Author: KRDO

Scott Harrison

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A 7.5-mile improvement project on Interstate 25 between South Academy Boulevard and Santa Fe Avenue was supposed to be finished last fall, but KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior has learned that crews are still finalizing that work.

The Road Warrior reported last October that the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) project to replace aging asphalt with concrete and replace the twin overpasses at South Academy was undergoing a final inspection before CDOT approved the work by its contractor, SEMA Construction.

However, repairs needed to some of the completed construction required overnight closures on southbound I-25 in the project area on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with similar closures scheduled for the northbound lanes Monday and Tuesday.

CDOT spokeswoman Amber Shipley said that CDOT wanted to see how the construction held up after last winter and into this summer to get a true understanding of what fixes are needed.

“It’s fairly typical,” she explained. “When you’re talking about concrete curing during different times of the year, where there could have been a subtle shift in the ground underneath that caused cracking. They want to make sure that those are repaired before, again, we sign off on a project of that magnitude.”

Shipley said that CDOT’s inspection found some of the concrete panels comprising the new pavement have either cracked or separated, and that several segments of new guardrail are damaged by vehicle impacts and need replacement.

“It’s a continual repair cycle for our maintenance crews,” she said. “And before we turn it over to our maintenance crews, we want to make sure that it’s solid. That’s kind of a continual thing because people are, you know, inattentive, maybe going too fast, and a crash occurs.”

During the weekend overnight closures, crews were tapping concrete panels with metal rods to test the panels’ stability and using a pressure hose to spray debris out of panels.

One crew even had a power saw, apparently to cut off damaged parts of concrete, which created a cloud of dust when it was used.

The detours for the remaining northbound closures are the same that drivers used frequently since the project began in spring 2022: Highway 85/87 via South Academy or Santa Fe.

Previous estimates indicated that the cost of the I-25 work would be half of the $161 million funded for a quartet of projects under the Military Access, Mobility and Safety Improvements Project (MAMSIP) to improve traffic flow and safety in and around local military installations.

The only other unfinished MAMSIP project is the widening of 1.5 miles of South Academy between I-25 and Milton E. Proby Parkway; that work is scheduled for completion early next year.

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Karla Sosa

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)- Hope Homes – Paying it Forward just opened up another sober living and transitional house in Colorado Springs. Chris Meeks, the president of the LLC, said he decided to create these homes due to the struggles he faced years ago when he was incarcerated. 

“Ten years ago, I was incarcerated for a fight, and when I got out, I had a really challenging time finding work and finding housing,” said Meeks.

After getting his life together, Meeks found a way to help others. These houses are designed to provide a safety net.

“I got very involved in criminal justice reform, and it reminded me about the need for housing. So instead of flipping the house and selling it, I kept it. I reached out to [the] Department of Corrections and said, if you have any guys that need housing, please let me know,” said Meeks. “I want to make these houses beautiful homes where they feel safe. They can go to. They’re nice. They’re clean. And so we just do anything and everything to make it feel like home.”

Colin McIntosh now has a safe place to call home, after he was in prison for almost 2 years.

“I have a home that welcomes me, accepts me, and is allowing me grace to get restarted and into a better path for a brand new life,” said McIntosh.

He’s not alone; Brian Smith is a resident who’s staying at the new sober living and transitional house and finds this place to be a safe haven. 

“I have friends that are past drug, alcohol users that continue to use, and I choose to stay away from, because that’s not my lifestyle and that’s not what I want to do anymore,” said Smith. “It’s like having your own new family. Adoptive family. Everybody has the same history, same past, something, and everybody is a support.”

You can reach out to Hope Homes – Paying it Forward if you would like to donate items.

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Michael Logerwell

NOTE: The above video is straight from the Colorado Springs Police Department, unedited by KRDO. The video shows the shooting in full view. Viewer discretion is advised.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Springs Police Department is releasing the officer-worn body camera footage from the shooting that killed 26-year-old Alex Martinez-Sarmiento in the early morning hours of July 5 in Downtown Colorado Springs.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man dies in police shooting overnight in downtown Colorado Springs

In the video released by the police department, Ira Cronin, CSPD public information officer, says it all started with a 911 call.

Portions of the call are included in the 11-minute video. The caller tells the 911 operator, “There’s an individual with, it looks like a semi-automatic weapon. A black male in the parking lot. He’s screaming at some people.”

Police officers then responded to the area, a parking lot near the intersection of Pikes Peak Ave. and Tejon St., where they didn’t find the man fitting the caller’s description, but found a group arguing.

