Serving the community since 1866
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 21, 2024
VOLUME 158 | ISSUE 47
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‘We answer a higher call’
Golden, law enforcement communities participate in Officer Evan Dunn’s funeral procession
Overnight closures on Lookout Mountain Road start this month Testing underway for new gates BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
ny Grusing, his field training officer, while responding to the Nov. 6 traffic accident. Grusing also sustained major injuries during the incident, but has since been released from the hospital, city officials confirmed. Golden City Councilors offered Grusing their support and wished her a speedy recovery, saying they were “devastated” by what happened Nov. 6. “Golden is incredibly grateful for (Grusing)’s resilience and bravery,” Mayor Pro Tem Rob Reed said at the Nov. 12 City Council meeting. “ … The City of Golden is honored that Bethany is a part of our community.”
After years of discussion and months of planning, Jefferson County Open Space has installed new gates to close a 4.1-mile stretch of Lookout Mountain Road overnight. Starting Nov. 12, locals should expect intermittent overnight closures as officials program and test the system. Workers will also be in the area installing signs and putting the final touches on the gate sites, Open Space confirmed. Permanent overnight closures are scheduled to start in December, but officials said they will announce the exact date once it’s finalized. Open Space’s Mary Ann Bonnell, who’s been leading the project, clarified that while the agency and its partners had hoped to have the gates ready for full overnight closures by Nov. 11, she said recent weather and other complications pushed things back a few weeks. However, after such a long process, she and many Golden-area residents are excited to see the gates finally installed. Residents on both sides of Lookout Mountain Road have generally supported closing the road overnight, as gunfire and other illegal activity have become more frequent and serious. In fact, many pushed Jeffco Open Space to install the gates before summer, but officials said Nov. 11 was the earliest possible date given the project’s legal requirements and practical scope. Throughout the process, including at public meetings this summer, some locals have asked Open Space for access codes so they could continue to use the roads overnight, as they have for decades. However, Bonnell has outlined several safety problems with that proposal, including potentially sharing their codes with others, visitors “piggybacking” off them as they drive through the gates, and endangering the pedestrians and cyclists using the roadway overnight.
SEE FUNERAL, P2
SEE CLOSURES, P6
Firefighters from Golden, at left, and South Metro, at right, tie a giant American flag between their aerial ladder trucks Nov. 13 ahead of Golden Police Officer Evan Dunn’s funeral procession. Hundreds of first responders from across Colorado, from Elbert County to Alamosa to Woodland Park, PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN participated. BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Golden Police Officer Evan Dunn answered hundreds of calls throughout his life. Some were small or routine, like code violations and foot patrols. Others were urgent or serious. But, among the most important calls he ever answered were: • The call to love, honor and serve his family as a husband, son and brother; • The call to serve his country; and • The call to serve the Golden community, first as a code enforcement officer and then as a police officer.
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“The men and women of the Golden Police Department are dedicated to serving this community,” Police Chief Joe Harvey said Nov. 12. “We answer a higher call.” Dunn, who was killed Nov. 6 while responding to a traffic accident along Highway 58, was remembered by his family, friends and colleagues during a Nov. 13 memorial service at Mission Hills Church. While the memorial itself wasn’t open to the public, dozens of Goldenites and others from across the Denver area lined the sidewalks near the church to pay their respects during the funeral procession. In total, more than 500 first responders from 76 agencies
across the state participated in the procession, including military personnel and a Black Hawk helicopter flyover. Dunn, 33, was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot and was actively serving in the Army National Guard at the time of his death, according to the Golden Police Department His loved ones have described Dunn as “a man of faith, loyal, steady, quiet and observant.” He also loved the outdoors, and enjoyed traveling and camping with his wife and their dog. Dunn first joined Golden as a code enforcement officer, serving for a year until he entered the police academy. He graduated in July and was partnered with Officer Betha-
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VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12 | CALENDAR: 15 | SPORTS: 18
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