Former CC Police Chief Ed Stauffer: “Don’t mess around in Cripple Creek”
Trevor Phipps
Law officers have grappled with a surprising bout of high-profile cases in recent weeks, capped by an attempted casino robbery, a major drug bust and the search for human remains in Florissant.
Authorities are lauding the cooperating efforts of multi-agencies in dealing with these crime investigations, which mostly yielded positive outcomes for area law officers. Here are a few highlights:
Law enforcement agents across the Pikes Peak region acted fast last month after receiving a panic alert from the McGills Casino and Hotel in Cripple Creek. When officers arrived, casino staff informed them that a man jumped over the counter, through the cashier window and snagged $76,800 from the drawer.
Security camera footage later showed the man entered the casino around 4 a.m. on August 18, walk past the cashier cage and leave. He later re-entered the casino donned with a face mask before jumping over the camera and leaving with two fistfuls of cash.
The Cripple Creek Police Department, Colorado Division of Gaming and the Colorado Springs Police Department promptly tracked down 26-year-old Colorado Springs resident Andrew Irvine. Authorities arrested Irvine at his home in Colorado Springs later that afternoon and charged him with felony theft and burglary charges.
“This case demonstrates the strength of interagency cooperation,” Cripple Creek Police Chief Charles “Bud” Bright said in a press release. “We appreciate the support and professionalism of our partners at the Colorado Division of Gaming and the Colorado Springs Police Department as we continue working to resolve this case.”
According to Irvine’s arrest affidavit obtained by local media sources, casino employees told police that Irvine jumped from the casino floor into the secure cashier cage where money is kept, similar to what he had done earlier in the summer. On July 19, a man resembling Irvine jumped into the cashier window at the same casino. His theft attempt however, was thwarted when the cashier working the counter pushed him away.
Irvine had an active warrant out for the previous attempted robbery when he was arrested on Aug. 18. At press time, Irvine was still incarcerated inside the Teller County Jail on a $50,000 bond for charges relating to both the attempted robbery and recent theft. Irvine’s first court appearance is scheduled for September 8.
The recent major theft event marks the first reported of its kind in over 30 years. While some smaller incidents, most likely have occurred and gone largely unreported, there have only been a few documented incidents of high-value thefts from a casino since the town added gaming in 1991.
According to an article published by the Pueblo Chieftain in 1998, the last major casino robbery occurred in September 1993. Former Gold Rush Hotel and Casino employee Ricky Hill of Canon City walked into the casino, pulled a pistol and demanded cash.
Hill made away with “$7,941 in cash and a ‘hostage.’” Hill’s hostage was later identified as his wife Katie Hill. Katie was arrested on Shelf Road around 40 minutes after the incident. Ricky Hill, and accomplice Ronald Willingham, was arrested at a Canon City apartment the next day.
Speaking in the 1998 article, Ed Stauffer (the Cripple Creek Police Chief at the time) said that major thefts are rare because security in the town is tight with the combination of casino surveillance and quick law enforcement response times.
“One reason we don’t have too many problems is because you can’t get out of town,” the former Cripple Creek police chief told the Pueblo Chieftain in 1998. “The word gets around, ‘Don’t mess around in Cripple Creek or you’re going to get caught,'” said Stauffer.
Woodland Park Police Make Major Drug Bust
While officers with the Woodland Park Police Department were on patrol in afternoon of August 19, they spotted a suspicious vehicle parked off of Trull Rd. (near Highway 24) on the east side of the city. “Upon investigating the incident, the officers discovered a male subject asleep behind the wheel of the truck with what appeared to be drugs and items associated with illicit drug use near the driver,” the police department stated in a social media post.
The officers searched the individual’s vehicle and found illicit drug paraphernalia along with several fentanyl pills. The officers then arrested 47-year-old Travis Propernick on multiple misdemeanor and felony drug charges. At press time, Propernick was still behind bars at the Teller County Jail on a $1,000 bond.
Authorities Search for Remains in Teller County
Then during the evening on Aug. 19, local news agencies reported that local and federal law enforcement agents were conducted a search for human remains in Teller County near the town of Florissant. That night, the Colorado Springs Police department along with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) announced they were conducting an investigation in the area of Chapparral Trail and Chateau West Drive (south of Florissant near Evergreen Station).
Authorities remained tight-lipped surrounding the investigations and only said that they were searching a desolate area for human remains. The next day, news agencies reported that the Colorado Springs Police confirmed that they were searching for the body of Jepsy Kallungi who went missing in March 2019.
Two years after her disappearance, her husband Dane Kallungi was arrested in New Mexico and charged with first degree murder. In July 2023, a jury found Dane guilty of his wife’s murder, but her body has never been found.
According to prosecutors, Kallungi confessed details of the homicide to his ex-wife who in turn alerted authorities. Kallungi’s arrest affidavit states he told his ex-wife he “accidentally” murdered his wife, wrapped up her body, and buried it in a remote location near Florissant.