The officers approached the group, unrelated to the 911 call. The incident didn’t escalate, no rifle was found, and no arrests were made.

Several minutes later, at 1:37 a.m., CSPD says its officers saw the same group arguing again while crossing Tejon St. Again, officers went to break up the argument, and no arrests were made.

Captions blurred by KRDO13 for vulgar language.

Cronin says that during this time, the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) was monitoring the group via security cameras.

Then, police say that the Real Time Crime Center identified the person with the rifle who was the subject of the previous 911 call. RTCC officers identified a male who’d been in the group contacted by police twice already that night as the person reported to be carrying the rifle.

In the video, Cronin says that after learning this information, officers were working to determine their next steps.

Then at 1:49 a.m., the Real Time Crime Center officer saw the group get into another argument. Then saw that same individual, the one identified as having brandished a rifle, pull a handgun with an illegal extended magazine out of his white car and tuck it into his waistband.

Officers then rushed over to the area of the parking lot closest to Pikes Peak Ave. Body camera footage shows the officer behind him makes first contact with the suspect. Initially, he puts his hands up, but then turns and starts running away. The officer can be heard telling the suspect to put his hands up, then telling others that the suspect is armed.

Cronin says the suspect reached towards his waistband while running away, and that’s when one officer fired three shots, hitting the suspect, later identified as Alex Martinez-Sarmiento, in the back.

First responders rendered medical aid to Martinez-Sarmiento but were unsuccessful, and he died in the parking lot.

Cronin says officers recovered a loaded Glock 17 with an illegal extended magazine from the right pant leg of the suspect. Cronin then says officers recovered another handgun, a Glock 43 with a scratched-off serial number, from a vehicle the suspect was seen getting into. The rifle has still not been located.

Captions from CSPD video.

The 4th judicial district attorney’s office is investigating the officer’s use of force and determining if it complied with Colorado Law.

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Danny Mata

Rob Namnoum is the longest tenured sportscaster in the history of Colorado Springs. It’s impossible to put into words how much Rob means to the Southern Colorado community.

Rob was inducted into the Heartland Emmys Silver Circle in recognition of his service to Southern Colorado. Rob is now in his 26th year at KRDO13.

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Karla Sosa

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)- Sometimes it takes more than physical therapy to recover from an injury. The Department of Defense Warrior Games are one way to help active duty and retired military in their recovery journeys by giving them sports to compete in.

The games are back in Colorado Springs for the first time in almost a decade. The games will be in here until the 26th at the Main Venue of Colorado College. 

This is the first year that Sergeant Louis Diaz has competed in the Department of Defense Warrior Games. It’s been a long year for him on his path to recovery. Diaz was recovering for 10 months and said his rehabilitation was tough. 

“Last year, I was in a car accident. I broke both my legs and had internal damage,” said Diaz. “I had to transition from a wheelchair to crutches and to a walker, and then finally to be able to walk again. One of the biggest challenges was running. I felt like my bones were breaking again.”

Diaz is one of 200 active and retired military service members competing this week in Colorado Springs. Five service branches are being represented here at the games. The participants can compete in 11 different adaptive sports, from cycling to powerlifting to wheelchair basketball and more.

“They say they’re not competitive. There’s a little competition, but it is for the rehab, rehabilitation. Whether they were wounded or ill, active duty veterans. But a place to unite and be a team again,” said Katie Moses Swope, public relations.

Diaz said being part of the games shows him that he has a support system.       

“Everyone’s going through something here, right? So like it’s nice to know that I’m not alone,” said Diaz.

Next year, the Warrior Games will be in San Antonio.

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Michael Logerwell

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) – Saturday afternoon, a woman was killed at Lake Pueblo State Park. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says it was a tragic accident involving a powered watercraft and contact with the engine propeller.

CPW says the incident happened around 4 p.m. near the North Shore at Denver Cove. Pueblo West Firefighters attempted life-saving measures after the 43-year-old woman was brought to the North Shore Marina, but were unsuccessful.

The Pueblo County Coroner declared her dead just after 5 p.m. Her identity has not been released at this time.

CPW added that the circumstances around the death are being investigated by local authorities. As of publication, no arrests have been made.

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Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — For the third time this month, KRDO13 has received video of fireworks being launched directly at homes in the middle of the night, not for celebration.

We are told at KRDO13 that the new fireworks explosion was so loud that it woke neighbors who were sleeping seven houses away. The family whose house was involved says the explosion has caused hundreds of dollars worth of damage.

