Small-town Colorado newspapers stolen after running story about rape charges at police chief’s house

By AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press

Nearly all the copies of a small-town Colorado newspaper were stolen from newspaper racks on the same day the Ouray County Plaindealer published a story about charges being filed over rapes alleged to have occurred at an underage drinking party at the police chief’s house while the chief was asleep. Owner and publisher Mike Wiggins said the newspaper responded by posting the story on social media, removing the website’s firewall and printing another 250 copies of the paper. The papers were taken on Thursday morning. By Thursday evening, someone returned a garbage bag worth of papers, and supporters had donated about $2,000 to the paper. Police Chief Jeff Wood did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.