Arapahoe County Sheriff and Coroner hold open house 

Arts, Culture, Entertainment, Local / By / August 25, 2022

BY FREDA MIKLIN
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER

On August 13, Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown and Arapahoe County Coroner Dr. Kelly Lear hosted an Open House and free pancake breakfast for the community. 

The event included Sheriff’s deputies demonstrating how their K-9 partners help catch criminals and find drugs, therapy miniature horses, SWAT and bomb squad tools and procedures, South Metro Fire Rescue engines and tools, including a demonstration on the use of the Jaws of Life, Arapahoe Rescue Patrol, Emergency Management, tours of the 911 dispatch center, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Coroner’s facility, and even a dunk tank where people got a chance to dunk their favorite elected official by donating $5 to help pay for breast cancer and prostate cancer treatment for Littleton Adventist Hospital patients in need of assistance. An estimated 2,500 people attended.

Rising fifth grader Cooper Carnes is pictured with his mom, Centennial City Council Member Robyn Carnes. Cooper plays left guard and right tackle for the Warriors AYL football team.
Denver Police helicopter that pilot Ron Brightwell told The Villager is used “to catch bad guys.”
Max and Ashley brought daughters Talia, 5, and Blake, 2, from Castle Rock to help their kids get familiar with first responders and emergency teams.
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Stiltner is the handler for K9 Doc, a German Shepherd/Berlgian Malinois mix from Hungary who is trained in apprehension and narcotics detection. Doc and his bulletproof vest were both purchased with the help of Back the Blue K9 Force, a local nonprofit agency.
Tom and Vicki Pinnow came to the Sheriff’s Open House and pancake breakfast to support their son, Deputy Sheriff Jeff Fischer, who works in the maximum-security section of the Detention Center, as well as the Special Operations and Gang Enforcement Units.
Five-year-old Ivan, who attends Runyon Elementary School in Littleton, told us that he “loves SWAT and police,” and wants to be a police officer when he grows up. Ivan came to the Sheriff’s Open House with his parents Amanda and Paul.
One-year-old Colt was happy to see his mom, Mary Katherine, a member of the Sheriff’s Office Mounted Patrol, who rides the horse Maverick.
Kamily Gilmore, 3 (next to the window), Lilah Gilmore, 6 (middle), and Virginia Schumacher, 6 (in the red sweater), practiced what it would be like sitting in this Denver Police helicopter that pilot Ron Brightwell told The Villager is used “to catch bad guys.” Lilah and Virginia attend Arrowhead Elementary School in Aurora.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown (right) told The Villager that Robert Minor (left) is a huge supporter of law enforcement. Photos by Freda Miklin
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Program is an educational, volunteer program for young people aged 14-21 who are interested in law enforcement. Members of Explorer Post #25, whose advisor is Deputy Colton O’Keefe (standing, left), include Sergeant Dayonara Castillo, 19 (standing, right), who attends Arapahoe Community College and plans to work on the mental health side of law enforcement, Lieutenant Brooklynn Arnold, 17 (sitting, left), who attends Grandview High School and aspires to be a Department of Homeland Security agent, and Aiden Apodaca, 19 (sitting, right), who works in Detention Operations at the Arapahoe County Jail, who plans to be a Sheriff’s Deputy.
We found Grayson, 3, with Mom Tori and Dad Mike, from Parker, checking out South Metro Fire Rescue’s biggest rigs. Grayson told us he “loves police and ambulances.”
Aiden, 3, was very excited to point out the fire trucks to dad, Michel. They live in Parker. Aiden was sporting a cap from his dad’s home country of Switzerland.
Ron Bouchard, who is running against Dr. Lear for Arapahoe County Coroner, told The Villager he was at the open house to “see the dedication of Sheriff’s Office and Coroner’s Office employees serving our community.” Bouchard’s campaign website says that he is a proud American and defender of the Constitution who “has over 30 years of science research laboratory experience.”
Centennial City Council Members Christine Sweetland (left) and Tammy Maurer (right) came to the open house to show their support for the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and the Arapahoe County Coroner.
First to dunk 18th Judicial District Attorney and Republican nominee for Colorado Attorney General were his own kids, who were very happy. Next to try was his mom, but she didn’t throw the ball hard enough, probably on purpose.
Sheriff Tyler Brown was the first to sign up for the dunk tank. He got dunked by lots of kids and he even helped many of them do it.
Centennial City Council Member Don Sheehan came prepared with his water wings and squirt gun for his turn in the dunk tank. He is pictured here with former Council Member Kathy Turley.
Arapahoe County Coroner Kelly Lear, M.D., was telling new Colorado residents Brian and Hope Ashton about county operations. The Ashtons moved to Parker seven weeks ago from southern California to be near their daughter who is a Human Resources employee for Arapahoe County. We asked Dr. Lear, who was first elected in 2014, how she is impacted by term limits. She explained that she is not subject to term limits as the coroner because she is Forensic Pathologist, but that anyone elected to that position who did not possess that credential would be term limited. Dr. Lear served as Arapahoe County Chief Deputy Coroner for ten years before her election to the top position in 2014.
Mateo, 4, from Aurora, loved petting Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol miniature therapy horse Happy Times. Dad Chris, a Sheriff’s Deputy, told us they come to this event every year. These miniature horses are provided by the McNicholas family, longtime philanthropists whose patriarch was T. Kevin McNicholas, of blessed memory.