Category: krdo-local-news

Michael Logerwell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – On Tuesday, April 15, licensed shops will be able to sell recreational marijuana in Colorado Springs. However, not all stores that’ve applied for licenses will get their chance to sell to recreational users.

The City of Colorado Springs says 53 stores have applied for a retail license of a possible 86 licenses. As of April 14, only 27 applications have been approved.

“We’ve put a lot of work in on the back end, just getting the licenses and all that settled,” Dustin Taylor, the operations manager for The Epic Remedy, said.

According to the city’s database, these five stores are still waiting for inspections before obtaining their retail license.

A small group of stores, like Fountain Organics on Rio Vista, are still waiting for inspections before they can start selling.

Despite tomorrow being the first day licensed stores can sell to recreational customers, Taylor says Tuesday won’t be a grand opening day, “We have to kind of spend the day, tomorrow, getting that stuff into our system, getting it barcoded and getting the merchandise here in the stores so that we can begin sales.”

Because of specific rules, The Epic Remedy and the other licensed stores haven’t been able to even set up their stores with recreational products.

The Epic Remedy store on Fountain Ave.

Today, the interior of The Epic Remedy store on Fountain Blvd is half empty. Taylor says their stores are still serving medical customers during the transition.

“We won’t be fully merchandised right out the gate tomorrow,” Taylor says. Tuesday will be more of a soft opening. They hope to be able to sell recreational products in the afternoon. Potential customers are already excited. Employees at the Fountain Ave. location say people have been calling, inquiring about recreational products all morning.

However, the true size of the Colorado Springs recreational marijuana market remains to be seen.

“This is an untapped market here in Colorado Springs. So really, we kind of have to look outwardly at Denver and Pueblo,” Taylor said. “We definitely anticipate a much higher volume of people coming through, and we’ve done our best to prepare as much as we can.

However, not every store will start selling retail products. Taylor says The Epic Remedy location on N Academy will stay medical only. Taylor says they wanted to keep one store selling only to medical customers, and that location wouldn’t qualify for a retail license anyway. Just across the street sits Unique Play Place, a child care facility.

Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – On Sunday, April 13, a man working at the McDonald’s on North Academy Boulevard took swift action to alert local law enforcement of a suspicious situation in their resturaunt.

Just after 10 in the morning, Omar Campos saw Darryl McLaurin, a convicted sex offender, walk into the store with a little girl. Campos says he immediately knew something was off.

“A worker there actually noticed a man and a child came into the restaurant and just felt like something was not right in that situation. He really trusted his gut and called 911. He reported what he was seeing and what he was experiencing to our call taker, who then also understood the urgency of needing to get officers there,” explained Caitlin Ford with the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).

The store manager tells KRDO13 they had run into previous incidents with McLaurin at the McDonald’s.

Campos called 911 to report the situation. While he was waiting for police to arrive, the manager served McLaurin food to keep an eye on him and the girl in the store.

“He did a great job of keeping the situation where it was at, not trying to escalate it, not trying to insert himself into those things, but really, understanding the severity and understanding the feelings that he was having. I think we all know when, you know, the hairs on the back of your neck stick up. When you’ve got that gut feeling that there’s something not right. We all know that. So trust those gut instincts and give us a call. When you see something, definitely say something. Because this really could have turned out differently if he hadn’t done that,” urged Ford.

Campos also noted the importance of trusting your gut. He said he tried to ask the little girl if she was supposed to be with that man when McLaurin went to the restroom. Campos said she lied out of fear and said yes. But Campos explained that he still knew something was off, and now he encourages other community members to speak up when they see something. He said he’s grateful he did speak up.

Colorado Springs police officers were able to arrest McLaurin on the spot for outstanding warrants.

“This whole case really hinges on the fact that that employee did trust their gut and did call us to come in and figure out exactly what was going on. Without that call to 911, I don’t really want to imagine what could have happened or how this situation would have turned out differently,” said Ford, “so we’re just so thankful that we had a community member who saw something, who understood that something wasn’t right, trusted his gut, and did call 911 about it.”

Detectives with the Crimes Against Children Unit responded and took over the investigation, according to police.

CSPD says detectives determined that McLaurin threatened the young girl and aggressively lured her away from an apartment complex in the 3700 block of East San Miguel Street.

The little girl who police say is under 10 years old has been reunited, unharmed, with her parents.

CSPD said it’s unclear where her parents were during the incident. However, the department will not be filing charges against them.

McLaurin is facing new charges stemming from this incident, including second-degree kidnapping, enticement of a child, failure to register as a sex offender, and other charges.

CSPD is grateful for the vigilance of the Campos in this incident and asks anyone else with information to reach the police department at (719) 444-7000.

“We can’t be in all places at all times. And so being able to rely on our community members to see a crime, to feel something suspicious and know that they need to report it and be able to communicate that effectively to us so we can get out there to to make sure that the situation is safe as quick as possible. That’s really what we’re relying on for our community members to be that partner in public safety with us. And like I said, this is just an amazing example of that. And I think everyone in this department is very thankful for that community member,” shared Ford.

Ford also wants to remind parents to urge their kids to be aware of stranger danger.

“I think it’s always a good time to, especially as we’re coming into summertime and kiddos are going to be outside, play and run around parks, to remind our kids that what stranger danger is and remembering, what their safety tips need to be such as going and grabbing a trusted adult,” explained Ford.

Ford also recommended either joining or creating a neighborhood watch group. If this is something that interests you, you can contact the CSPD crime prevention unit.

“We have great neighborhood watch groups throughout our community. Our crime prevention officers at each division head up that program. So if you’re interested in starting a neighborhood watch group in your neighborhood or working with them on some crime prevention tips for your neighborhood and for your home, definitely contact your Divisional Crime Prevention Officer. They would be a great resource to help you build that community and take that public safety into your own hands,” said Ford.

