arrested for their involvement in the 3/6/21 riot on University Hill. They were all named in a Daily Camera article, which also provided their mugshots, but neglected to mention they were residents of Attention Homes.
Attention Homes was fully opened in January 2020. By the end of its first month, it had seen its first fatal overdose, its first sex assault, its first warrant arrest of a resident, and other issues.
May 25th 2020 (Memorial Day)
12:06 PM
Boulder Creek Path at Broadway
The victim (a 50 year old female) is visiting Boulder from Lafayette with her husband and daughter. They are riding bikes on Boulder Creek Path just east of the Broadway underpass just after noon. A man on the path approaches them as they draw near, then kicks the victim’s front wheel for no apparent reason, causing her to crash and get hurt. He apologizes, says he is schizophrenic and that it was an impulse, and then walks away.
Police contact the man at Alfalfa’s. He lies to them about what happened. He is issued a summons for third degree assault. He is not arrested.
The suspect had assaulted another person on University Hill the week before. In that case, he walked up to a stranger and punched him in the chest for no apparent reason. He then followed the victim, threatening to kill him. He was issued a summons. He was not arrested.
On his summons, the suspect lists a Denver homeless shelter as his home address. His area code is from northwest Oregon
June 5th, 2020
6:53 PM
1148 Pearl Street
A girl (identity redacted, approximately twelve years old) is waiting with a friend outside of Haagen Dazs. A 66 year old transient male is staring at her, approaches her, and tells her she has a nice body. She is uncomfortable, so she and her friend move away. He approaches them again, and again tells her she has a nice body. Again they move away. He continues following them.
The girl runs into a store. The man follows her, telling the staff he’s looking for a twelve year old girl. He sees her. He advances on her, pushing chairs out of his way and reaching toward her chest with his hands. She runs out of the store.
Numerous people call the police. Officers arrive and arrest the man on three active arrest warrants. He is a transient male with a lengthy history of sexual assaults and failures to register as a sex offender. He also has a FTA for intentionally starting a wildfire in Boulder County.
This man has had many other arrests. On 8/29/24, he was contacted for indecent exposure at the bus stop in front of the hospital. While talking with officers, he continued exposing himself even after being warned he would be arrested. He also had an FTA out of Lafayette (original charge of disorderly conduct).
June 6th, 2020
6:26 PM
Satellite Boardshop, 3044 Valmont Rd.
A 32 year old woman is hitting and kicking a skateboard shop’s back door, yelling, and attempting to pry it open. (She had been in the store earlier and was asked to leave.) While police are en route, a second caller reports she is attempting to hit a car with a brick. When police arrive, she is topless. Police instruct her to put her top back on, then place her in handcuffs.
An officer responding recognized the woman from a disturbance she caused earlier in the day. In that instance, she broke a bag of ice at a gas station, had her personal belongings scattered throughout the store, and refused to leave.
When she is arrested, she is searched and found to have two syringes and two controlled substances – one is unmarked, and the other is a prescription drug belonging to someone else.
The woman lists her home address as 2960 Valmont Road, the address for Harvest for Hope food bank, which is not a residence.
This woman was contacted 11/16/20 at encampment at Foothills and Baseline by officers who were investigating a theft from a bike store in South Boulder. She told them she was on probation. She was arrested on two warrants, both FTC’s out of BCSO.
June 7, 2020
5:51 PM
13th and Pearl
A young black woman (and Boulder resident) is walking with a friend on the Pearl Street Mall. A white male makes a racially offensive remark at her. She confronts him. He throws coffee at her. She yells at him and hits him. Several bystanders are recording this with their phones. Police arrive and arrest the man for harassment.
The suspect is a transient who has just arrived from San Francisco and has no local address.
Per the report, the man’s remark was something to the effect of “Why are you in Boulder? People come here to get away from black people.” This was just 13 days after white police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis, inspiring millions of people to take to the streets with Black Lives Matter. The single largest protest in the U.S. was on Saturday, 6/6/20, the day prior to this incident.
June 10th, 2020
10:16 AM
King Soopers Gas Station, 30th and Arapahoe
A man approaches the gas station, places a watermelon on the ground, and sits on it. He is blocking access to gas pumps and is at risk of being hit by a car. The victim – a female attendant at the gas station (whose identity is redacted) – contacts the man. He yells unintelligibly at her, approaches her, then makes a lewd suggestion while grabbing his own crotch and hers at the same time.
The suspect is contacted by police nearby. He resists arrest, including by yelling, spitting, and kicking the inside of the patrol car. The suspect is a transient with no local address.
June 12, 2020
3:23 PM
Life Storage, 4545 N. Broadway
The suspect, a 43 year old woman, leaves her scooter blocking the sidewalk while going into a nearby store. The victim, a 55 year old male (and Boulder resident) who uses a walker, is unable to get around the scooter, becomes frustrated, and pushes it to the ground. The woman confronts him, and the argument escalates. She assaults the victim, hits him and knees him in the face, then starts recording him with her phone, telling him she’s calling the police.
The suspect is arrested for assault on an at-risk adult. She has a lengthy criminal history from all around the Front Range, including numerous felonies. She is residing at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, 4869 N. Broadway.
June 13th, 2020
1:58 AM
Near downtown
An officer patrolling an area that has been plagued by recent criminal activity contacts two men prowling the area late at night. One man (who is from Wyoming and has no local address) is identified and released. The other man repeatedly lies about his identity. He is finally identified. He has three active felony arrest warrants, all for dangerous drugs. He has no local address, but his area code is from Northern California.
In his backpack, officers find an angle grinder, which is commonly used for cutting bike locks, including U-locks. He is unable to satisfactorily explain why he has it.
Officers transport the suspect to the Boulder Police Department, where he is issued another felony summons (for possession of burglary tools and criminal impersonation), then released. He is not arrested.
June 17, 2020
12:40 AM
Residence at 5th and Canyon
A woman is sleeping on her couch at her residence at 5th and Canyon. She is awakened by a loud noise, as an unknown male is attempting to force entry through her door. He is mostly naked, wearing only shorts. Unable to gain entry, he sits on a swing in her yard for a while, gets up, walks away, and takes off his shorts (so he is completely naked). He then gets into her unlocked car, scatters the contents, and begins rubbing essential oil on his naked body. This is what he is doing when an officer makes contact. The man makes various nonsensical remarks, which include bizarre threats to the officer and AMR personnel.
The man’s car is parked across Canyon at the Justice Center. It appears he is living in his car. There are personal items strewn around the inside of the car, and also the surrounding parking lot. The man has Tennessee license plates, a Tennessee area code, and no local address. He had been the subject of an unspecified call earlier in the day.
The victim captures this entire sequence on home security video, as she has had various problems in the past. The responding officer captures his entire transaction with the suspect via body worn camera.
The suspect is issued a felony summons and admitted to the hospital. He is not arrested; he is released the same day after a brief medical hold.
The female victim, her husband (both middle class workers), and their pre-teen daughter have had many problems living downtown. After this experience, they’ve decided to relocate for their safety.
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