Category: CNN Regional

By Dillon Thomas

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — The city of Fort Collins has temporarily closed the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship church building in Old Town Fort Collins amid detection of methamphetamine contamination. Fort Collins Police Services told CBS Colorado the building was closed to access in mid-December after concerning levels of meth traces were detected in the building.

The church, which is widely known for its outreach to the unhoused and those overcoming addictions, continues to meet off property while they navigate next steps for the building.

“For more than 25 years, the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship has opened its doors and hosted those without homes,” said Steve Ramer, pastor of the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship.

The church has been in Fort Collins for more than 50 years. The facility in Old Town has become known for its outreach to those needing assistance. That included the church once offering lockers for the unhoused, as well as overnight shelter services for up to 15 people per night. The church would also offer their building, bathrooms and more to those in need of warmth during cold days

However, Ramer said FCPS visited their church Dec. 8 and placed red placards in their windows. Those same placards remain, stating the building is not to be entered due to meth contamination.

“We did get the church tested. There is contamination,” Ramer said.

Ramer said the church did receive bids to have the building cleaned so they could return to hosting services, recovery meetings and more. However, the bids were significantly more costly than they had hoped.

“That range over $70,000 to over $100,000. For a small congregation that will not be easy to do,” Ramer said. “Shutting us down has a very wide reaching impact.”

Fort Collins Police confirmed it’s not seeking criminal charges against anyone involved with the church amid the contamination investigation.

Ramer said he felt Colorado’s laws around methamphetamine contamination were too stringent and made it to where places like churches and libraries could easily be susceptible to being shut down over otherwise healthy levels, in his opinion.

Ramer said he would not allow the church building being closed to prevent his church congregation from continuing to help the unhoused or those battling addictions.

“Of course not. We do not give up,” Ramer said. “We will continue to serve those who God called us to serve.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

KCNC

By Dillon Thomas

Click here for updates on this story

    COLORADO (KCNC) — The city of Fort Collins has temporarily closed the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship church building in Old Town Fort Collins amid detection of methamphetamine contamination. Fort Collins Police Services told CBS Colorado the building was closed to access in mid-December after concerning levels of meth traces were detected in the building.

The church, which is widely known for its outreach to the unhoused and those overcoming addictions, continues to meet off property while they navigate next steps for the building.

“For more than 25 years, the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship has opened its doors and hosted those without homes,” said Steve Ramer, pastor of the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship.

The church has been in Fort Collins for more than 50 years. The facility in Old Town has become known for its outreach to those needing assistance. That included the church once offering lockers for the unhoused, as well as overnight shelter services for up to 15 people per night. The church would also offer their building, bathrooms and more to those in need of warmth during cold days

However, Ramer said FCPS visited their church Dec. 8 and placed red placards in their windows. Those same placards remain, stating the building is not to be entered due to meth contamination.

“We did get the church tested. There is contamination,” Ramer said.

Ramer said the church did receive bids to have the building cleaned so they could return to hosting services, recovery meetings and more. However, the bids were significantly more costly than they had hoped.

“That range over $70,000 to over $100,000. For a small congregation that will not be easy to do,” Ramer said. “Shutting us down has a very wide reaching impact.”

Fort Collins Police confirmed it’s not seeking criminal charges against anyone involved with the church amid the contamination investigation.

Ramer said he felt Colorado’s laws around methamphetamine contamination were too stringent and made it to where places like churches and libraries could easily be susceptible to being shut down over otherwise healthy levels, in his opinion.

Ramer said he would not allow the church building being closed to prevent his church congregation from continuing to help the unhoused or those battling addictions.

“Of course not. We do not give up,” Ramer said. “We will continue to serve those who God called us to serve.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

KCNC

By Karen Morfitt

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — A Denver judge on Tuesday denied bond for a 38-year-old man accused of killing a 2-year-old child. Nicolas Stout is facing charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death.

Stout was arrested on Sunday. Police received a call early that morning reporting that a child was unresponsive. When officers arrived at a home on South Vrain Street in west Denver, CPR was being performed on a 2-year-old girl. She did not survive.

According to arrest paperwork, Stout was the boyfriend of the child’s mother. Police interviewed several roommates at the home. All of them reportedly described Stout as “short fused,” “hot headed” and “very aggressive.”

Stout and the child’s mother initially told officers the girl had been jumping on a bed the previous day and fell, hitting her head. Later, the mother told investigators she saw Stout slap the child twice that night. She said the girl cried briefly, fell asleep and did not wake up the next morning.

Investigators documented bruising across the child’s body — some in various stages of healing — along with a raised bump on her forehead and other injuries. Police also found several bloody towels and wipes in the trash, as well as a bloody handprint. Stout told officers the blood came from trying to clean a bloody lip the child got after falling off the bed.

The child’s father, David Erickson, lives in Pueblo but raised the young girl for the first 18 months of her life before she went to live full-time with her mother. He said he has had his own struggles with drugs and the law, but had turned his life around for his daughter.

“She was the light of my life,” he said. “She completely changed who I was. She showed me the world isn’t as dark as I thought. I’ve been dealt a bad hand, and she was my savior. She taught me how to be tough and strong.”

Throughout the court documents, Stout denies hitting or abusing the child.

A review of his criminal record shows prior cases, including kidnapping and burglary. Denver police records also show multiple calls for service to the home over the past year for issues including weapons and theft.

The Colorado Department of Human Services responded to a CBS Colorado request, saying they are not allowed to provide information about any specific reports made to Child Protective Services. A report from their office, anonymously tracking child fatalities, however, was updated with information correlating to the 2-year-old’s death, showing there was prior interaction with this child.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Karen Morfitt

Click here for updates on this story

    COLORADO (KCNC) — A Denver judge on Tuesday denied bond for a 38-year-old man accused of killing a 2-year-old child. Nicolas Stout is facing charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death.

