"When he didn't hear back from either the sheriff's office or Fort Collins police, he called the news media."
You can bet we'd never had seen this if he hadn't gone to the media.
Deputy fails to report lost gun
Fort Collins man finds weapon on College Ave.
By Jenn Farrell, The Coloradoan
A Larimer County sheriff's deputy who teaches drug abuse prevention in local elementary schools could face disciplinary measures for failing to report that she lost her gun.
The sheriff's office, which found out about the incident over the weekend, started an investigation into the incident on Monday. The sheriff's office identified the deputy as Nancy Yarberry.
Eric Roche, a Fort Collins resident, said he found the loaded weapon in a waist pack along with handcuffs and an emergency pager in the middle of College Avenue Wednesday. He spotted the bag after watching a white Larimer County Sheriff's Office vehicle make a left turn from Vine Drive onto northbound College Avenue.
"Obviously, this is something we take very seriously," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said. "How could a deputy be that irresponsible and careless as to lose a firearm? That's the same question we have."
Alderden called a lost firearm a dangerous situation.
"It could fall into the wrong hands," he said. "It poses a threat to the community because anybody could find the firearm... It could have resulted in tragic consequences."
Alderden said he wasn't notified that Yarberry had lost her weapon until sheriff's deputy Cindy Gordon received calls about the incident from the news media on Saturday. Gordon said she heard about the incident through a reporter who had been contacted by Roche.
When a deputy loses a firearm, badge or pager, he or she "is supposed to report it immediately to a supervisor and, ultimately, to me," Alderden said. "That did not occur."
Alderden said he did not know what type of disciplinary action he would impose on Yarberry because he has not been able to speak with her. He said Yarberry is on vacation.
He said Yarberry could face anything from a letter of reprimand to a demotion. Although losing a firearm could be cause for termination, Alderden said he believed that would be unlikely in this instance.
A Coloradoan call to Yarberry's home was not answered.
Roche said he found the gun, handcuffs and pager while he and friends were driving. He said he saw a white, sheriff's office Camero turn onto College Avenue and then saw a pack containing the items on the ground.
"He or she could have had the gun on the back of the car and driven and it slid off," Roche said.
Roche said he unloaded the Glock .45-caliber handgun, which retails for $589 according to local gun retailers, and turned it in to Fort Collins police. When he didn't hear back from either the sheriff's office or Fort Collins police, he called the news media.
"Anybody could have found it laying on College," he said. "Someone of that stature should be a little more careful... I think it's just a real scary thing."
Alderden said that, to his knowledge, this is the first time one of his employees has a weapon.
Alderden said Fort Collins police took the report at 9:25 p.m. Wednesday and notified a sheriff's office's dispatcher, who gave a Fort Collins police lieutenant Yarberry's phone number.
The lieutenant called Yarberry, who picked up her items that night, sheriff's Sgt. Ken Elliott said.
Elliott said he has not determined whether dispatchers knew that Yarberry's firearm had been lost or whether they should have reported the incident. He said he hoped to find that out today. Yarberry, who was hired as an officer at the Larimer County Detention Center in 1996, began teaching DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education - at county elementary schools in 1996. When the sheriff's office discontinued DARE this year, Yarberry switched to teaching a drug-prevention program, Here's Looking at You.
Alderden said he did not know if Yarberry would continue teaching Here's Looking at You for the Poudre School District. He said no other deputies are trained to teach the course.
Yarberry is one of three people in Fort Collins trained to teach Here's Looking at You, said Jim Campain, PSD safe and drug-free schools coordinator. A member of TEAM Fort Collins and a Poudre School District staff member also are trained, he said.
If Yarberry were unable to teach her classes "we would make sure those classes got covered," Campain said.
-- © Copyright 2000, the Fort Collins Coloradoan
You can bet we'd never had seen this if he hadn't gone to the media.
Deputy fails to report lost gun
Fort Collins man finds weapon on College Ave.
By Jenn Farrell, The Coloradoan
A Larimer County sheriff's deputy who teaches drug abuse prevention in local elementary schools could face disciplinary measures for failing to report that she lost her gun.
The sheriff's office, which found out about the incident over the weekend, started an investigation into the incident on Monday. The sheriff's office identified the deputy as Nancy Yarberry.
Eric Roche, a Fort Collins resident, said he found the loaded weapon in a waist pack along with handcuffs and an emergency pager in the middle of College Avenue Wednesday. He spotted the bag after watching a white Larimer County Sheriff's Office vehicle make a left turn from Vine Drive onto northbound College Avenue.
"Obviously, this is something we take very seriously," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said. "How could a deputy be that irresponsible and careless as to lose a firearm? That's the same question we have."
Alderden called a lost firearm a dangerous situation.
"It could fall into the wrong hands," he said. "It poses a threat to the community because anybody could find the firearm... It could have resulted in tragic consequences."
Alderden said he wasn't notified that Yarberry had lost her weapon until sheriff's deputy Cindy Gordon received calls about the incident from the news media on Saturday. Gordon said she heard about the incident through a reporter who had been contacted by Roche.
When a deputy loses a firearm, badge or pager, he or she "is supposed to report it immediately to a supervisor and, ultimately, to me," Alderden said. "That did not occur."
Alderden said he did not know what type of disciplinary action he would impose on Yarberry because he has not been able to speak with her. He said Yarberry is on vacation.
He said Yarberry could face anything from a letter of reprimand to a demotion. Although losing a firearm could be cause for termination, Alderden said he believed that would be unlikely in this instance.
A Coloradoan call to Yarberry's home was not answered.
Roche said he found the gun, handcuffs and pager while he and friends were driving. He said he saw a white, sheriff's office Camero turn onto College Avenue and then saw a pack containing the items on the ground.
"He or she could have had the gun on the back of the car and driven and it slid off," Roche said.
Roche said he unloaded the Glock .45-caliber handgun, which retails for $589 according to local gun retailers, and turned it in to Fort Collins police. When he didn't hear back from either the sheriff's office or Fort Collins police, he called the news media.
"Anybody could have found it laying on College," he said. "Someone of that stature should be a little more careful... I think it's just a real scary thing."
Alderden said that, to his knowledge, this is the first time one of his employees has a weapon.
Alderden said Fort Collins police took the report at 9:25 p.m. Wednesday and notified a sheriff's office's dispatcher, who gave a Fort Collins police lieutenant Yarberry's phone number.
The lieutenant called Yarberry, who picked up her items that night, sheriff's Sgt. Ken Elliott said.
Elliott said he has not determined whether dispatchers knew that Yarberry's firearm had been lost or whether they should have reported the incident. He said he hoped to find that out today. Yarberry, who was hired as an officer at the Larimer County Detention Center in 1996, began teaching DARE - Drug Abuse Resistance Education - at county elementary schools in 1996. When the sheriff's office discontinued DARE this year, Yarberry switched to teaching a drug-prevention program, Here's Looking at You.
Alderden said he did not know if Yarberry would continue teaching Here's Looking at You for the Poudre School District. He said no other deputies are trained to teach the course.
Yarberry is one of three people in Fort Collins trained to teach Here's Looking at You, said Jim Campain, PSD safe and drug-free schools coordinator. A member of TEAM Fort Collins and a Poudre School District staff member also are trained, he said.
If Yarberry were unable to teach her classes "we would make sure those classes got covered," Campain said.
-- © Copyright 2000, the Fort Collins Coloradoan
Handcuffs and a pager??? What was this guy thinking? I'd atleast go try it out at the range before I made such a disastardly decision. 
Maybe she