Police Colorado

A Denver police officer turned up in Utah after his mysterious disappearance prompted a weeklong manhunt, and he told investigators Friday that financial and personal problems compelled him to abandon his patrol car and head west on a motorcycle. David Hayhurst, 39, who had gotten a new apartment and a job at an auto-body shop in Reno, Nev., said he decided to return home after reading a newspaper account of the manhunt and deciding: "I couldn't do this to all those good people in Denver.

A former lead detective in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case says he believes the murdered girl's mother wrote the ransom note that was in the family home the day her body was found. In an interview airing Monday on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America," Steve Thomas, who resigned in protest of what he called the lack of aggressive prosecution of the case, said Patsy Ramsey wrote the note.

All Todd Gardner ever wanted was to wear the uniform of a Los Angeles police officer. And, after working as a cop in Aurora, Colo., and San Diego, his dream came true in March when he was accepted into the Los Angeles Police Academy.

A sheriff's deputy based at Columbine High School was told to keep an eye on Eric Harris, and did so for a year, reporting back that he saw no signs of impending trouble, authorities said Friday.

Stung by criticism that rescuers may have been too slow to respond to the tragedy in Littleton, Colo., law enforcement officials nationwide said that they want to examine the tactics SWAT teams use in such emergencies, but are hamstrung by the public's misunderstanding of their mission. Last week's school shooting has highlighted a growing schism between members of the public and the law enforcement community over how aggressively SWAT teams should move to stop such calamities--and at what risk.

A former lead detective in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case says he believes the murdered girl's mother wrote the ransom note that was in the family home the day her body was found. In an interview airing Monday on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America," Steve Thomas, who resigned in protest of what he called the lack of aggressive prosecution of the case, said Patsy Ramsey wrote the note.

A sheriff's deputy based at Columbine High School was told to keep an eye on Eric Harris, and did so for a year, reporting back that he saw no signs of impending trouble, authorities said Friday.

They found his squad car in a parking lot between some warehouses at 3:30 in the morning. Motor running, emergency flashers on, driver's door open, radio still crackling. But four days have passed now, and still there is no trace of Officer David Hayhurst, no clue about what happened to a routine cop on a routine night doing a routine job. "This is just unheard of," said his commander, Capt. Mike O'Neill. Hayhurst had asked for a special assignment last Thursday when he reported for his 7 p.m.

After a series of fatal shootings, high-speed chases, running gun battles and death threats involving violent young white supremacists, authorities put the city on what amounted to a "skinhead alert" Thursday. "In this city we're not going to tolerate people shooting anyone . . . based upon someone's color, or someone's gender, or someone's sexual orientation, or if they're wearing a blue uniform," Denver Mayor Wellington Webb vowed at a news conference.

John Denver has been sentenced to sing at a benefit concert to settle drunk-driving charges after he pleaded guilty to driving while his ability was impaired. The 49-year-old performer was originally charged with driving under the influence, but prosecutors agreed to let him plead guilty to the lesser charge. The longtime resident of this Rocky Mountain ski resort has until March 8 to complete the typical sentence of 28 hours of public service, which will include doing the benefit.

Stung by criticism that rescuers may have been too slow to respond to the tragedy in Littleton, Colo., law enforcement officials nationwide said that they want to examine the tactics SWAT teams use in such emergencies, but are hamstrung by the public's misunderstanding of their mission. Last week's school shooting has highlighted a growing schism between members of the public and the law enforcement community over how aggressively SWAT teams should move to stop such calamities--and at what risk.

After a series of fatal shootings, high-speed chases, running gun battles and death threats involving violent young white supremacists, authorities put the city on what amounted to a "skinhead alert" Thursday. "In this city we're not going to tolerate people shooting anyone . . . based upon someone's color, or someone's gender, or someone's sexual orientation, or if they're wearing a blue uniform," Denver Mayor Wellington Webb vowed at a news conference.

All Todd Gardner ever wanted was to wear the uniform of a Los Angeles police officer. And, after working as a cop in Aurora, Colo., and San Diego, his dream came true in March when he was accepted into the Los Angeles Police Academy.

A Denver police officer turned up in Utah after his mysterious disappearance prompted a weeklong manhunt, and he told investigators Friday that financial and personal problems compelled him to abandon his patrol car and head west on a motorcycle. David Hayhurst, 39, who had gotten a new apartment and a job at an auto-body shop in Reno, Nev., said he decided to return home after reading a newspaper account of the manhunt and deciding: "I couldn't do this to all those good people in Denver.

They found his squad car in a parking lot between some warehouses at 3:30 in the morning. Motor running, emergency flashers on, driver's door open, radio still crackling. But four days have passed now, and still there is no trace of Officer David Hayhurst, no clue about what happened to a routine cop on a routine night doing a routine job. "This is just unheard of," said his commander, Capt. Mike O'Neill. Hayhurst had asked for a special assignment last Thursday when he reported for his 7 p.m.

NBC's ratings for the Sydney Olympics dropped to a new low for a second consecutive night. Saturday's show, which included four track relay finals and live coverage of the men's basketball final on the East Coast, drew a 10.5 rating and 20 share. That is a tenth of a point lower than Friday's rating, dropping the cumulative Nielsen number to 14. These are the lowest-rated Summer Olympics since 1964, when only 14 hours of the Tokyo Games were televised.

Police in Colorado stepped up their search Thursday for a missing 10-year-old girl, even as they examined a body found at a park near the spot where the child was last seen.  Law enforcement authorities also ruled out any connection between the Colorado girl's disappearance and the abduction of another girl in Wyoming. At a news conference Thursday, police said they were examining a body found seven miles away from where Jessica Ridgeway, 10, was last seen on Oct. 5. The body was found late Wednesday at Pattridge Park in Arvada, Colo.