Scott Harrison

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Potholes on two local highways have been quickly patched by Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) crews, apparently the day after they were featured on a report by KRDO 13’s The Road Warrior.

“I noticed it this past Wednesday, around 6 in the afternoon,” said Sam Sprott, a viewer who alerted KRDO to a large pothole at the interchange of US 24 and Peterson Road. “I was very much surprised. Kudos to CDOT — whoever filled it. Kudos to them, because they really came out and did a good job.”

KRDO met Sprott on Tuesday at the pothole on the foot of the US 24 on-ramp, and nearly every passing driver seemed to be familiar with it and swerved around it; CDOT also filled several smaller potholes nearby.

More potholes reported by a KRDO viewer were also filled on southbound Highway 21 (Powers Boulevard), slightly north of the Fountain Boulevard intersection.

“Oh, sweet! That was fast!” said Michele McCarty, who contacted KRDO about the pothole.

Other potholes in the immediate area were not patched, however — meaning that more work in that area could be forthcoming.

Meanwhile, improvements are already planned for the US 24/Peterson intersection; Colorado Springs officials will announce details Wednesday about a project there that begins next month.

More challenging, however, is filling potholes in parking lots, on service roads or other private property.

In Tuesday’s story, KRDO also reported on a mass of large, deep potholes north of the Chelton Road/Delta Drive intersection, on a road commonly used by drivers as a shortcut to local businesses.

On some maps, the road is labeled as a continuation of Delta, but city officials recently confirmed that it is privately owned and is the responsibility of that owner to repair the potholes.

“Wow, I did not know that,” said Patti Smothers, who regularly uses the road. “I just figured it was a street, and that the city would be responsible for it. These (owners) need to get together, get some money together and get it done. But you have to get a lot of people before they’re going to do something. It’s just so bad that I thought someone would have already fixed it.”

KRDO did a parcel search on the El Paso County Assesor’s webpage and found that the property is owned by a local car wash; KRDO is trying to contact the owner.

KRDO also tried to contact the owners of property where potholes have developed and continue to worsen, both along South 8th Street: Behind the Sonic restaurant and in front of the Shell gas station.

KRDO is awaiting a response from those owners; in a 2016 report, Sonic repaired the potholes on its property after being contacted by KRDO but some of them have developed again and drivers have tried to fill it with nearby landscaping stones.

That same strategy was applied last fall by a driver, on the largest of a series of potholes on Democracy Point, in the Interquest area; after KRDO reported on the situation, the owner initially filled the potholes and later repaved the affected road segment.

A KRDO report also led to the patching of pesky potholes on an access road to and from the Walmart shopping center near the intersection of Powers and Woodmen Road; Walmart eventually repaved most of the road.

Mackenzie Stafford

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo (KRDO) –

UPDATE at 2:45 p.m.:

The Colorado Springs Police Department confirmed a police officer was involved in a shooting near a Red Lobster location in the 4900 Block of North Academy Boulevard.

The suspect is not in custody.

Police describe the suspect as a black male, approximately 6ft tall, in his 30s, wearing dark pants, possibly jeans, a black and white hoodie, with a backpack and a black hat. The suspect is considered armed and dangerous.

If seen, do not approach and call 911.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

On Sunday, April 13, 2025, Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) received a report around 12:30 p.m. of apparent homeless individuals throwing rocks at windows.

CSPD tells KRDO13 that officers responded to the area behind the old Red Lobster location at 4925 North Academy Blvd.

CSPD confirmed reports of shots fired and that officers found at least two shell casings at the scene.

At 1:55 p.m., police issued a shelter in place for the 4900 block of N Academy.

Police are asking that the public avoid the area of North Academy Boulevard from Flintridge Drive to North Union Boulevard.

CSPD said one woman was transported to the hospital with a head injury. It’s unclear what caused that injury.

As of 1:30 p.m. Sunday, no arrests have been made. CSPD said officers are on the scene investigating and checking vehicles and porta potties in the area.

Karla Sosa

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO)- On Saturday morning, the third and final Pueblo Police officer injured in a shooting on March 18th was released from the hospital. The community came out to show their support as he was escorted home.    

People lined up along Main Street near the Pueblo Police Department, holding signs and cheering on the last officer to be released from the hospital.

On March 18th, Pueblo police officers were injured in a gunfight with Billy Soto, who Pueblo PD said was an MS-13 gang member.

According to police, Soto was out on bond for three felony cases and was also wanted on attempted murder charges. 

Soto was ultimately shot and killed by police in a shootout.

In a previous interview with KRDO13, Pueblo police chief Chris Noeller said that soft-on-crime legislation is to blame for Soto, a repeat offender, being on the street.   

Nicole Valdez knows the wife of the third officer who was injured and said it was important for her to show up and support the officer.

“It was absolutely heart-wrenching. We know that it’s a tough job, and these people are so brave who go out and protect the citizens of Pueblo every single day. We can’t thank them enough for the job that they do. And so when one of them gets hurt, it’s just like an unimaginable,” Valdez said.

Police said two of the three officers injured were shot in the head.         

The first officer who was injured was released on March 20, and the second officer was released on March 24.     

Pueblo PD Officer Rebecca Jaeger said they’re grateful for all of the support they’re receiving during this time.

“It’s obviously concerning for our community when something like that happens. The support we’ve had from all our partner agencies and the community, though, just reinforces why we do this,” said Officer Jaeger. “We always knew behind the scenes they were there, so it’s kind of nice to have them up front with us today.”

The officers who were wounded have not been identified publicly.