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Become a member and be a better Denverite every day.

Become a member and be a better Denverite every day.

Joe Tumpkin, former Colorado assistant football coach, charged with felony assault

Tumpkin, who was the school’s safeties coach for two seasons, was charged with five counts of second-degree assault and three counts of third-degree misdemeanor assault, the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said.

Christian Clark

Jan. 31, 2017, 11:35 a.m.

Jan. 31, 2017, 11:35 a.m.

Former Colorado football coach Joe Tumpkin was charged with multiple counts of assault Tuesday. (Image via Flickr)

Former University of Colorado assistant football coach Joe Tumpkin was charged with multiple counts of assault Tuesday.

Tumpkin, who was the school’s safeties coach for two seasons, was charged with five counts of second-degree assault and three counts of third-degree misdemeanor assault, the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said.

Tumpkin’s ex-girlfriend filed a temporary restraining order against him in December. The woman alleged Tumpkin choked, bit and pushed her up against a wall in separate incidents that began in February 2015.

The university suspended Tumpkin, 45, when it learned a judge had granted the woman a temporary restraining order against him. Colorado athletic director Rick George and head football coach Mike MacIntyre then asked Tumpkin to resign last week, and he did.

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As Denver Police kept a small group of protesters at bay with fencing and, in a few cases, pepper ball rounds and mace, city crews began a sweep of a large homeless encampment at Arkins Court and 29th Avenue in Denver’s RiNo district on Nov. 30, 2020. In this photo, volunteers are helping a man move his belongings as police stand nearby.

City starts clearing large encampment near Crossroads shelter in Five Points

The cleanup included tense moments between protesters and police, who used pepper balls and mace to disperse crowds.

Ben Roy talks junk about 2020 during the first-ever monthly comedy night at Number Thirty Eight in Five Points. Nov. 19, 2020.

You can see standup comedy in Denver if you’re willing to be cold

A new venue, Number Thirty Eight, by the river in Five Points hopes you're willing. So do the city's stand-up comics.

Denver Homeless Out Loud distributed this flyer before a forced cleanup of an encampment at 19th Avenue and Emerson Street. Nov. 17, 2020.

Denver tries a new approach at large encampments to help people experiencing homelessness

As large encampments multiply in Denver, city workers conduct cleanup after cleanup that shift tent cities from one block to another, hardly a solution for either the people living on the streets or the people with houses and businesses nearby.

Glass ornaments at Unique Glass Ornaments, a booth at Skyline Park's Christkindl Market, Dec. 4, 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Things to do in Denver this weekend without spreading the coronavirus, Nov. 27-29

Virtual celebrations, holiday markets, egg drops!

Bettie Cram wears a Ditch the Ditch button back in 2018.

Bettie Cram, a pillar of Elyria Swansea, dies at 98

She was in her 90s when she found a place in the movement resisting I-70's expansion.

A large encampment of people living without permanent housing on Arkins Court in Five Points, around the corner from the Crossroads shelter. Nov, 24, 2020.

Cleanup scheduled for large encampment near Crossroads shelter in RiNo

Denver faces a federal lawsuit over such cleanups but says they are necessary to protect health and safety.

Mayor Michael Hancock joins Gov. Jared Polis for a press conference about a statewide mask order. July 16, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Mayor Hancock gets on a plane after advising people against traveling for Thanksgiving

The mayor and his wife are visiting their daughter in Mississippi.

Kimberly and Jonathan Strat at their new home in Westminster. Nov. 20, 2020.

What’s it like to shop for a home in “the toughest market to buy a house in Denver metro history”?

It takes preparation, patience and planning, but it is possible to buy a home in the Denver area these days

Protesters and police clashed on the second night of protests in downtown Denver during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd on Friday, May 29, 2020. (Hart Van Denburg/CPR)

Attorneys hint at massive lawsuit against Denver for police department’s response to summer protests

The City Attorney's Office received 51 claims Tuesday.

An unplowed road in Denver's East Colfax neighborhood. Nov, 24, 2020.

Mile High United Way opens space in its headquarters for people experiencing homelessness

"A building is more than a building."

A coronavirus community testing site run by the city on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, at Paco Sanchez Park in Denver. (Esteban L. Hernandez/Denverite)

Snowfall prompts the city’s free coronavirus testing sites to open later than usual

The sites will open at noon.

The Denver Health campus on November 23, 2020.

Frontline workers accuse Denver Health of union-busting as coronavirus puts pressure on the system

Denver approved a new contract with the hospital authority responsible for treating the city's most vulnerable populations.

A strip mall and a Burger King on West Colfax Avenue across the street from the Auraria RTD station on November 23, 2020.

Homes and businesses will replace parking lots, a Burger King and a strip mall on West Colfax

It's a whopper.

Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn at a meeting. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver cracks down on unlicensed short-term rental hosts — through the platforms

Airbnb and others face daily fines of $1,000 when a home that's listed by a host who does not have a license from the city is rented.

A still provided by Denver police showing Antonio Blackbear pointing an air soft gun at police officers inside an unmarked cruiser.

Denver cops who fatally shot Antonio Blackbear in September were legally justified, DA decides

Police shot and killed Blackbear on Sept. 9 in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

A sign for a lost tortoise outside of the O’Reilly household in Platt Park. Nov. 18, 2020.

Who’s seen Munch the tortoise?

He is the size of a big hamburger.

Everyone we met at the annual Denver Feed a Family event on Bruce Randolph Avenue in Cole. Nov. 21, 2020.

The Daddy Bruce turkey drive helped fill some seriously hungry bellies and souls this year

Volunteers found that packing boxes helped meet some outstanding psychic needs unique to 2020.

Colorado's Federal Security Director Larry Nau hands Oleg Faktorovich a medal during a memorial for his brother, Eduard, a TSA agent who died after contracting COVID-19. Nov, 21, 2020.

TSA honors a fallen agent as its brass pleads with passengers to be safe at DIA

Regardless of what happens, TSA workers will have to keep working as long as planes keep flying.

Denver Health. April 1, 2020. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver Health, the city’s ‘safety net’ hospital, preps for more coronavirus patients and staff shortages before and after Thanksgiving

There's a teeny bit of good news?

A mock-up of a sanctioned urban campsite in the parking lot of Belong Church in North Capitol Hill. Oct. 2, 2020.

Denver’s first sanctioned camp sites will open in Capitol Hill church parking lots early next month

They are to shut down six months later.