“It was so loud, it woke me up out of my dead sleep. And I was like, what in the world was that?”

Rosa Cabrera says this explosion shook the windows of her home, and at first, she thought it had caught her family’s house on fire.

“My daughter came running in the room, and she was like, Mom, Mom, the house is on fire,” Cabrera said she ran to her daughter’s room and looked out the window. “You could just see a huge cloud of smoke. I really thought my house was on fire.”

The incident was caught on a slew of home security cameras along Wilmington Drive. In one video, you see two people lighting a fuse and throwing it at the home from a neighbor’s yard. Then another catches them as they run away, with the explosion in the background.

“My reaction was terrifying. I couldn’t believe that something like that was happening to my home,” Cabrera said.

This is now the third incident since July 4th that KRDO13 Investigates has covered where fireworks were lit by an unknown person at someone’s home. One of which happened just a few hours earlier near Monument in El Paso County, and the other, which led to a fire that completely destroyed a home. 

PREVIOUS REPORTING: Family devastated, Colorado Springs home uninhabitable after illegal fireworks cause fire

PREVIOUS REPORTING: KNOCK, KNOCK, BOOM: Family awoken to loud sounds, smoke after ‘Ding-Dong Ditch’

According to officials, there’s currently no evidence to suggest that the three events are connected. 

“We’re definitely going to be upgrading our system over the weekend. That’s something that we’ve been wanting to do anyway, but now this is just, like, basically forcing us to do it.”

The family says they have filed a police report, alleging the incident caused $500 worth of damage.

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Celeste Springer

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — US 24 is closed in both directions due to a crash, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).

CDOT says the closure runs from Cotton Tail Drive and Curtis Road (3 to 4 miles east of Colorado Springs) from Mile Point 322.5 to Mile Point 323.8. 

State Patrol told KRDO13 that the crash involved two vehicles and one motorcycle. Patrol says the motorcyclist is deceased.

Patrol says the road should be expected to be closed for several hours.

Drivers should expect heavy delays. CDOT also asked that they use caution.

This is a breaking news situation with minimal details, but this article may be updated.

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Heather Skold

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Finding a trusted, vetted, skilled childcare giver is one of the biggest challenges of parenthood. Add in multiple moves to new cities while in the military?  The challenge becomes overwhelming. 

Enter the mission of Operation Childcare Project’s “HomeFront Help.” 

Founded by Army spouse Kayla Corbitt, the nonprofit serves to train a cohort of “helpers” who undergo FBI background checks and receive safety training, including CPR, to be ready for military families.

“[Military Families] were turning to Facebook, and we thought, ‘There has to be a better way,'” said Corbitt. “There’s a gap that exists.  A gap that’s typically filled with friends, family, or neighbors that military families really don’t have,” said Founder Kayla Corbritt.

Two dozen of those helpers have just finished their first training in Colorado Springs to fill what Corbitt terms a “childcare desert” in the Pikes Peak Region. 

The pilot program was initially introduced in Florida, and since its debut in the fall of 2024, the program has served more than 100 families.

“There’s a deficit I wasn’t even aware of,” said Kayla Zimmerman, a helper trainee.  “We want to make sure they have some stability when it’s up and down all the time and new deployments.”

Operation Childcare already has quarterly trainings planned through 2026 in Colorado Springs. 

Caregivers who wish to gain vetted status through Operation Childcare can do so here.

Military members can also search the website’s repository for vetted caregivers here.

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Bradley Davis

CASCADE, Colo. (KRDO) – Friday morning was one of just five days this year that Park Rangers will open the Pikes Peak highway early enough for visitors to see the sun rise from over 14,000 feet in the sky.

It’s the first season Park Rangers have introduced “Sunrise Shuttles,” providing more transportation options for people to get to the top before the sun comes up.

One onlooker traveled over 4000 miles to see the sun rise above Pikes Peak with his friends.

“It’s unreal. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Unlike anything I’ve ever done before,” United Kingdom native Adam Newton said.

The Gateway opened at 4:30 a.m. on Friday.

It will open again at 4:30 a.m. on August 1, followed by a 5 a.m. sunrise opening September 27 and a final early-morning viewing experience at 5:30 a.m. on October 13. Tribal Nation Elders will perform a sunrise blessing on the mountain top on October 13 in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

A timed entry permit or a shuttle ticket is required to enjoy the Pikes Peak Sunrise openings. A 2-hour timed entry permit is $2. A standard shuttle ticket is $35 for adults and $10 for children.

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