Saturday, June 29, 2013

Colorado: Woman Arrested sifting Through Remains Of Home Burned In Wildfire

Colorado woman who lost her home in Colorado's most destructive wildfire was arrested on a traffic warrant as she sifted through charred remains of her uninsured home.

 McCormack's home was one of more than 500 that were destroyed in the Black Forest Fire earlier this month.

Marsha McCormack sits near the remains of her burned home in Colorado Springs on Wednesday. McCormack was arrested and handcuffed on June 21 as she sifted through the charred remains of her uninsured trailer. A license plate device tipped authorities that she was wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court on a traffic-related charge. / Jerilee Bennett/The Colorado Springs Gazette
 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A woman who lost her home in Colorado's most destructive wildfire was arrested on a warrant for a traffic violation as she sifted through the charred remains of her uninsured trailer. 

 Marsha McCormack, 59, was arrested June 21 after a license plate reader tipped authorities that she was wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court. McCormack, whose home was burned in the Black Forest Fire, told the Colorado Springs Gazette. 

 She was taken by squad car to the county jail only to be taken to a hospital later because of chest pains. She was then returned to the jail for processing and finally released to her neighbors, who paid $446 to cover bail and a court fee. 

 The whole process took about nine hours, said McCormack, who is staying in a borrowed motor home outside the house of a fellow church member. Lt. Jeff Kramer, a spokesman for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, said deputies were following standard procedure when they arrested McCormack. "It was a misdemeanor warrant," he said. "She was handcuffed because she was arrested and being transported to jail in a police car."

McCormack said the ticket stemmed from a traffic stop in California many years ago when police found she didn't have insurance and suspended her license. Sometime within the last year, she was stopped in Colorado for running a stop sign and was issued a summons for not having a license. She said she missed the court date because she had to go to California to deal with a family emergency. 

---------------------------------------------

No comments:

Post a Comment

CAL FIRE NEWS LOVES COMMENTS...
- Due to rampant abuse, we are no longer posting anonymous comments. Please use your real OpenID, Google, Yahoo, AIM, Twitter, Flickr name.


Twitter Buttons

****REMINDER**** Every fire has the ability to be catastrophic. The wildland fire management environment has profoundly changed. Growing numbers of communities, across the nation, are experiencing longer fire seasons; more frequent, bigger, and more severe, fires are a real threat. Be careful with all campfires and equipment.

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer." --Abraham Lincoln

View blog top tags
---------------------
CLICK HERE TO GO BACK TO TOP OF CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS HOME PAGE

Subscribe via email to California Fire News - Keep track of Cal Fire News

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner