(Las Animas, CO) -- Bent County resident Randa Morlan waits.
She waits for more answers as to whether or not more security will be provided at Ft. Lyon, a Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Self Guided Treatment facility near her home. A meeting to discuss security, the program, and have a community lunch together for the neighbors of Ft. Lyon was recently canceled.
Less than a week after the cancelation of that meeting. Morlan isn't sleeping well.
Maybe this is why.
On July 28th, there was an attempted break in at her home that is a couple hundred yards from the entrance to the facility. Morlan's security cameras notified her in real time that it was happening.
"I wasn't able to get onto the camera that showed him at the front door at that time but I could get onto another camera and it sounded like he was in our house, and I was freaking out because I'm thinking, my husband saying I think he's in the house, I'm like oh my gosh, what do we do, so I'm calling 9-1-1, and telling them get out there somebody's trying to break into my house."
She said that's when she saw her neighbors come over to take action to get the man away from their home but he didn't just leave, rather went a couple of doors down to enter into a neighbor's home. Morlan tells us that the fort providing some gate security might have been a good deterrent for this.
"If somebody had been at those gates watching what was going in and out, they would've seen what was happening, because it was right there. and he walked right in front of the neighbor's and unlawfully entered into my neighbor's home, and I know that that person was actually home and sleeping at that time."
The suspect was then arrested when the Bent County Sheriff deputies arrived.
Morlan learned the following information after an investigation:
The suspect had an existing warrant for his arrest.
The existing warrant was a FTA, or Failure to Appear
And the suspect now had new charges applied following the arrest.
The suspect was a resident of Ft. Lyon, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless campus, near Morlan's home.
The suspect was new in the program and had only checked in days prior to the attempted break-in.
The Bent County Sheriff's office confirmed to Morlan that the Fort told them they didn't know that the suspect was gone from the campus at the time of the attempted break-in.
Morlan explained she understood that the residents of the program must be there at least 30 days before they can leave the campus.
"I never did get a call from the Coalition, until I reached out the them"
Still wanting more information that was given, Morlan did her own research on the suspect that attempted to enter her home. She learned the suspect's name and age from the post on the Bent County Jail's inmate information. Going further with that information and a few clicks on the computer, Morlan was able to glean even more information on her own which included:
A ten year criminal history in Pitkin County
A charge of "Assault on a Peace Officer."
Robbery of a teenage boy
Multiple trespassing violations
"Why they're taking residents like this is just scary!"
It was information that the Fort says they didn't know, according to Morlan.
That's when Morlan contacted the Coalition, based in Denver. Morlan says she learned they already knew about it. Why hadn't they contacted her about it, she wondered.
Morlan was asked to speak directly to the local contact Lisa Trigillio. She received a call back and asked for more security at the gate, and wanted the Fort to be more transparent about the type of people they're bringing there. The main ask was for security however, but Morlan was told Fort Lyon doesn't have a budget for security.
Morlan wanted the Fort to go into the community, and mentions that Trigillio told her they have already been out in the community. Morlan doesn't recall that effort. Trigillio then told Morlan they could meet one-on-one for lunch, they scheduled a meeting but Morlan explained that Trigillio called to cancel. According to Morlan, Trigillio said the reason was that the Fort, the Coalition for the Homeless, planned a bigger meeting with residents living in the neighborhood next to the Fort.
After several weeks of waiting for the letter inviting residents to a meeting, Morlan contacted Colorado Springs television station KKTV out of frustration to tell her story.
After the story aired and was published on KKTV's website.
The letter came. Morlan called her neighbor to ask what they thought about the letter but her neighbor stated they did not get an invitation letter for the meeting. That's when Morlan's husband shared the letter on social media. The letter asked if residents, neighbors, etc were planning on attending the community meeting and luncheon, that they let them know they're coming so they could prepare enough food.
As people started to prepare to attend the meeting, Morlan received a voicemail message from the Coalition that the meeting, planned for September 12th was canceled. Morlan didn't call back because she feels the back and forth is now just a game. Morlan has heard from neighbors stating they received messages that Fort Lyon and the Coalition are still willing to meet one-on-one.
"I'm hoping that at this point, the community sees what's going on and that they are willing to rise up and start speaking up about this. I can't do this alone, and I don't want to do this alone, this is our community and we need to take it back," Morlan finished up saying she's frustrated.
"We all need to step up, I've put myself out there and I didn't want to do that, everybody just grab my hands and let's go with this.
The coalition thinks we're attacking our program, and that's not the case. She wants safe individuals housed there and adequate security. Reassurance from the Coalition would go a long way to fix these issues that residents are
"Is it right to help people while hurting others at the same time, no! That is not right, and I think that is what is happening here."
Morlan wants these organizations accountable because she explains they came to our community and she furthered that community would be willing to work with them if they reach out.
Morlan raised her voice in a passionate display when she finished by saying Fort Lyon seems to want the community to reach out to them but they should be reaching out to the community.
As of this writing, we have reached out to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs Office of the Homeless Initiative, Kristin Toobes and Lisa Trigillio of Fort Lyon and neither has responded to our request for an interview.
This incident isn't the first time Fort Lyon has made the news. In a letter to the editor of the Bent County Democrat, dated January 29, 2019, Lorraine Rich, who lives outside of the Fort voiced concerns over being able to safely hike in her neighborhood after she came across an "encampment" near-by. Rich stated she felt that residents shouldn't have to deal with issues resulting from the Fort Lyon Homeless Shelter.
In an email to info@coloradocoalition.org, Rich voiced frustrations about trying to contact the Fort with no luck to make known her worries.
Other published articles on Fort Lyon: (NOTE: CNYW does not have any affiliation with these news outlets)
An article after the opening of Fort Lyon as a homeless shelter and treatment facility.
A website with Fort Lyon news releases is listed below but does not show any news since 2019.
###
Unacceptable. Why is mine the only comment? The community should be outraged.