Sheriff’s Office: man collapses and dies on front porch; suspicious death investigation
People in Widefield say they’re shocked a man died on their neighbor’s porch. El Paso County Sheriff’s investigators say they don’t yet know how the man died.
They found him at a home in the 6800 block of Harding Street. The Sheriff’s Office got a call right before 4 a.m. on Monday (5/12/14) from a woman who lives on Harding Street. She told the 911 operator a young man had collapsed on her front porch. Deputies say she tried to save him, but by the time paramedics got there, he was dead.
Neighbors on Harding Street in Widefield woke up to crime tape and Sheriff’s investigators right next door.
“It’s pretty crazy. Pretty strange,” said neighbor Nick Wasik.
Deputies and paramedics found a man in his 20’s after they got a call he collapsed on a front porch.
“I said I see the yellow tape on Ms. Connie’s driveway and I said I hope it’s not her,” said neighbor Mary Reinking.
Neighbors say the homeowner is in her 80’s. The Sheriff’s Office says she told dispatchers she tried to save the young man, but it was too late.
“I do wonder. Did he get the wrong address and stumble up maybe looking to the cops or did he pass out on the porch and they found him? It’s a really strange situation,” said Wasik.
Wasik, 27, has lived on Harding Street his whole life.
“I haven’t seen anything like this in Widefield. In the last 27 years, [there have] been maybe three or four incidents. Never anything this serious out in the open like that,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office says investigators believe they know who may have been with the man Sunday night.
“It’s believed that he actually came to the residence, he had a female with him,” said El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jeff Kramer.
Investigators are calling this a suspicious death.
“It’s suspicious just by the very nature that you have someone who’s shown up then collapses on the front porch of a home. There [are] no obvious signs of trauma,” said Lt. Kramer.
The coroner will do an autopsy to figure out how the man died.
The Sheriff’s Office says it knows the man is not related to anyone at the home where he died. Investigators are looking into whether he had any kind of relationship with the homeowner.