Stout was arrested on Sunday. Police received a call early that morning reporting that a child was unresponsive. When officers arrived at a home on South Vrain Street in west Denver, CPR was being performed on a 2-year-old girl. She did not survive.

According to arrest paperwork, Stout was the boyfriend of the child’s mother. Police interviewed several roommates at the home. All of them reportedly described Stout as “short fused,” “hot headed” and “very aggressive.”

Stout and the child’s mother initially told officers the girl had been jumping on a bed the previous day and fell, hitting her head. Later, the mother told investigators she saw Stout slap the child twice that night. She said the girl cried briefly, fell asleep and did not wake up the next morning.

Investigators documented bruising across the child’s body — some in various stages of healing — along with a raised bump on her forehead and other injuries. Police also found several bloody towels and wipes in the trash, as well as a bloody handprint. Stout told officers the blood came from trying to clean a bloody lip the child got after falling off the bed.

The child’s father, David Erickson, lives in Pueblo but raised the young girl for the first 18 months of her life before she went to live full-time with her mother. He said he has had his own struggles with drugs and the law, but had turned his life around for his daughter.

“She was the light of my life,” he said. “She completely changed who I was. She showed me the world isn’t as dark as I thought. I’ve been dealt a bad hand, and she was my savior. She taught me how to be tough and strong.”

Throughout the court documents, Stout denies hitting or abusing the child.

A review of his criminal record shows prior cases, including kidnapping and burglary. Denver police records also show multiple calls for service to the home over the past year for issues including weapons and theft.

The Colorado Department of Human Services responded to a CBS Colorado request, saying they are not allowed to provide information about any specific reports made to Child Protective Services. A report from their office, anonymously tracking child fatalities, however, was updated with information correlating to the 2-year-old’s death, showing there was prior interaction with this child.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

KCNC

By Austen Erblat

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — A trial date was set on Tuesday for the former Colorado town councilman who’s accused of shooting a 17-year-old boy in the face after the teen and his friend tried asking for permission to take prom photos on the foothills property that belongs to the man.

A court hearing determined the trial for Brent Metz will start in Jefferson County on May 22 and should last about a week.

Attorneys for Metz, who served as a councilman for the town of Mountain View, say the September 2024 shooting was accidental and that Metz’s gun went off without him pulling the trigger.

The two teens hopped the fence of the property to knock on the door for permission to take those photos, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. When no one answered the door, they walked around the property, saying they heard music playing, before returning to their car. One of the boys started writing a letter asking for permission to take the photos at the house, the sheriff’s office said. That partially-written letter was recovered at the scene by investigators.

Metz’s girlfriend, who was home at the time, saw the boys on security cameras and called Metz and 911. Metz arrived before deputies and, according to investigators, got out of his truck, pulled a handgun, and pointed it at the teens’ car when it went off. Metz maintains he never pulled the trigger.

The boy who wasn’t injured told investigators he also believed the shooting was accidental, saying he heard Metz, 40, say, “oh s**t, my gun went off.”

Metz’s attorney, Chris Decker, told CBS News Colorado in May that the gun Metz used that day — a Sig Sauer P320 — is at the center of several safety recalls and lawsuits, both resolved and ongoing, due to instances of it reportedly going off without the trigger being pulled.

Metz was arrested at the scene and has since been released on bond.

He’s charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, two counts of menacing with a weapon, and illegal discharge of a firearm — all felonies. He pleaded not guilty in April.

A message was left with Metz’s attorney on Tuesday seeking comment about the trial.

In addition to the criminal case, the teen who was shot is suing Metz in a civil case in Jefferson County. A hearing for that case is set for March 3.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Austen Erblat

Click here for updates on this story

    COLORADO (KCNC) — A trial date was set on Tuesday for the former Colorado town councilman who’s accused of shooting a 17-year-old boy in the face after the teen and his friend tried asking for permission to take prom photos on the foothills property that belongs to the man.

A court hearing determined the trial for Brent Metz will start in Jefferson County on May 22 and should last about a week.

Attorneys for Metz, who served as a councilman for the town of Mountain View, say the September 2024 shooting was accidental and that Metz’s gun went off without him pulling the trigger.

The two teens hopped the fence of the property to knock on the door for permission to take those photos, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. When no one answered the door, they walked around the property, saying they heard music playing, before returning to their car. One of the boys started writing a letter asking for permission to take the photos at the house, the sheriff’s office said. That partially-written letter was recovered at the scene by investigators.

Metz’s girlfriend, who was home at the time, saw the boys on security cameras and called Metz and 911. Metz arrived before deputies and, according to investigators, got out of his truck, pulled a handgun, and pointed it at the teens’ car when it went off. Metz maintains he never pulled the trigger.

The boy who wasn’t injured told investigators he also believed the shooting was accidental, saying he heard Metz, 40, say, “oh s**t, my gun went off.”

Metz’s attorney, Chris Decker, told CBS News Colorado in May that the gun Metz used that day — a Sig Sauer P320 — is at the center of several safety recalls and lawsuits, both resolved and ongoing, due to instances of it reportedly going off without the trigger being pulled.

Metz was arrested at the scene and has since been released on bond.

He’s charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, two counts of menacing with a weapon, and illegal discharge of a firearm — all felonies. He pleaded not guilty in April.

A message was left with Metz’s attorney on Tuesday seeking comment about the trial.

In addition to the criminal case, the teen who was shot is suing Metz in a civil case in Jefferson County. A hearing for that case is set for March 3.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.