Hearing delayed for accused cancer faker

Julie Jane Martin

AURORA | A judge Monday delayed until May the arraignment for a woman accused of faking cancer and swindling a local charity out of more than $10,000. 

Julie Jane Martin, 38, is facing a felony theft charge after police say she lied to officials from the Aurora charity Cops Fighting Cancer about being sick for more than a year, bilking the organization for air travel, hotel stays and other expenses. 

Martin’s lawyer on Monday asked the arraignment, at which Martin is expected to enter a plea, be pushed back a few months because Martin is set to have surgery soon to correct her deafness, which she recently developed. 

A sign language interpreter was in the courtroom for Martin during Monday’s brief hearing, translating the precedings for her. 

Prosecutors, however, were dubious of Martin’s claim of deafness, citing the allegations that she previously faked a terminal illness and asked that Martin provide documentation about her scheduled surgery. 

Martin’s lawyer declined to release any medical documents and asked that the judge delay the hearing so any issues could be addressed at a later date. 

Two shot outside Aurora club

AURORA | Police arrested two people after a double shooting early Sunday outside an Aurora bar, Channel 7 is reporting. 

The shooting happened around 2 a.m. Sunday outside the Kasbah Bar near East Sixth Avenue and Chambers Road. 

Both victims are expected to survive. 

Police have not released the names of the victims or the shooters. 

Father pleads for info on son's killer

Isaias Mitta (left) holds a picture of his son,
Trison, during a press conference Friday.

AURORA | The father of a man slain last week outside an Aurora bar pleaded Friday for somebody to come forward with information about his son’s death. 

Isaias Mitta’s  26-year-old son Trison Mitta was gunned down Jan. 28 outside the Sport Station Bar near East Eighth Avenue and Dayton Street. 

On Friday, the Isaias Mitta said he hopes someone who knows what happened to his son comes forward because the killer is obviously a dangerous person. 

“It’s not only for my son, but for the community, for everybody,” he said. 

Police said Friday they have surveillance video of the shooting and believe there were several witnesses that saw what happened. 

There are five people in particular — three black males in their late teens or early 20s and two black women — who police say they want to talk to. One of the men may be the shooter, police said.

Police described one of the women as being a light-skinned black woman with a large tattoo on her left thigh, tattoo on her right arm and a tattoo of numbers on her back. The other woman was described as very tall, possibly 6 feet, and wearing a pair of very short shorts. 

One of the men was wearing a blue plaid jacket and a blue plaid hat, the others were wearing all black clothing. Police said the group tried to get into the bar earlier Friday but were denied. They cam back later and that’s when Mitta was shot.

A few things ...

AURORA | The family of a man slain at an Aurora bar last week has a press conference scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today at APD headquarters. We will be there, check here and the twitter feed for updates. 


Also, Steven Wayne Bassett and Maliek Bailey have preliminary hearings scheduled for this afternoon. If they aren't continued to a later date, the hearings should be interesting. I'll be there at 1:30 p.m. As always, updates here and on twitter. 


And here are links to a couple crime stories that ran in our weekly edition:
    Bill seeks stiffer punishments for crimes against homeless   
    Gillespie pleads not guilty in fatal liquor store robbery case      


-Brandon

SUV slams into McDonald's

Photo by Heather L. Smith

AURORA | A GMC Yukon slammed into an Aurora McDonald’s on Thursday afternoon, sending three people to hospitals with injuries.

Firefighters said the black Yukon was eastbound on East Mississippi Avenue near South Uvalda Street when it slammed into a silver Ford Escape pulling away from the parking lot of the fast food restaurant.

The impact spun the Escape into some bushes and sent the Yukon speeding through the parking lot into the west side of the McDonald’s, breaking into the wall near the entrance.

A 10-year-old girl was hit by a small amount of flying glass from a window shattered by the Yukon, according to Aurora police Lt. Charles DeShazer. Two people inside the Escape were transported to local hospitals with “very minor injuries,” according to DeShazer.

The restaurant, at 12900 E. Mississippi Ave., was closed while crews worked to extract the driver of the Yukon that crashed into the wall. Fire officials said the driver of the SUV was awake and alert while crews cut open the vehicle.

In an e-mail statement, DeShazer said the driver of the Yukon would be cited for driving too fast for the wintry road conditions.

Roads near the McDonald’s were snow covered and wet at the time of the crash but it wasn’t yet clear what role that played.

Super Bowl DUI crackdown planned

AURORA | Police in Aurora and around the state have increased DUI patrols planned for Super Bowl weekend, the Colorado State Patrol said this week.

In addition to Aurora police and the State Patrol, 43 other agencies around the state have DUI crackdowns planned starting at 6 p.m. Friday and continuing through 3 a.m. Monday.

“Watching the Super Bowl is one of those American pastimes that people want to celebrate, and alcohol is often involved, so it’s important be responsible,” Col. James Wolfinbarger, Chief of State Patrol, said in a statement. “Choose a sober designated driver before the kickoff.”

Last year, police around Colorado arrested 371 drivers were arrested for DUI over Super Bowl weekend in Colorado.

Deering sentencing delayed, psych eval ordered

AURORA | A judge Tuesday held off on sentencing a man who killed his neighbor’s dog with a pellet gun last spring, instead ordering the man to undergo a  psychological evaluation.

Judge Alex Bencze heard about an hour of testimony Tuesday in the case of Craig Deering, the Aurora man who pleaded guilty last month to animal cruelty for the May shooting death of his neighbor’s dog, Kaci. 

But rather than sentencing Deering, Bencze ordered the man to undergo a psychological evaluation that addresses Deering’s issues with anger in particular. 

“This is extremely important for the court to hear this information,” Bencze said of the evaluation. 

Bencze rescheduled Deering’s sentencing for March 22. 

Deering, 69, faces a sentence of up to 18 months in county jail on the misdemeanor animal cruelty charge. he could also be sentenced to probation.